Current Events > Need advice from the gym bros of CE on re-working my leg day

(+) Yeah! (+)

Here's what I currently do (below). I'd like as much as possible to get rid of my reliance on machines but it seems like leg day in particular is susceptible to them. Suggestions?

Barbell squat (high weight): 3, 3, 2, 2, 1
Superset (4 sets of 10 each): Leg Press and Leg Curl
3 sets of 15: leg raise
3 sets of 15: calf raise

Ideally I'd like to replace the leg press, leg curl, and leg raise with free weigh equivalents, but with exercises that hit the same muscle groups so I don't miss or overwork something (which is where I get lost trying to do it myself).
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leg day is a meme
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@Pow_Pow_Punishment

Sorry to tag you, but you're the only gym person on CE that I can remember by name. Feel free to ignore this if you're busy.
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BreezyExcursion posted...

leg day is a meme

this is a bad take bro

just do squats and calf raises, idk why people complicate this shit so much
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back squats/front squats
lunges/split squats
good mornings
romanian deadlifts/ sldl
glute-ham raises
pistols
leg curls on swiss ball

the list goes on...

Idk why youd try to get away from machines... your body doesnt know if youre using free weights, cables or machines... not like you have much of a choice for leg extensions or leg curls either lol.

What part of your legs are you trying to bring up? Otherwise your choice in exercises is pretty cookie cutter (in a good way) and should hit everything.

The only thing Id change after a quick glance at that is squats. Idk how strong you are or your goals but your legs would grow better from something like 4 sets of 20-25 reps with 225lbs. Higher volume tends to build legs. You arent really doing yourself any favors with 5 sets of 1-3 reps.
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EdgeMaster posted...

Idk why youd try to get away from machines... your body doesnt know if youre using free weights, cables or machines... not like you have much of a choice for leg extensions or leg curls either lol.

What part of your legs are you trying to bring up? Otherwise your choice in exercises is pretty cookie cutter (in a good way) and should hit everything.

The only thing Id change after a quick glance at that is squats. Idk how strong you are or your goals but your legs would grow better from something like 4 sets of 20-25 reps with 225lbs. Higher volume tends to build legs. You arent really doing yourself any favors with 5 sets of 1-3 reps.

The workout I'm using is from a random bodybuilder forum I found when googling 5 day workouts, and the idea seems to be to transition from low rep high weight to high rep low weight over the course of a single workout. If using the machines for this purpose is fine, then I'm happy keeping the routine, too, but so much of gym culture seems to revolve around absolutes. Things like "never use machines, they don't engage the core or stabilizer muscles" is one I see probably the most often, so I was basically just trying to follow that generic advice and apply it to the generic routine I had been using.

Really, my goal at the end of the day is consistency through efficiency. If I can keep the workouts (relatively) short and on a solid rotation (legs, chest, back, shoulders, arms) then I know I'll be able to get to the gym after work consistently. To that end, I've avoided workout routines that run significantly over an hour, so I'm really just trying to maximize the efficiency of the things I do in each day. In doing so, I'm also trying to be careful about being overly reliant on single muscle group machines that run the risk of imbalance so that when I actually have to rely on my body for something like lifting heavy objects I don't hurt myself.
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You're training your squats like a powerlifter, but you'd really benefit from a better balance of weight and reps as well. An 8-10 range will grow your legs more. 5 is also common when doing Bill Starr-style abbreviated training (that's usually squatting three times a week for 3-5 sets of 5 reps).

Ditch the leg press, it's redundant here. Curls are OK, although hinging like good mornings or Romanian deadlifts hit the hamstrings better than knee flexion exercises.

EdgeMaster posted...

your body doesnt know if youre using free weights, cables or machines..

I agree that machines are useful but your body definitely reacts differently to having to stabilize a load vs a fixed trajectory from a machine.
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one of the reasons many people dont like "leg day" is that squats can be done as part of every workout day when youre starting out, and heavy/light squat alterations once you're training on heavier weights

i've never really done shit for my legs/ass other than squats (should I be counting regular deadlifts? i don't). i just do a lot of them.

will support the romanian dl recommendation though.
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green butter posted...

just do squats and calf raises, idk why people complicate this shit so much

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Do some weighted lunges. Also, I love leg extensions and wouldn't give them up just to avoid the equipment for some reason.

Also why are you doing so few reps per squat set?
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Squats should be a staple but exercise variety is good and helps prevent injury. Good example: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-squatting-misses-this-leg-muscle

I wouldn't recommend only doing squats and leaving it at that. I actually recently subtracted one set of squats during my squat workout and replaced it with lunges so I can recover better for kickboxing.
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front squats > back squats

Front squats actually build your thighs. Back squats give you a bigger ass with minimal thigh activation.

my leg day routine:

front squats 5 x 5
leg press 4 sets pyramid up
leg extension machine 4 sets (drop set on last set)
standing calf raises superset with leg curl machine (4 sets to failure each time)
crunches (3 sets)
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EvalAngell posted...

front squats > back squats

Front squats actually build your thighs. Back squats give you a bigger ass with minimal thigh activation.

Back squats don't neglect the thighs, where are you even getting that from? Front squats work the glutes a ton, too, not just back squats. And why would emphasizing different muscle groups make one de facto better?
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My upper body is great, but my legs are lagging, how do I fix this?
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Get on a good routine like 5/3/1 and follow that. Eat more.
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Pow Pow Punishment posted...

Get on a good routine like 5/3/1 and follow that. Eat more.

Ive been squatting and deadlifting but have stalled out
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Squatting and deadlifting doesn't mean you're following a good progressive overload model from a program.
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