T Nation

Best Lower Body Regime?

Bodybuilding
#1

Hi,

I’m looking to start a program focusing on lower body strength (as much as it is sensible to specialise for a relative beginer - 5 months lifting.)

I’ve had good experiences with Waterbury methods before, but most of what i find seems to be more for size. who/what programs have people had good experiences with for these goals:

Essentially, i’m looking to build a really solid base to specialise from (i will specialise for rowing - but it makes more sense to first get good numbers all round?). I will be rowing hard (long aerobic and high intensity anerobic) 5-6 days a week during the program btw.

my stats are: 200lbs, 6’3, approx 14-15%bf
bench: 5@200.
squat: 5@200 (full ROM).
Dead: 5@250. (all not internet exagerated btw)

Thanks,

Lunchmeat.

#2

If you want to get technical, then check for Ian King (i believe it’s his) leg programs on here. Otherwise, just train those lifts hard. With a squat that is only as heavy as your bodyweight (congrats of full rom though), it doesn’t sound like you’ve done a lot of squatting.

#3

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=614400

Pillars of Strength
A Cure for Light Bulb Syndrome
by Christian Thibaudeau

check that out maybe youll be interested

#4

Are your goals related to your rowing? If so I’d pick a routine or system that includes plenty of posterior chain work but wont burn you out too much to perform well in your sport practices. I admit I am biased towards the westside method, but I think their ideas can be applied to most sports with a wee bit of tweaking here and there.

Also, Christian Thibaudeau wrote a programme on one of these forums for (i think) a hockey player - that contained 2 days of strength work and 2 days of endurance work. I’m not completely familiar with the sport of rowing but I’m guessing something similar may benefit you. Run a search for more info…

#5

How about Nitro Squat program by John Davies? It has squatting 3x a week, but with different variants each workout. It’s worth a look…

#6

[quote]slotan wrote:
How about Nitro Squat program by John Davies? It has squatting 3x a week, but with different variants each workout. It’s worth a look…[/quote]

wow thanks… the Nitro Squat program looks absolutely perfect! i’ll start on that monday. I’ve tried 8 weeks of Ian King’s 12 Weeks of Pain, but the DOMS where too much to allow decent training on the ergs.

Does anyone know how i can best complement this to add the upper body in? if i add 2 days on that, is a 5-day a week at gym + 5-6 ergs a week definate overtraining, or do i stand a chance with lots of sleep, good nutrition and a good atitude?

#7

[quote]Lunchmeataphobia wrote:
slotan wrote:
How about Nitro Squat program by John Davies? It has squatting 3x a week, but with different variants each workout. It’s worth a look…

wow thanks… the Nitro Squat program looks absolutely perfect! i’ll start on that monday. I’ve tried 8 weeks of Ian King’s 12 Weeks of Pain, but the DOMS where too much to allow decent training on the ergs.

Does anyone know how i can best complement this to add the upper body in? if i add 2 days on that, is a 5-day a week at gym + 5-6 ergs a week definate overtraining, or do i stand a chance with lots of sleep, good nutrition and a good atitude?[/quote]

Do some upper body after the lower body. I did 3 x 3 bench/row one day, HSPU and weighted chin another, and one day of exclusive lower body training. I also included a lot of supplementary ab work. This really blew my legs up.

#8

Lunges with DBs no rest then
Leg Press no rest then
Leg Curls. Rest 2-5min and then go again.

All reps to be done with long eccentric of 3-4secs with constant stability.

This will have your legs smashed. Some people make it through 3 rounds of this with 1minute x-trainer to recover.

Most bail out after 2.

#9

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
Lunchmeataphobia wrote:
slotan wrote:
How about Nitro Squat program by John Davies? It has squatting 3x a week, but with different variants each workout. It’s worth a look…

wow thanks… the Nitro Squat program looks absolutely perfect! i’ll start on that monday. I’ve tried 8 weeks of Ian King’s 12 Weeks of Pain, but the DOMS where too much to allow decent training on the ergs.

Does anyone know how i can best complement this to add the upper body in? if i add 2 days on that, is a 5-day a week at gym + 5-6 ergs a week definate overtraining, or do i stand a chance with lots of sleep, good nutrition and a good atitude?

Do some upper body after the lower body. I did 3 x 3 bench/row one day, HSPU and weighted chin another, and one day of exclusive lower body training. I also included a lot of supplementary ab work. This really blew my legs up.[/quote]

So would adding 3x6-8 (3 reps is v.low for me w/o a spot) bench and row (s-set) be ok on the front squat day, then maybe 5x3 chins (can only do 3), 3x5 seated military press and 2x8 dips(as a big s-set) on the overhead squat day? also do Ian King’s stage 3-4 (on 3 atm) killer abs program on mon-thurs?

Thaks guys, this is gona be a mean lil program :slight_smile:

#10

Rowing is mostly in the quads not the posterior chain, so:

Front squat, feet same spacing as in the boat, same range of motion.

Bent over rows

Lots of abs

At least that’s what our coach had us do. 3x30 for endurance.

#11

Just to post an update (i’ve been doing a bastardised version of nitro squats with oly lifts added)

squating 264 now for 2, dead at 330 for a single, front squat at 200 for 3 and overhead at 176 for 4.