I want bigger legs and I want your advice

[amotive]

@fish3rofm3n I personally noticed a bit of mass gained from high rep squats, such as in the 30 down squat routine AlphaDestiny posted. Do not completely discount high repetitions as many do. Nordic curls with your feet under a bed or a couch (you can get creative) are also great. Ultimately the gym will likely be your best option for building mass AND strength however.

 

[walterroger]

@fish3rofm3n You need weight. The best investment i made during the pandemic was buying a super heavy dumbbell and repping out goblet squats.

 

[jermyn]

@fish3rofm3n It's not going to be easy but some things you could include are Single Leg Squats, Nordic Leg Curls (this should be one of your staples), Sissy Squats and Single Leg Back Extensions. Those will probably let you get the most out of only having bodyweight.

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n Reverse nordics and regular nordics are your best bet

 

[dedeplease]

@fish3rofm3n Hindu squats work well for this. Check out The Bioneer’s video on how to do them and variations.

 

[openyourbibles]

@fish3rofm3n Decent legs? Yes sure.

Statuesque behemoth legs? Probably not.

You don't need a gym but you do need some weight. Move to one leg variations, BSS and pistols, throw on a weighted vest or grab hold of a kettle bell or toddler when performing them. Also, find the steepest hill in your areas and sprint up it about 20 times. Cycling will help a bit too if you are carrying groceries up a hill in a high gear.

 

[luannie]

@fish3rofm3n If you're not going to lift weights, at least do lots of single leg work.

Without weight in the form of a barbell, you'll be lacking intensity. So to make up for that, you'll need a lot of volume.

And eat. Gain weight.

I still had small legs at the end of it, but I did put 2+ inches on my legs while doing bodyweight exercises and weighted pistol squat variations. It wasn't ideal, but it did do something.

 

[mirt]

@fish3rofm3n Slick floor bridge curls, reverse nordic curls, these are fantastic bw movements, imho

 

[mitchilita]

@fish3rofm3n I would say legs are probably the area of the body that's most difficult to get size or strength solely using bodyweight. I guess that is because their already designed to hold your bodyweight and run and jump. So it's hard to progressively overload them, which is where size comes from, just using bodyweight because they can already handle more than that. If you're really focused on legs, I would suggest just doing squats in the weight room.

 

[georgefeege]

@fish3rofm3n My secret is to balance on one leg as often as you can for as long as you can. Do it while waiting in line at the grocery store or while brushing your teeth. Or challenge yourself to stay on one leg while putting on each shoe before you go somewhere.
Once you’re good at that, start doing it on your tip toes or start lowering yourself up and down while on a single leg.
It’s super passive but makes a huge difference over time and becomes a bit of a game. Even at my most out of shape I’ve always had amazing looking legs because of this.

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n You aren’t gonna get big legs without resistance training.

 

[mariacarla]

@fish3rofm3n Slow down to take any momentum out of the movement.

And go up on the balls on the feet like and indian/hack style to put more strain on the quads.

Always go to failure rather then counting reps, count your sets and try to get to 20 sets to failure a week

Walking lunges uphill on the balls of my feel kill my quads. But adding weight will be essential once you can do 1000's of squats a day before muscular failure unless you have lots of free time.

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n For quads do sissy squats. For the whole legs do any single leg squat I say atg split squats as they have full knee flexion unlike normal Bulgarian and depending on your level they may be pretty hard body weight. For hamstrings progress on the Nordic curl. There is an exercise where you lie on your back with your feet on a towel/paper plates/anything that slides and bringing feet to butt for hamstrings but I forget the name

. The hardest thing in your situation will be finding an exercise that works the hamstrings in the lengthened position which is hard with out rdls or sldls.

 

[marieclare33]

@fish3rofm3n All the advices above.

Plus what is the most important here: the nutrition. Get enough calories, lightly in surplus. And hit your daily protein goal (1g of protein per 1lbs of body weight). Consistently.

 

[dawn16]

@marieclare33 Why is 1g of protein per pound always recommended? Does it vary by person? If someone has significant body fat and not much muscle, would u need alll the extra protein? Wont that just be calories for no reason when u can shred more weight instead?

My thinking is less muscle needs less protein.. what do you think?

 

[seretsky]

@dawn16 As far as I know (I am not a licensed dietician/etc), the need for protein isn’t determined much at all by how much fat or muscle you already have. Protein consumption is all about GAINING the muscle and preserving your already-existing muscle mass. Adequate protein intake helps with the process that develops, grows, and preserves muscle, so those calories are certainly not for “no reason”!

Also, if you are losing weight, it’s arguably even more important to eat enough protein! During a calorie deficit, your body will lose both muscle and fat, and higher protein has been studied to help preserve muscle during the fat loss.

I think protein needs certainly vary by person and by dietary goal (which is why I’d encourage you to research it online a bit if you still have questions about it). Too much protein has its own problems as well. But there’s a reason we loveee protein so much on these types of subreddits lol. It’s a super satisfying macro, but it’s also really really important and useful to our bodies.

 

[adrianmaddox]

@dawn16 Short answer is yes you are right.

It's typically 1g per lb of muscle if your goal is to maintain what you have and/or gain.
A 300lb overweight person who wants to gain muscle and lose fat would not need to eat 300g of protein to gain muscle.
How do you measure muscle? Mostly you don't...or most people don't. Eat 1g of protein per lb for the weight you want to be. Your body may need less but it's a safe average.