My Wheels Are Pathetic...

Hey guys,ineed to confirm what a regimen should be for my lame wheels.Im 48 y.o. 6’1" 225# used to hit the iron years back and am back in the mental statew that diet and lifting are priority.That said ive been in the gym 3 to 4 days per week and made good gain on size and strength on my upper body.

The problem is my wheels,or lack thereof.I never trained them in my earlier days,so i dont know the proper techniques.My upper thighs are thin and the backs are dismal,my calves are non-existent,smooth with no definition,kinda like a chicks.

Ive made the commitment to do something to remedy this and am thinking squats are the ticket.Like I said ive no experience with legs.I want to make sure of my choices,what say the masses?I want mass more than definition.Lets hear it.Thanks.

Primary:

Back squats, front squats, deadlifts, lunges

Auxiliary:

Leg press, Bulgarian squats, single leg deadlifts, single leg squats,

Calves:

donkey calf raises, calf raises, bent leg calf raise

Simple plan:

Two or three days a week, each leg day (or each workout, if you do full body workouts), pick one Primary, one Auxiliary, and one calf workout. If you pick an Primary exercise where the primary movers are the quads, do an Auxiliary exercise where the prime movers are posterior chain, and vice-versa.

An example would be:

Front squats, single leg deadlifts, calf raises

Another would be:

Deadlifts, Bulgarian squats, bent leg calf raises

Mix and match for fun and pleasure :slight_smile:

[quote]graphicsMan wrote:
Primary:

Back squats, front squats, deadlifts, lunges

Auxiliary:

Leg press, Bulgarian squats, single leg deadlifts, single leg squats,

Calves:

donkey calf raises, calf raises, bent leg calf raise

Simple plan:

Two or three days a week, each leg day (or each workout, if you do full body workouts), pick one Primary, one Auxiliary, and one calf workout. If you pick an Primary exercise where the primary movers are the quads, do an Auxiliary exercise where the prime movers are posterior chain, and vice-versa.

An example would be:

Front squats, single leg deadlifts, calf raises

Another would be:

Deadlifts, Bulgarian squats, bent leg calf raises

Mix and match for fun and pleasure :)[/quote]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.One thing i didnt mention,is it realistic to think i can add some substantial mass given my age? (48) Thanks

Two things: At first, you will get stronger very fast, but probably won’t gain a lot of mass on your legs. This depends on the person, but I would give it a month or two before it really starts packing on mass. The first little while, it seems to me that mostly your body is getting stronger because it’s figuring out how to utilize the muscle it’s already got (i.e. more CNS, less hypertrophy). After you become a bit more efficient, you’ll have to build muscle to put up more weight, and your body will have to add some mass.

Second thing is, you should eat a lot. If you are currently eating a lot, bump it a little more. Since you are adding legs in, you need to extra cals to feed the other half of your body.

At 48, I believe you’ll be adding mass just fine. From what I have read (but not experienced first hand, as I’m still a young’un), the main differences between younger and older lifters are:

  1. Older lifters tend to have more patience, and more practical outlooks
  2. Older lifters tend to be wiser about their workouts
  3. Older lifters need more rest.

Good luck!

Be aware that while all meaningful weight training is hard work, legs are on a level all by themselves. Many a Gung Ho, lemme at em trainee has been left wondering how great an idea this whole weightlifting thing is after all once they’ve been subjected to a real leg workout.

Thanks for the input.Im resigned to the pain,i want the wheels.Im more concerned about whether my want for mass is realistic at my age.

[quote]gaining wrote:
Thanks for the input.Im resigned to the pain,i want the wheels.Im more concerned about whether my want for mass is realistic at my age.[/quote]

You definitely can gain mass on your legs. The real question is, can you gain mass on your legs without gaining excessive fat elsewhere? Many older lifters find this is the really difficult part.

The bottom line is that this depends greatly on your testosterone levels. If your t is low or your test/estrogen ratio is out of whack, you will tend to stack on the fat if you eat a hypercaloric diet. If you don’t eat a hypercaloric diet, you can’t gain muscle.

It is a delicate balancing act, which involves juggling diet, cardio and weights to reach a point where muscle gain occurs without excessive fat gain. But it can be done.

Then again, you could go the HRT route if your t levels are low and you can find a friendly doc.