Legs

[tyel]

I've been doing a lot of research lately because I want to change my routine to see better gains in my legs and arms. I had pretty much settled on a 3 day spit, working each body part once a week, when I came across a bunch of articles advocating twice a week for legs and once a week for all upper body parts.

Can anyone here explain the benefits/difference of 2x for legs versus 1x? Are the results phsiologically different or is it just a matter of personal preference?

My goal is to achieve a firm, well defined look, not to compete.

Thanks.

[kungfu74]

most likely the article is basing this split on the fact the the legs contain the largest muscle group in your body... do you have a link to the article? my thoughts are if you working your legs 2 a week and rest 1 per week, you could end up w/ an unbalanced physique... alot of people will do a split like this when beginning out.. mon legs - wed upper - fri legs, and the following week would be mon upper - wed legs - fri upper... which would balance them out... IMO i wouldn't work any body part / muscle group more then the others...

[Lady C]

A link would help. But without the article I would agree with Kung.

[tyel]

Thanks.

Here are links to a few of the articles I read.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/moser10.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet16.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet46.htm

They all advocate 2x week on legs, which is contrary to everythig else i'd read until yesterday.

Suffice it to say, I am now thoroughly confused.

[kungfu74]

Originally Posted by tyel

Thanks.

Here are links to a few of the articles I read.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/moser10.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet16.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet46.htm

They all advocate 2x week on legs, which is contrary to everythig else i'd read until yesterday.

Suffice it to say, I am now thoroughly confused.

Browsing over the 3 links you provided they are specific to different leg routines and do not mention upper body at all... hitting each muscle group 2 times a week is very common, my suggestion would be if you want to focus on the developement of your legs you could choose one of the routines in those articles as well as a good upper body routine and workthem something like this... Mon - Legs/ Tue - Upper body/ Wednesday - OFF / Thurs - Legs / Friday Upper body / Sat & sun Off ... when you create your upper body workout keep it similar to the routine you choose. One of the leg routines mentioned a lite and a heavy day, in that case do something similar for your upper body workouts...

[SkinnyGal]

I too got that same advance from a trainer last night at my second gym...

I usually work legs on Monday and then i'm sore for two days. So he suggested I split into two days....doing quads Monday and Hamstrings on Wednesday.....Because so far i haven't seen any gains on my twigs

[kungfu74]

Originally Posted by SkinnyGal

I too got that same advance from a trainer last night at my second gym...

I usually work legs on Monday and then i'm sore for two days. So he suggested I split into two days....doing quads Monday and Hamstrings on Wednesday.....Because so far i haven't seen any gains on my twigs

the training may not be the cause or reason you haven't seen any gains...

[SkinnyGal]

Well, if its not the traning...then it must be genetics....i see the gains in the upper body but the legs just have NOT increase in size....

[tyel]

Mon - Legs/ Tue - Upper body/ Wednesday - OFF / Thurs - Legs / Friday Upper body / Sat & sun Off ... when you create your upper body workout keep it similar to the routine you choose. One of the leg routines mentioned a lite and a heavy day, in that case do something similar for your upper body workouts...

Ok, so you are suggesting a full upper body on Tue and Fri? So I'd be hitting all body parts 2x per week, once heavy and once lite? Or would a split be better, something like this:
Mon: Quads and Hamstrings
Tue: Back/Bi/Shoulder
Wed: Off
Thu: Glutes
Fri: Chest/Tri

My specific goals are to work on hamstring, glutes, arms and quads. My calves grow no matter what I do (or don't) and my shoulders/back are very broad/defined and just need to be maintained at this point.

I'm trying to put together a plan that will address those goals and would welcome any suggestions.

[kungfu74]

that sounds like a fine plan to start with... I would pick a few exersizes for each muscle group and repeat this for 6-8 weeks. assess where you have gotten, and what you want to work on next and give them a slight priority. if your happy with the results mix up the exersizes and continue on... have fun with it...

[tyel]

Thanks for your help!