Heavy leg day, twice a week.

lemonkey

Any of you ever tried a heavy leg day twice a week? Been doing this routine 3 weeks, about to start week 4 tomorrow morning:

Wednesday:

• Squats 6x4
• Deadlift 5x5
• Bulgarian Split squats 8x4 (ea leg)
• Hammer curls (Super set with Donkey calf raises). 10x4
• Leg extension (Super set with weight standing calf raises). 10x4
• Front loaded Hack squat - 2 sets to failure, light weight.

Sunday:

• Deadlift 5x5
• Squats 6x4
• Hammer curls (Super set with Donkey calf raises). 10x4
• Leg extension (Super set with weight standing calf raises). 10x4
• Hip trust, weighted - 8x4
• Rear loaded Hack squat - 10x4

I play Sunday league and with the shocking weather our matches have been cancelled for 5 weeks in a row, that's why I tried train them twice a week. So far so good, my recovery from soreness has been amazing. Usually I'd be crippled for 3-4 days due to having a desk job (little movement to get the blood flowing throughout the day). Whereas now I'm barely sore at all.

I can only see positives so far with strength, size and recovery speed. But, is there a risk of burning out? I see some people who train legs twice a week break it down to Quads & Hammers or Heavy & Light days.

Alf Veedersane

lemonkey wrote: »

But, is there a risk of burning out?

Not if you manage the fatigue through management of weight and volume.

Push it too close to failure and you will risk fatigue accumulating and impact what you can do.

I train 4 days - each of the four days has a squat or deadlift variation but the fatigue level is managed such that I don't burn out.

wilkie2006

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Push it too close to failure and you will risk fatigue accumulating and impact what you can do.

Agreed. Would suggest leaving 2-3 reps in reserve on each set for the squat and deadlift (and adding another set or two on)

Wouldn't bother with leg extension or hack squat: already getting plenty of quad work in.

lemonkey

Cheers for the replies Alf & Wilkie.

Yeah I'm not going to failure on the heavy lifts. I'm lifting 110kg on both the deads and squats, it's a weight I can manage with good form. My fear of going to complete failure on anything heavier would affect sports performance. Having said that, as mentioned in my OP I haven't actually had a match in 5 weeks so time will tell. Training seems fine though.

Wilkie, as for leaving out extensions/hacks, I'm trying to target the ''tear drop'' part of the Quad. Aesthetic reasons more so than anything else.

wilkie2006

lemonkey wrote: »

Wilkie, as for leaving out extensions/hacks, I'm trying to target the ''tear drop'' part of the Quad. Aesthetic reasons more so than anything else.

In that case, I'd suggest swapping strength sets for hypertrophy ones (8-12 reps @ 70-80% of 1RM)

Brian?

Starting strength is a heavy leg work out 3 times a week and it's great for beginners.

As long as you're not working to failure, be grand. If you stop getting stronger deload or rest.

Brian?

wilkie2006 wrote: »

In that case, I'd suggest swapping strength sets for hypertrophy ones (8-12 reps @ 70-80% of 1RM)

I disagree. Squat heavy, squat often. Eat big. If you get too fat, limit your calories.

Targetting particular sections isn't really the right thing to do IMO for the OP. Beginner strength levels, work on getting stronger first. Good aesthetics will come with strength, muscle gain and fat loss.

lemonkey

Brian? wrote: »

I disagree. Squat heavy, squat often. Eat big. If you get too fat, limit your calories.

Targetting particular sections isn't really the right thing to do IMO for the OP. Beginner strength levels, work on getting stronger first. Good aesthetics will come with strength, muscle gain and fat loss.

Cheers for the reply. Not a beginner though, been going to the gym 4 times a week for 2 years. It's just training legs twice a week is new to me.

As for aesthetics I'm just trying to add quad dominant exercises after squats and deads for that tear drop. At the moment you can't see proper definition until the muscle is flexed. I'm gonna use the lazy excuse and say it's genetics

Cill94

lemonkey wrote: »

Cheers for the reply. Not a beginner though, been going to the gym 4 times a week for 2 years. It's just training legs twice a week is new to me.

As for aesthetics I'm just trying to add quad dominant exercises after squats and deads for that tear drop. At the moment you can't see proper definition until the muscle is flexed. I'm gonna use the lazy excuse and say it's genetics

You are actually likely a beginner in terms of how adapted your body is to training. Meaning you could make great gains on a beginner programme.

Agree with statements above. Just getting stronger on basic exercises of squats and deads will do more for the tear drop muscle than messing around with hack squats and whatnot. I have that teardrop and have never trained directly for it. Just got strong on the basics.

At your current level you could probably train your legs heavy 3 times per week ala Starting Strength (as Brian? alluded to). Recovery will come down to food, sleep, and patient progress.

lemonkey

Cill94 wrote: »

You are actually likely a beginner in terms of how adapted your body is to training. Meaning you could make great gains on a beginner programme.

Agree with statements above. Just getting stronger on basic exercises of squats and deads will do more for the tear drop muscle than messing around with hack squats and whatnot. I have that teardrop and have never trained directly for it. Just got strong on the basics.

At your current level you could probably train your legs heavy 3 times per week ala Starting Strength (as Brian? alluded to). Recovery will come down to food, sleep, and patient progress.

Fair enough on the beginner comment so. Might keep the focus on compounds my next leg day. I think 3 times per week is beyond me because I've football training Tuesday, Friday and matches Sundays.

What sets and reps do you opt for yourself?

Cill94

lemonkey wrote: »

Fair enough on the beginner comment so. Might keep the focus on compounds my next leg day. I think 3 times per week is beyond me because I've football training Tuesday, Friday and matches Sundays.

What sets and reps do you opt for yourself?

Okay I thought the football was just once per week. In that case you'll need to figure out how much leg volume you can do in the gym without affecting match day.

For beginner training, I tend to have people do 3x5 for squats, 3 times per week. But bare in mind these are usually people who have no other sport going on outside the gym. You may need to just stick to two days per week, with slower progression on the weights. If that doesn't work, you may need to do one day heavy, one day light.

Brian?

lemonkey wrote: »

Cheers for the reply. Not a beginner though, been going to the gym 4 times a week for 2 years. It's just training legs twice a week is new to me.

As for aesthetics I'm just trying to add quad dominant exercises after squats and deads for that tear drop. At the moment you can't see proper definition until the muscle is flexed. I'm gonna use the lazy excuse and say it's genetics

I understand you're not a beginnner in terms of time, but a 100kg squat probably puts you in the beginner bracket unless you're very light.