How To Build Massive Legs Naturally (The Definitive Guide to Go From Twigs to Tree Trunks!)
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Let's talk about building big legs naturally! Because if there is one single thing that I have accomplished during my time in the weight room it's building a pair of juicy, meaty thighs.
My thigh circumference peaked at 27 inches (weighing just 170lbs) the last time I measured them, which is somewhat comical for my frame size and body weight. But they weren't always this big! Not even close. In fact, they actually started out quite twiggy back in the day.
As soon as I got started with serious weight training though I immediately wanted to turn my twigs intro tree trunks. Sporting a pair of tree trunk thighs became the ultimate symbol of power to me, so I started squatting hard and heavy in my early 20s in hopes of achieving this worthy goal for myself.
And I've learned a few things along the way! So today I want give you guys the formula for success here. How I took my legs from twigs to tree trunks as a natural lifter, and the exact formula that will help you to do the same.
Please remember to smash the like button before you go and leave me a friendly comment down below! And feel free to share this video with anyone you know who may be in need of building up their twiggy legs into a pair of tree trunks of their own!
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RESOURCES & REFERENCES
The Secret To Building Huge Legs Fast: 20 Rep Squats
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How To Build HUGE QUADS Naturally
• How To Build HUGE Quad...
Unlock NEXT LEVEL Gains With Hatfield Squats (LEVEL UP YOUR LEGS!)
• Unlock NEXT LEVEL Gain...
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The formula for building BIG LEGS (naturally)
6:23 Breaking down the formula (Step 1)
8:05 You must make a concerted effort to build STRENGTH
11:05 Breaking down the formula (Step 2)
15:55 Pump up the VOLUME!
19:49 There's no way around the hard work
21:01 There's nothing wrong with having different goals!
#natty #bodybuilding #legday #legworkout #quads #powerlifting #fitness #enkirielitefitness #muscle - Розваги
As an experienced lifter I think your path to success has confirmed to you it is the path to success. But it isn’t. Doing max singles and triples with form that relies massively on the lower back is not how to get massive legs. If you continually stayed with high reps, strict technique, progressively getting stronger… do you not think the end goal would have been achieved faster? It would have been. So drop the “strength first bullshit”. Strength will be achieved by high reps,great technique, sleep, and good nutrition. With a faster achievement of hypertrophy.
Noobs squatting 95lbs for 20 reps will earn nothing but bad technique habits and small injuries from their efforts.
His high rep training was so potent precisely because it was a "missing link", something he was new to and inexperienced in, but he already had his technique dialed in from years of training before that, and he was already an advanced lifter.
I guarantee you for a fact, someone who trained 10 years with high reps, switches over to strength work, blows up their strength, and experiences the same benefits that Alec did from high rep training, because for this person, strength is the "missing link".
Luckily, the choice isn't binary like you present it to be. You can do both.
So, do both.
Nah bro. If you can only squat 135 by 5, you cannot squat 225 by 10 to get the dose of stress that 225 by 10 can give you.
You can try to progress by sets of ten to get to that point, but what you are going to find out the hard way is that at a certain point you have sent a stronger signal to pace yourself for reps, than to fire harder into the bar to get more weight, and you will get stuck hard. You won't progress in load because your specific adaptation that you gained is to hold back to get all ten reps.
Your body won't let you use enough for that weight jump, because you put the governor on it.
Another thing. Your body responds to what it perceives to be an existential threat. The leg press, or hack squat are just a lot less threatening. The squat however, threatens the spine, and your body will defend that viciously, by adapting everywhere that shared the stress. That weight clearly threatens to crush you. Your body tells you to stop before each rep. The stimulus from squatting, dwarfs that of a machine, and as a natural, you need that.
Look, I sympathize with you. As a noob, you will always be wrong according to somebody. Everything I just said, you are going to have to learn the hard way, due to the noise you've heard previously. I hope you can accidentally do the right shit long enough to benefit from it at some point. Because that is the only way you have a chance.
Ouch. The pin of shame
@@cjparkeffaking4551He's right though.
@@popcornto6032 I stand by what I said. At no point Am I suggesting you don’t employ progressive overload.
Go to any gym, it is full of inexperienced lifters with terrible squat form, small legs, using way way to heavy weight. If my advice was followed, it would be a much quicker path to developing big legs. “High reps was the missing piece of the puzzle” - it is the puzzle. Have great technique in respect to your leverages, train very hard, do good ranges of motion - you will get big legs. Singles and triples do nothing but encourage misguided ppl to ego lift. Now, if you are an experienced lifter, go ahead, do singles and triples, but it is not what caused the bulk of hypertrophy. The evidence for this everywhere… but men have an attachment being “strong” and appearing strong. Clouds our thinking
“If your reps are weak and you are natty, surely you won’t be walking around with a fatty”
Bloho?
@@innovatixn99coath said chicks tell him he's ripped irl.
Non negotiable.
As a fellow 27 inch leg natty lifter, here's what worked for me (in the simplest terms possible):
Heavy Squatting movement (the more knee flexion the better generally) - I'm a big fan of SSB squats but any barbell or machine squat pattern works great as long as you're don't turn it too much into a hip hinge frankenstein lift
Heavy hip hinge - huge fan of RDLs, SLDLs, even some regular ass deadlifts and hip thrusts.
Some lighter Unilateral leg work - BSS, lunges, reverse lunges, etc, you can get various ones that bias quads or glutes more etc
Some form of Hamstring curl - machine or nordics are both great, I rotate between them every now and then
Other things to throw in sometimes that could be helpful:
Leg extensions - basically free quad volume without the extra systemic fatigue of doing more compounds when you've done plenty
Direct Adductor work
Lighter hip hinges (good mornings, back extensions, reverse hypers, GHD, etc)
For isolation work, esp leg extensions and curls, you can make great gains really getting deep stretches and even lengthened partials beyond failure, I find legs respond super well to that stuff
Oh and I also do some sled work, so I'll reduce some volume in the other categories to accomodate for heavy sled pushes/drags. Sleds also have plenty of other benefits, but if I'm being honest I built most of my leg mass before ever starting sled work
Thats a way I like to look at my leg training and it works super well for me.
TLDR
Heavy squat pattern
Heavy hip hinge
A few lighter isolations/accessories to round them off
Go heavy on the compounds and really push beyond your limits for the isolations. Ta da!
Theres so many ways to get big legs, this is just how I think of my training and I hope some people can find it helpful
Love the content Alec! Your vids always make me think about how I view my training and goals
EDIT: I also find that doing explosive leg work like jumps and sprints before my heavy squats works WONDERS. I always feel so good and my CNS fired up doing squats after plyos
Legit comment bro
Thanks for your insight my man! Best of luck with your training.
how is your leg training frequency ?
@@tsimo9472 Currently twice a week, though one day will be a lot more squat focused and another will be a lot more hinge focused. So you could say once or twice depending on how you slice it. Two leg days with biases. My quads get hit hard one day and my glutes/hams get hit hard another.
???????? you literally counted everything. what about the part that works out. your tip has nothing special.
even beginners know heavy knee flexion + heavy hip hinge + unilateral isolation is the way
Thanks for the video bro, hope you have a great weekend!
Great stuff, as always! Just recently watched you vertical jump videos, so this goes nicely along with it :)
There's nothing more fun than training for power and athletic goals! Good luck man.
Doing accessory exercises for neglected hip muscles/movements is important. Many people leave lots of easy gains on the table by neglecting hip adductors, hip abductors, hip flexors.
The adductors (groin muscles) are one of the biggest groups of muscles in the body. Specifically they add thickness to your upper thighs from the front. The adductor magnus is trained well with compound leg exercises, but the rest of the adductor muscles are very much undertrained in most lifters.
The abductors are a smaller muscle group but have an outsized impact on appearance. Specifically: the gluteus medius gives you the "shelf" that makes your butt look bigger and waist look thinner from the side.
The hip flexors are also a very large muscle group but they are not visible as they run deep to the abs and quads. However growing the hip flexors will add thickness to your lower trunk and upper thighs, making more superficial muscles appear larger. This is analogous to how rhomboids contribute to thickness of upper back and make traps look larger. Additionally, one of the quad muscles (the rectus femoris) acts as a hip flexor so hip flexion exercises can contribute to quad development.
See this great article: www.strongerbyscience.com/neglected-movements-muscles/
Glad to hear you appreciated my article! Many athletes can benefit from training those movements directly even if only a very low volume is used to do so.
can the abductors enlarge your thighs on the outside and thus increase the thigh circumference? and can the hip flexors also increase the circumference of the thighs and push them out more?
@@ew-zd1th Given that the muscle bellies of the primary hip abductor muscles don't meaningfully descend past the hip, their size won't have a notable effect on thigh circumference. Increasing the size of these muscles can increase circumference of the hip/buttock region. In contrast, increasing the size of the hip flexor muscles can certainly increase thigh circumference, especially in the upper thigh region.
@@gillpeakperformance4945 thank you for the answer. Do you think hanging knee raises for hip flexor are enought?
@@ew-zd1th The answer for you as an individual will depend on the context of the rest of your training and your priorities. However as a general answer, if most lifters perform 2 quality sets of hanging leg raises twice per week, they will receive most of the benefit that could be achieved from any type of more elaborate and time intensive hip flexor training.
Personally i have to do a lot of work with machines in order to target my quads. I have a naturally big arse. My glutes will steal as much work as they can from my free weight squats (no matter the bar, wedge or placement.). Something about that stabilization frees up my quads to actually push.
But i totally agree with getting after some heavy fucking weight. I dont program for strength specifically (just double progression in a hypertrophy context) but im pushing hard in low, medium and high reps.
You really have to say fuck it and push yourself with legs.
Something I found well building my legs was it helped me stabilize for everything else and of course that makes perfect sense but people don't emphasize how much it helps. Every upper body lift of mine went up because I could dig my legs in.
High rep bodyweight squats the last few months flat foot and heels elevated have done wonders for my quads and somewhat hams
Let's go dude!
When Dr.Enkiri speaks, I listen ftw✌️
i put on most of my leg size with lunge variations. as a result im probably stronger lunging vs squatting than other people. I only had powerblocks going up to 90lbs for the first 5 years of my training, so you best believe I spammed reverse lunges, split squats, and RDLs.
Sounds like a great plan!
What do you think of sprint training on top of low rep & high rep squats? The 100 yard dash can be about 17 reps per side, good hard reps in the hypertrophic range. For me it seems to activate that primal survival drive, too, especially since I've run away to save my butt and towards to help buds.
Also, keeping the sprint tuned up while adding strength and size maintains or improves speed.
I admire your speed as much as your strength. I can't imagine a better person to ask about this.
I was a “don’t need a squat for big legs” bro until I started squatting. Legs ballooned up with no other leg training. Shits wild. Squats are a must for me now
I liked the vid and read some comments lol. I'll watch it after work.
Front squats, hack squats and split squats are all you need for big quads and rdls and seated leg curls for hams
Great video! Commenting for the algorithm
I saw an apparatus for front squats that you wear and you can front squat hands free. I also really like the idea that you can hold on :)
yes! there are harnesses available. It's on my purchase list for the future. just haven't decided which one i want to buy yet.
I don't know........looks like a lot of "feminine sweep" to me.......just kidding Alec! I'm 54, and I still love training legs. Steady diet of zercher squats and front squats (I train at home with no rack) and RDLs have my legs looking better than ever. Also, crazy enough, while many guys my age are suffering from unspecific "lower back" problems , I have no pain at all in my lower back. Crazy how that works. Young guys listen up, "chest and biceps" days are overrated. Build your legs and back first!
Nonspecific lower back pain the bane of humanity. Glad to hear you are kicking its ass my man! I hope to be doing the same at your age as well.
had to show some love towards kinobody😂😂😂
I’ve been getting success with a pyramid set working up to a hard double and then doing around 3 high rep sets on a variation with a better stimulus to fatigue ratio.
That's how I do it as well. Strength work on the classic staples. High rep work on variations of the staples that are less (mentally) taxing.
Excellent point! More strength = more load = more mechanical tension = more hypertrophy
Barbell reverse lunge, front squat, low bar. Rdls. Hamstring curls.
Simple, just hard freaking work
Excellent video. Hypertrophy and to a lesser degree strength comes from employing a variety of rep ranges.
Almost like basic periodization. You start out with higher reps and try to keep the reps high as you increase the weight.
At a certain point you will no longer be able to perform the same reps with the heavier weight. By default you then are doing "heavy" low rep sets. Maybe progressing from 10-15 to 8-12 to 6-8 and so on. At a certain point you will plateu in your strength all together at which point you resume the higher rep work hopefully at a slightly heavier weight than the previous cycle. Linear periodization 101. Obviously there are some drawbacks to Linear periodization and that is why there are other periodization models. However, the sentiment remains the same. Vary up reps and load always with a goal of becoming stronger.
Hey Alec, can you please talk about tendon elasticity and how that plays a role in Vertical jump?
I know you have and Elite 40"+ Vertical (especially at 35 yrs old), but somehow that's not surprising at all considering your squatting strength.
What fascinates me is that some guys have 40"+ Verticals, but can't Squat even 1.5x BW (many don't even lift at all, so an untrained 1.5x BW Squat is just being generous).
Do you think this is largely genetic, or can plyometrics and mobility/flexibility alone have such a drastic effect in the long term?
Furthermore, do you think being low Bodyweight (and Bodyfat) is even more important than relative Strength? For example a 150lbs guy Squatting 300lbs, bulks up to 180lbs, and increases his Squat to 400lbs, while having continued his plyometrics, but becomes slower and jumps less high. Why would that be?
Oh my Quad! I'll meet you calf-way
for me a huge positive results was gained while going from free weight squats to a bunch of machines including hack squat, leg curl and abductor/adductor machines. I was able to push myself further beyond without risk of injury which was getting kinda close with free weights, because if you push yourself hard enough with free weights- form deteriorates anyways because some muscles fail earlier than others so you overcompensate
In my experience all core and back muscles tire a lot faster than the legs when doing strictly freeweight squats and deadlifts. Those are the responsible muscles of progressive form deterioration. Forearms also fatigue easily in deadweight exercises.
The best get around for that to me, is using machines like hacksquat or leg press.
@@Koraxus lazy meathead bodybuilder excuses
Always going to click on leg training content. Legs and back are my favourite.
Hope it helps ya bro! Nothing here you don't already know though, I'm sure 😉
Excellent
No need for machines if you havent felt the true horrors of bulgarian split squats. I do love to switch up between the hack squat/belt squat and legg press each training cycle, but only after heavy squats are done for that day
Great video dude!
What would you say are the most important muscles to train for overall weight gain?
From a volumetric standpoint I read that glutes, quads, triceps and shoulders are the biggest muscles in the body but wanted your opinion on this
Weight gain ? What do you mean ? Back and hamstrings are also key
I would say glutes, quads, hams, and the entire back.
Train everything for weight gain. Glutes and Quads are the biggest muscles in the body. And delts are the largest upper body muscle. But that doesn't mean that other muscles are less important. Honestly, to maximize the amount of muscle you put on, even train some of the often neglected muscles like calves, forearms, and neck.
Plot twist. Alec was a bodybuilder all along. Just with a leg dominant goal physique. 😊
The next Tom Platz
Before watching probably gonna be
Squats, squats, squats, maybe machine guided squats if you like them, and more squats
hahaha not too far off!
27 inch legs at 170 pounds is truly monstrous for a natty. I'm currently at 26 inches myself but I'm 179 pounds.
My starting point was 135 or less my legs were 21 inches. The most I've squatted was 315 on a box below parallel (almost got 325) at that point my legs were around 24 inches I switched to a atg pause squat got 225 x 5 and 205 for a 3 x 5 and my legs are now around 26 inches but I've also made improvements to my hammies and especially my abductors. I'm only 1.5 years into training at 15 almost 16
I'm 6'2 and ( a former competitive swimmer) have 26 Inch thighs I've always been SUPER self conscious of my body. But now at the age of 39 I've grown more confident in my body and currently have 16 1/2 inch biceps..not huge but large compared to the overall size I used to be.
I want echo what some other people have said, but from a "functional" standpoint.
Bald omni man has been increasing his calf size. I was wondering how that would help athletic performance. You want to give it a shot?
Bro are you telling me that my bosu ball, unilateral, overhead balance quarter calf raises for sets of 50 arent going to get me tree trunk thighs??? :(
I hate that you & Bromley have me doing high rep front squats lately.
F you guys! (But I'll be back to thank you when my legs are big &juicy)
27" is freaking titanic man
I think there are a few factors that can help explain your observation that pure "bodybuilding" training will not build huge legs if your legs are not also decently strong. If people never really train for strength they may not learn how to brace and breathe properly, and then the limiting factor when doing a set may end up being cardiovascular conditioning/core tightness/etc, so even if someone approaches failure it won't necessarily be the legs that fail. Another factor is that with back squats it is fairly simple to lean forward a bit more during a rep to help take the load off your quads and put it more on your hips, which may let people think they are getting stronger when their quads are still a limiting factor.
The bracing point is interesting. So many people love to counter about how they get better leg results from machine exercises, and while that mayebe true to some extent, I would agree with you that a *lack of skill* at free weight leg exercises is the primary culprit to blame for that. Lack of skill at movement patterns, lack of skill at bracing, lack of skill at pushing yourself and embracing the difficulty.
Machine work just makes it easier. But as such, the ROI is lower thab if you simply invested the time to master a variety of free weight leg exercises. That's where the magic happens, but that is not a path for the faint of heart.
Is unilateral leg exercises as good for strength/size ?
Friendly comment for the channel gainz.
I don't want 27 inch quads anyway. And the grapes I can't reach are actually sour.
Low rep squat sets with short rests are good for size too. I used to squat 8x3 with 30 seconds to 1 minute rest between sets with over 400 lbs and had 29 inch thighs. I’m too old for that now, haha. Now I do barbell squats followed by smith machine squats just to stay functional.
8x3 with 30 second rest with 400lb 😮.
That's just crazy man.
That's crazy impressive man! Anyone who can do that will have monstrous legs no doubt (even if they can't do that anymore!)
@@popcornto6032Ed Coan inspired. I copied one of his workouts from Powerlifting USA years ago.
@@EnkiriEliteMy calves are still big but trying to get the quads back up. All of the new info out these days is helping. Figuring out things on my own too.
But my legs do chaff together though. I was in Nashville last weekend and only walked a couple miles and now I have two mini rug burns between my thighs. I got about 28 inch thighs depending where you measure. I'm not really strong. it just got big legs naturally.
I WANT GREEK COLUMN LEGS. THANK YOU ALEC
well yeah- it's simple- but not easy))) been on the journey myself)
enkiri do you think doing stationary cycling cardio for an hour and a half on off days during a fullbody 3x a week routine will stunt my leg size and strength gains?
not once you are acclimated to it
Alec I know it is not related 100 percent to video but I hope you read my comment, i am a pro basketball player for more than 15 years and i am really getting frustrated with the way things are in strenght and co in basketball and sports in general, nobody wants to work for strenght and hypertrofy and train force production anymore.. I am sure you agree with me 100%
There is this new guy in nba, first pick rookie named Victor Wembanyama and his potential on the basketball court is something never seen before..
He is 7 foot 4 and 210 and as you can imagine very very tall slim and weak..
The theme about his training is how his coaching staff wants to make him stronger but they dont want him to bulk up.. but how do you get stronger with out getting bigger it is mind blowing for me?!?
Of course they talk a lot about stability and core and from what i have seen He is also doing this new age functional training with small weights..
I dont know how much you follow basketball but can you check this guy out and maybe in the future make video about how would you train him..
i am afraid that He is on a wrong path and things will get really tough for him if He doesn’t improve his size, gain 30-40 pounds over time and get a lot stronger then He is now..
Thank you in advance
Odd that the coaching staff would want to keep someone that size lanky after Shaq dominated for so many years almost solely due to his frame size lol I don't follow basketball much anymore, but that's a pretty cool topic and I may dig into it to make a video! Thanks for the input man!
What kind of jeans do recommend for people with big legs?
Is it impossible to get bigger/ stronger legs without a gym nearby? I feel like I can do body weight squats for ages but not see any real result in my legs. Please if anyone can help me out.
I think femur length is important here. Those with poor squat leverages really need to prioritise quad-biasing techniques when squatting. Just chasing more weight and reps might only get their posterior chain bigger.
I never said you couldn't bias your squats in a quad dominant fashion, did I?
@@EnkiriElite Just highlighting a caveat for those with poor leverages/ hip-dominant squats to consider.
I elevate my heels substantially when doing so is in line with my goals for the session!
Like the video but im curious as to why the strength work (defined as 1-5 reps) is completely necessary, wouldn't you have made similar or even better results doing squats for hard sets of 8-12 on a double progression for 5+ years? Also, most advice i hear regarding strength (from natties) is to build a base first using volume, and then using that base size to make rapid strength gains via neurological adaptations? Or am i missing something
No I would not have made better results because I would not have increased my ability to produce force substantially enough to maximize progress.
Also, with beginners I avoid both low reps and high reps on complex movements such as squats until the motor pattern is sufficiently ingrained. Repeat set of 4-6 with challenging bit submax loads tends to be the sweet spot for that initial strength development, with each successive pass through a mesocycle using progressively higher intensities by the end, until you are actually using truly "heavy" weights (but still for reps).
Initial adaptations to strength training are almost exclusively neurological, not structural anyway, as renovating structure is a long term process. This is well documented. Doing high rep sets with a trainee who can't maintain form for high reps simply forces you to use LESS weight while accumulating more LOW QUALITY reps than you would by using parameters better suited to somebody at that level of skill
@@EnkiriElite thanks for the reply! Will try and keep this in mind and use the 4-6 range more.
I sold my squat rack when I moved and have been doing split squats and pistol squats since. Do you think I need to get a squat rack or does a heavy single deadlift hit the conjugate style you propose?
Do cleans and front squats.
Strength training is not dependent on which modalities you use….Load the pistol!!!
Glutes/Hammies for explosiveness? Any tips as I’ve got quite weak hammies (just getting into squats again)
Just nail the posterior chain, RLs, Good Mornings, heavy hypers, ghrs, Hip thrusts, etc. No secrets there man, just hard work.
@@EnkiriElitethank you brother, hope all is well.
When you say squat do you refer only to barbell squats or does hack squat and v squat machines count also
When I say "squat" I am referring to any free weight squatting variation, not a machine exercise.
Be interested to know if you think this philosophy applies to other big muscle groups such as back, chest?
In many respects, yes I do. Need to adjust accordingly, but the overarching message still applies.
I’m 200 pound and got 26 inch quads. Got some fat on them though. Doing split squats rn
Are you using dumbbells or a barbell for the split squats?
@@Cam-gn6uk today was dumbbells. I messed around with an ssb bar once. I’m probably gonna alternate between them. Ssb on squat day and dumbbells on deadlift day. I’m not as consistent as I should be with accessories
Where do you typically measure when measuring your legs? Cause in shorts my legs look small af (teardrop/calves), but my thighs are 26". I'm also not fat, 6'0" 195lbs, 15% bodyfat
Femur length may play a role. If you have long femurs, then 26” will look smaller on you than on someone with shorter femurs
@@timmerss9423 Makes sense. Yeah they're really long. Very difficult to grow the legs.
@@barbellbryce i'm 6'6 with 28" thighs at 250lbs, decently lean. my legs dont look huge... but they are lol. it's not difficult to grow legs, they just need to grow proportionally more to look as impressive as someone smaller with the same size thighs.
@@someguy8281 Honestly this is pretty good even if not in the traditional Olympia sense. If I went 28" on my legs at my height I'd likely end up with some serious mobility problems despite how impressive it actually looks.
What do you think of situps done in a ghd machine
good way to get some extra ROM in the abs at end range (usually obstructed by the floor), so if the goal is abdominal hypertrophy or just dynamic ab training then this exercise can be very effective.
Is it required to be in a high protein diet after u have done gaining like 80% of ur muscle and just wanna maintain them?
No
@10:04 😮Bruh...I'm not saying you need an exorcist.... but I'm not saying you don't....
I'm getting stronger legs. Should be passing 400 lbs after this program. But I'm starting to wonder, what is the point of building strong legs if they are sore 3 days after you squat anyways 😂😢
Eventually you can stop the hard ass work that you are doing (or at least drastically reduce it) and the strength you built will endure in spite of that reduction. That's the benefit!
21:20 LOL
Algo 🎉
What about all the sled work you've been doing?
I'm on and off with sled work. If I did it consistently for long duration sets then there is no reason to believe that it wouldn't contribute to leg hypertrophy. Although it does lack an eccentric component so that is also something to consider.
Serious question: how can one walk with T-Rex-like thighs without experiencing constant chafing?
Use Baby powder. And stay lean.
What about if we want calves the same size as our thighs?
Get fat and spam calf raises
@@EnkiriEliteI'm fat, can confirm
How come the same principles didn't work on your pec muscles?
Never cared to do the hypertrophy part.
i have this belief that i need to get my typical ass squats to 315 and deadlift to 405 then start adding accesories.
because, i do fullbody 3x a week so i won't have time to add accesories.
That's a decent strategy if you care only about Strength and muscle mass. Personally I never did any accessories, save for Good Mornings for a period of a couple months. I got my LowBar Squat to 419lbs and my Deadlift to 485lbs by doing nothing but Squats and Deadlifts. In hindsight I regret not working on mobility earlier, or branching out to weak points like the Front Squat earlier. But that's more so for athleticism, which I care about. I still got massive strong legs by doing what I did.
Though you should still include something like a Romanian Deadlift, or a Heel elevated Squat. Simply replace your normal Squat or Deadlift with one of these once a week.
Example:
Day 1:
Heavy Squat
RDL/Good Morning
Calf work
Day 2:
Light Squat
Calves/Abs
Day 3:
Heavy Deadlift
Heel elevated Squat
@@batataandshawarmalover Actually that's what i do (ONLY FOR DEADLIFT).
i do the typical A and B workout for full body.
i squat in both(your normal squat the same rep range 3/5 for 4-6)
but for the DL i do RDL in A 2/3 for 6-10
and in B i do the normal DL 1 for 5
PS: bare in mind i'm still a novice, been training for a year and 1/2 ( I know it's a lot on the paper but since i started skinny i still believe that i can milk more vof my novice gain.
@@TheGymMan20good luck man, your plan sounds solid!
And yeah, 1.5 years doesn't mean you can't milk out more linear progression. You certainly can and that's a great thing.
Most of intermediate training is actually not that different. Hammer a weak point by overloading it with volume, and linearly progressing the weights/reps visa double progression for a few months, then shifting focus towards other points in training.
Alec himself literally does that at the Elite level after 15+ years of training and it still works. It just takes a longer run way (ie he starts for example at 70%, and goes to 102% within 4-6 months, whereas a novice overloads every workout, ie it's always 100% > 101% etc.) and is more periodized so you can't improve everything at the same time, at least not maximum improvements.
High percentage of lifters don’t understand. Strength to weight ratio is the most important attribute for athletics. If you gain size you better utilize your gains and circle back around with your programming and make sure you increase your strength even more! Or your size increase is MEANINGLESS!
Knees over toes explodes vmos
Friendly comment well - deserved! 😊
Thank you sir. I hope you found the video helpful!
@@EnkiriEliteof course! Your content is top notch! 👌
Friendly comment
🤝💪
What about guys like GVS? He would disagree on a number of points, including that machine work isn’t as good as squats, and that you couldn’t exclusively do hypertrophy work to get big legs.
Gvs don't got big legs
@@EnkiriElite his leg are 26 inches aren’t they? What about bald omni man
I only ask because a lot of this advice seems counter to what I’ve heard from a lot of the other noble nattys. Aw someone who’s really only interested in size I don’t understand why strength work is necessary.
@@fartfacestudios I don't know what size gvs legs are. I just know that they are small on his frame.
Bald omni man has strong legs, so him switching to primarily hypertrophy oriented work at this stage in his training career falls exactly in line with what I am saying here.
@@fartfacestudios NH also has strong legs. So regardless of what his current stance is...still falls in line with what I am saying.
All that said, listen to whatever advice speaks to you dude. I'm not forcing you to follow what im saying and I don't have a gun to your head. If it doesn't smell right to you, then listen to whatever does. But I would encourage you to rewatch the video and actually hear what I am saying before you jump to conclusions about it. A lot of people in these comments *think* they know what I'm saying....but the way they are responding here makes it clear to me they don't.
Hugh Theighs. 😂
Goddang.
I can't even use machines. God made me wrong, my right adductor tries to do all the work on the leg press, or hack squat. It strains itself, and retires me every damn time.
It's probably a blessing in disguise though. I gotta ask, do I really want my ability to press to outpace my ability to stabilize? Cause that is what the leg press trains.
Agreed 💯 but not everyone sees it that way. Some people just want a big old slab of impotent meat hanging off their legs 😂
21:02 🫠
W
actually the freakiest looking legs on the net
Great video, but you don’t really need the strength phase to build big legs. Just build your squat in the moderate rep range, using progressive overload. The strength will come as a byproduct of the size you will put on.
Is what the dogma says, yes.
Is that how it works in reality for natural lifters? No, not in my experience. If you skip out on one phase or the other the system eventually puts the brakes on and progress stops. The problem is that people don't understand how to *actually* do proper strength work. They have an image in their head based on what they have seen on the internet that is not what I mean when I say the term.
@@EnkiriElite Bearing in mind that the video’s premise was on building size, why would you need to drop below 5 reps? Doesn’t the fact that you unlocked your own size gains through higher reps suggest that you might have have gotten there solely through 5-30 from the beginning?
(I also liked your video on GVS and getting shredded, but GVS has a high rep training approach with pretty chunky legs and no signs of hitting the natty limit).
Keep putting out the great content you do.
@@richardbramwell8687 no, I don't think it does suggest that....for the exact reasons I laid out in the video lol. Regardless, just because somebody is training in the 4-6 rep range to build strength (I never said a thing about max singles, doubles, or even triples being a necessary part of the strength acquisition process) doesn't mean that they are going all out. This is where the disconnect lies. Its very easy to build a base of strength over a period of 1-2 years with simple linear progression mesocycles stacked on top of each other, slowly encroaching on weights that in the true 90% range. And this base will create a foundation to build off of for years and years to come.
People just don't do it right because they don't understand the process. They think it is something else entirely, as your comments also indicate.
But no, i do not believe that an inexperienced and weak trainee knows how to get very much productivity or value out of high rep training the sake of the high rep training. I've seen it too many times and set too many people onto the path of their goals in a matter of months (where they failed over and over again over the course of years) to believe otherwise.
@@EnkiriElite Fair enough. I appreciate the significance of your experience training. For my part, as an inexperienced lifter I progressed my squat to 12 x 100kg over the first 9 months of training, with no work in the low rep range. My legs were about 25 inches and I then began to reduce the reps to find my 1RM max was in the region of 125kg.
I don't consider myself to be incredibly strong, as my focus is on hypertrophy, but I think I've made fairly decent progress over my first couple of years training. I think that the mindset of pushing each set as much as I could and making some progress from week to week drove that progress, and that I would have made similar progress in size in the 4-6 rep range. I'll admit, I might be stronger if I focussed my training around that range - but that wasn't my goal.
@@EnkiriElite I’m impress with your sprint/agility, especially with your 27” quads. Can you make a video on how your size doesn’t impede your agility.
Algo
22:10 sounds like a hit at Athlean x (he doesn’t have big legs)
This is probably the best way for enhanced guys too. Majority of dudes aren’t gonna turn into Ronnie with a bottle of juice and lackluster training haha
No doubt man! But as we have seen from the advice that often gets doled out, it does let me some people get away with less than ideal leg training...and *some* of them build big legs this way (not all though!).
Don't diss Kinobody's sleek and slender legs😤😤😤
😅😂
😀
The title should include "upper". How to build UPPER legs
Thats implied. Legs are legs and calves are calves.
@@EnkiriElite Calves aren't part of the legs?
That's a new one.
@@powskierthey're called calves. Glad I could be of service in clearing this up for you!
7 sets of 10 295lbs back squats
7 x 10 is a looooot of volume 😮 what % of 1rm is 295 for you??
I need big legs
gotta work for it brotha. it's simple, but it ain't easy.
The real reason why many lifters don't have huge legs is because its hard ass work and takes a long time to build up. Plain and simple. Tom Platz was known for his legs he did them heavy and high rep. Just sayin' the quadfather might have had a point
I've noticed that your lifts (squats, front squats, others) are ridiculous for your size; I'm 200 pounds and your strength makes me look bad.. would love to increase strength and size, and it looks like I had part of the equation right, I have been trying to increase strength, but have focused solely on low rep work and will now be incorporating higher rep work.
His Squatting Strength is absurd regardless of Bodyweight.
455lbs Front squat and 530lbs Back Squat are unheard of, especially the Front squat.
People talk about 2x BW Squat as the hallmark of Squatting Strength, this dude does that for 20 reps LMFAO and does like 2.7x BW on Front squat.
Once you start gaining strength to weight ratio you will understand the size has little meaning!!!
Simple but hard 😅.
*training science nerds switching off the video*
One doesn't have to do tons squats that destroy you spine, and weird exercises like box jumps and pistol squats.
Just belt squat and work your hamstrings for big wheels, as proven by the master Louis Simmons. You will save your spine , stay off injury into your golden years.
Frankly I doubt the conclusion that you draw that heavy Squats and axial loading = destroyed spine.
You can't just take extreme anecdotes of PED users who lifted 800+lbs with bad programming and all kinds of equipment, and got spine problems because of that, and now say that natties working up to 400-500lbs on Squat, will inevitably suffer the same consequences.
By every metric we can measure, Squatting actually helps you in the long term. More bone density and muscle mass around the areas that tend to melt down first with age (hips and legs), and that are vital to maintaining function and health into old age.
do u not do calve and tibialis training bevore squating? your calves look... lacking...then again big calves are freaking overdated
Just saying this worked for him. It won’t necessarily work for you. There’s this guy at my gym with huge fucking legs and he doesn’t barbell squat he uses machines and squats on the smith machine. Everyone is different and this might work for you or it might not doesn’t mean this guy is right or wrong
I prefer to have twiks a car destroyed my legs. 😢
🧑🏿🌾🔫👮🏻♂️
0 calves
cope
his quads ate them
Probably fat fellow talking shit cause he has only fat calves bruh so funny.
Overwatch 2? Really? The only 0 I see here is your taste in video games as well as your other free time hobbies.
@@JoeyCentral You’re gay