I want bigger legs and I want your advice

[xereco]

@fish3rofm3n Start mountain biking. This is the way

 

[jgross45743]

@fish3rofm3n Lots of good advice here but one thing I really wanna stress is you need to be getting enough food as well to add size. You need a surplus. I’ve made great strength gains during deficits or even maintenance but never have I ever added any kind of size without going into a surplus. I think this rule holds true the leaner you are as well, which if you look like jon Jones I assume you’re pretty lean.

 

[bubbles0023]

@fish3rofm3n You can build big legs with bodyweight.

Step-ups, pistol squats, shrimp squats, sissy, nordic curls, and hamstring curls will build mass on your legs. Use tempo and work the progression of the movements. There is a myth that you will have weak-looking legs if you train them via bodyweight, which isn't true. Running up and down hills is also an excellent way to add mass, and frog jumps are great.

Here is a great follow along video on building mass with BW

 

[jeffliss]

@fish3rofm3n Deadlifts and all their alternatives. Don’t skip calves day. EAT MORE FOOD. Carbs and protein make dump trucks

 

[dsitler]

@fish3rofm3n You want to be doing a main strengthening excercise. Do some jogging and duck walks to warm up the knees and then move on to your best progression of pistol squats 3 sets each leg, you also want to be doing a box jump at your highest possible height for around 25 total reps, then into sprinters jumping lunges 2 sets each leg until failure, if you have a set of rings that can allow you to do somesort of hip bridging hamstring curl do 2 sets of those or Nordic curls. It's pretty difficult to find something for your hamstrings but make sure to include them. Then do some duck walks, if you feel strong with these try to add weight until you reach failure, really concentrate on the muscles used here and keep strong form. Lastly make sure your fully rested and do some sprints to finish off.

This may sound like a lot but pace yourself with this and get plenty rest between sets. Make sure to sleep well and eat plenty protein.

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n do pistols with a support for balance. When you take proprioception out the equation it becomes a lot more strength based.

Aso got to go until absolute failure each time.

 

[eldalar]

@fish3rofm3n Honestly it’s all up to genetics if u do straight body weight, I’ve done wrestling before and that’s a good way to build arms and legs, for straight body weight I focus a lot on glutes as well, when we doing say a pistol squat or assisted pistol squat, do it in ur toes, this leads to an increase in balance, calf size, and focusing on the quads, hamstrings are severely underrated but very important, they are like the biceps of the leg, they don’t take up much room but they help, women will of course have an easier time with this, but I digress, unless u add any type of weight, it’s all genetics, im only 17, yet I am 5’10 165 lbs of lean muscle, and due to martial arts, calisthenics, and weight training, im very well rounded aesthetically, and functionally due to me have an “X” body shape, I wish u the best of luck, if u aren’t seein growth, don’t be discouraged, be proud ur able to do things others can’t

 

[jacobsonofjohn]

@fish3rofm3n You need higher intensity. Maybe pistol squats and lunges with dumbbells. But for serious leg mass you need squats, leg presses, leg extensions etc.

 

[flamezero112]

@fish3rofm3n The number 1 most important thing is your food intake. You can't grow unless you have a SURPLUS of calories. If you want to grow:
Step 1. Eat at least 1 more meal a day then you do now.
Step 2. Get a wheelbarrow and fill it
Step 3. Haul that heavy boi till your legs quake.

 

[jhfreeman]

@fish3rofm3n Barbells are ultimately the easiest way to add leg mass, but here's some options for bodyweight leg training which requires only a nordstick for the nordic curls. I personally build my training around shrimp squats + high jump for quads and nordic curls + sprints for hams, sometimes I add broad jump for glutes which are somewhat targeted by all of the above. And as always, eating big is a must.

I would centre anterior chain training around with shrimps and high jump as primary movements. My suggestion for squat progressions would be regular squats, bw hack squats (but keep your torso upright) -> bulgarian split squats, ATG split squats, and cossack squats -> pistol squats, int./adv. shrimp squats, natural one leg press, all of which should keep you busy for a while. Ido Portal has some youtube videos on shrimp squat progression. Quad accessories could be easier progressions w/ dumbbells, lunges, sissy squats, human knee extensions, and maybe some ATG split squats, deck squats, and dragon squats if you want to work mobility.

Posterior chain training should be built around nordic curls and sprints. You can start with single leg deadlifts and floor curls if you want, but they get easy pretty fast and are best left as accessories (still pretty easy even fatigued tbh). There isn't really progressions required to build to nordics or sprinting, just start with easier variations of the exercises themselves and build up to full nordics and good sprint times. Hill sprints are a good way to get a bit more glue focus out of sprints (and make them harder overall) and broad jumps are another great bw glute exercise, possibly even the best option for hip extension.

My (somewhat) comprehensive list of bw leg movements is:

• Tibialis: tibialis raises
• Calves: straight + bent knee calf raises, both are important
• Quads: step ups, hack squat, sissy squat, human knee extension, ATG split squat, dragon squat, deck squat, pistol squat, shrimp squat, high jumps
• Hamstrings: single leg deadlifts, floor curls, nordic curls, sprints, hill sprints
• Glutes: hip thrusts, broad jump
• Hip flexors: front leg raise
• Glute med: side leg raise
• Adductors: side split holds, horse stance

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n Hm... The legs really need work. The quadriceps and back leg biceps are one of the biggest muscles in the body. I don't have genetically small legs... The things that work for most of people. I've been pushing the weights much more than my own. I'm around 1.70cm tall and i vary between the 65-70kg. So technically i'm not big, but i have extreme muscles (genetically). What i have been trying is very complex, but it needs to be, it works the best especially when legs are in question.

• Lifting heavy weights didn't do much (except the size itself).
• Repetitions are important for legs. Start the set with 25-30 and increasing up all the way over 50. Now take moderate weights, heck even low weight works.
• Except the classic squats itself, try to focus on a single leg (bulgarian squats). This will really really isolate that leg at the time, by putting all the weights from your body and the weights itself on that leg. Makes sense?
• After a few sets of normal squats, start doing the goblet squats with the heels raised from the ground. Now here you will really feel the quads and calves working.
• Time under tension. While holding low or no weights. Do it very slowly for really high reps. The trick here will make your muscle work really hard. The muscle doesn't know if you are holding the weight. Right?
• After you really exhaust yourself, do the fast burnout of all this exercises, fast reps. What's great about it here is you will definitely have the strenght left for a few quick sets. Which will make the muscle work even harder than ever.
• You can add walking lunges, also add the side crab walk. Lower yourself in a squat position, hold it like this and move to the left and right.

Most important is to hit the legs from most of the angles.

In which order will you do any of those, really doesn't matter, but what matters is what you feel working. Stick to that routine, but also change it with time, because the muscle gets used to it and will make no gains.

My best motivation and the highest gains are - "Do the hardest first". This works especially in the gym. When you do something new, something harder than usual. The muscles will be engaged, they are not used to this, but this is the main key here! They will have the greatest reason to grow.

Hope it helps.

 

[philipchansk]

@fish3rofm3n Looks like you've already got a lot of advice here. But from another perspective, I don't lift weights. My legs decent, I'd say my best feature. I do high reps and a lot of volume for my legs. Hit them everyday. Before switching to those, I used to do pistol squats with a weight vest. And supplemented them with sissy squats, deep split leg squats, and other accessory movements like hip thrusts.

 

[opticeye07]

@fish3rofm3n I think that the size and shape of your legs, particularly your calves, is largely genetically determined. (It's hard to get a definitive answer on this.)

 

[somplakk]

@fish3rofm3n You know who has absolutely massive thighs? Olympic cyclists. If you aren't going to lift weights, then I think that getting a bike and going absolutely ham on some hills and sprints on a regular basis is a good way to grow those quads.

 

[lorenzomcgoo]

@fish3rofm3n That Jon Africa physique

 

[intel2]

@fish3rofm3n A different idea than what's getting mentioned: Hiking uphill if you're near anything suitable. Add a backpack with weight if it's too easy. A couple thousand feet of vertical gain (and loss) will really get the legs going. Or a stairmaster though that's considerably more boring. This will compliment any other leg work very well imo.

 

[janiejet68]

@fish3rofm3n i do a lot of hiking and my legs are huge. a little of it is genetics (we are all short and stocky, my grandpa is 87 and his calves are still big), but most of it is definitively hiking.

when i do bwf, i use kettlebells while squatting.

 

[phillipaustralia]

@fish3rofm3n I generally don't squat and am able to gain mass on my legs, keep in mind though I train for strength

There are 3 things that can achieve this, best results come if you are able to combine all 3. Mechanical tension (heavy weight, 1-5 reps, 3-6 sets, and 3-5 minutes rest), muscle damage (moderate weight, 6-20 reps, 2-4 sets, 1:30-3:00 minutes rest) and metabolic stress (low weight, 20+ reps, 2-3 sets, and ~1 or less)

I have been working on advanced elevated shrimp squats and decline nordic curls for the main exercises of my legs, but for adductors I use the adductor machine (really helps flexibility too)

Using weights is a very good option though

 

[jblwhopper]

@fish3rofm3n Powerlifting splits have always helped my leg mass more than bodybuilding

 

[dawn16]

@fish3rofm3n start doing sprints. Lots of em. 100 - 200 metre dashes, multiple rounds. Uphill sprints are also good. Just look at sprinters and their physique, it’s god-tier.