Developing Superior Quads and Hams: High Reps for Huge Legs
by Jason M. Stallworth, posted on December 28th, 2010
by Jason M. Stallworth, posted on December 28th, 2010
I’m going to be honest here and speak for the majority of hardcore weight lifters, powerlifters, and bodybuilding enthusiasts; we love lifting heavy weights. And regardless of what our primary focus is (whether it’s to get stronger, more ripped, or have bigger muscles) we all want to be big at the end of the day. We all want more quality muscle mass. That being said most of us shy away from higher rep ranges. This makes sense because we know that lifting heavy weights overloads the muscle thus making us both bigger and stronger. Well this holds true for upper body but for building big legs the rules changes a little.
The reason you need higher reps to build bigger legs is because legs have a lot more slow twitch muscle fibers in them. Fast switch and slow switch muscle fibers have much to do with how your muscles respond to weight training. Since slow twitch muscle fibers are more efficient with continuous and extended muscle contractions (more reps) it makes sense to train legs with higher rep ranges. I know this goes against the grain of mass training for some of you, but here me out on this.
Let’s get a few things straight about lifting weights to gain mass. This doesn’t mean you should do light weight. In fact, if you’re serious about getting bigger and stronger light weight shouldn’t even be in your vocabulary. Here’s something interesting I’ve found out about leg training; you can push yourself a lot further than you think. I used to train in the 6-10 rep range for legs, especially for heavy compound leg exercises such as squats and leg presses. But being frustrated with my results from my leg workouts I decided it’s time to try something new and went with training legs with higher reps. Now in my mind I thought I was going to have to go light but this wasn’t necessarily the case. I started with 20 reps with my warm up sets on leg press (instead of just doing 10-12). I steadily increased the weight each set and rather than doing my normal rep range which was anywhere from 6-12 (the reps got lower as I increased the weight, obviously) I was surprised that I was able to mentally push through those extra reps. I was doing the same weight on leg press but cranking out 15-20 reps each set (my final heaviest set I was just shy of 15 reps).
The reason you need higher reps to build bigger legs is because legs have a lot more slow twitch muscle fibers in them. Fast switch and slow switch muscle fibers have much to do with how your muscles respond to weight training. Since slow twitch muscle fibers are more efficient with continuous and extended muscle contractions (more reps) it makes sense to train legs with higher rep ranges. I know this goes against the grain of mass training for some of you, but here me out on this.
Let’s get a few things straight about lifting weights to gain mass. This doesn’t mean you should do light weight. In fact, if you’re serious about getting bigger and stronger light weight shouldn’t even be in your vocabulary. Here’s something interesting I’ve found out about leg training; you can push yourself a lot further than you think. I used to train in the 6-10 rep range for legs, especially for heavy compound leg exercises such as squats and leg presses. But being frustrated with my results from my leg workouts I decided it’s time to try something new and went with training legs with higher reps. Now in my mind I thought I was going to have to go light but this wasn’t necessarily the case. I started with 20 reps with my warm up sets on leg press (instead of just doing 10-12). I steadily increased the weight each set and rather than doing my normal rep range which was anywhere from 6-12 (the reps got lower as I increased the weight, obviously) I was surprised that I was able to mentally push through those extra reps. I was doing the same weight on leg press but cranking out 15-20 reps each set (my final heaviest set I was just shy of 15 reps).
So there you have it. Start pushing yourself to do more reps on leg day. Remember this is going to be more of a mental push. Always shoot for at least 15 reps but don’t decrease the amount of weight you’re used to doing unless you’ve been doing only 5-6 reps with bad form (lacking full range of motion); in that case, you need to lighten the weight whether you’re doing more reps or not. Form is imperative for leg training if you want big legs, but we’ll save that for another day. Do more reps for bigger legs.
TheMuscleProgram.com
Train with Passion
