I do a Squat workout once a week with the following:

5 Weighted Squats, rest 1 minute
5 Weighted Squats, 10 body weight squat jumps, rest 45 seconds
5 Weighted Squats, 10 body weight squat jumps, rest 2 minutes

Repeat cycle 3 times.

On top of this, I have started going to yoga 3-4 times a week.

My legs are usually pretty sore from this by the end of the week, but I don't know if I'm pushing myself hard enough. My goal is to get to the point where I can squat 2 plates on each side (I'm currently maxing out at 185). I just want to know if I should be doing more, or if this is enough to get reach that goal. I would like to keep doing yoga that much because I've noticed otherwise I get super stressed out and my work suffers.

P.U.T.U said:

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What is your goal besides 2 plates? Simple 5x5 will get you there faster than the workout you are doing

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This. Any sort of linear progression will get you to a 225 max in probably 6 weeks or less. That's not a very big gap in terms of a squat max. In fact, 225 could easily become your work set weight in pretty short order, as well. Novice gains come fast and easy with a linear progression program.

P.U.T.U said:

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What is your goal besides 2 plates? Simple 5x5 will get you there faster than the workout you are doing

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As far as strength goes, that's really it, I'm currently 6'2 and 160 pounds, so my goal for now is really more putting on healthy weight than getting strong. I would like to get up to 180. I know doing so much yoga is going to hurt that, but if it takes me longer I'm not super concerned.

If you weigh 160 and are pushing to squat 225, then yes, you have been and currently are neglecting your legs. As others have mentioned, you should be able to get to 225 in pretty short order with any progressive lifting program.


Unless you're trolling us...

Not trolling, just have been lazy my entire life with lifting and really trying to get into it and do it right for the first time. I guess my question is, should I be adding more to my leg workout? My legs have been feeling dead for days after, and I'm seeing improvements. My entire workout is only taking me 30 minutes though, so I always feel guilty leaving so quickly.

Cool, then I'd also recommend Strong Lifts 5x5.

Highly recommend 5x5 as well. Great program if you're interested in getting into lifting. Bigger, Leaner, Stronger is another program that uses the same principles but has a little more variety in it. I've used both and have had great success with each of them.

If you have to ask...

Yes most people do.

Related....if you don't put leg day on your training calendar, are you actually skipping leg day when not doing leg day?

You tell us, Dom...

Are you male or female?

Male.

Eat. 6'2 160 is skinny. Eat clean and squat and add accessories such as glute ham raises, reverse hypers, good mornings, lunges, etc. Not being able to squat 225 for a man is not good. Good for you on recognizing that and working on it. At this point, any program will help.

For a second there, I though this might be a pic of Betty Grables legs

I was the same size doing triathlons and never lifted weights. Eat more, lift heavier. Research guys like Charles Poliquin and see what they have to say about leg strength.

You need a program. What you are doing now is not much of one. Deadlifts are a must. Split squats did a lot for me to rebuild my leg strength.

Haha I don't know, I'm one of those guys who eats everything and just never really puts any weight on, good or bad. I'm genetically disposed to look like a third world country orphan.

I appreciate the suggestions, thanks for the tips.

I'm currently on week 6 of this squat workout (2x per week) . Start off doing four sets of four with as much weight as you can complete the reps with good form.

Weeks 1 and 2.

4 sets of 4

Weeks 3 and 4.

5 sets of 5.

Weeks 5 and 6.

6 sets of 6.

Weeks 7 and 8.

7 sets of 7.

You start off doing 16 reps but end up doing 49. By the time you finish go back to 4 sets of 4 and I bet you'll be over your goal.

maybe a thread derail... But how do some of you guys mix leg days in with running programs... After I finish even a moderate leg day I can't walk for 5 days.....Maybe something is wrong with me. I always tell myself it will get better after a few leg days but it doesn't. So because of that when I am in the middle of running a lot, i just stop doing leg days in the gym and allow the runs to be my only form of leg exercise.

Do you keep the same weight for every one of those workouts, or are you upping it as much as you can every time?

Champ Bailey said:

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Do you keep the same weight for every one of those workouts, or are you upping it as much as you can every time?

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You keep the same weight and just do more reps.

Squat three times a week. Do two heavy workouts (70-80% max) and one light workout (50-60% of max).

Do 3 sets of 6 after warming up.

Add 5 lbs every week if you're hitting all the reps.


Lifts are skills that need practice just like musical instruments. Lifting strength is a refined and practiced motor skill. How much you can squat and bench isn't just dependent on your muscle mass.

Anybody recommended Hatch or Smolov Jr yet?

Guaranteed to get your leg strength up and make you eat more. But you might die a little during the process.

Everyone is different plus factors such as age, stress, sleep, diet, etc. all play a roll. In high school I could do 3 leg workouts a week and be fine. Now 1 focused day seems to work for me and be able to do other workouts. Yeah I cannot squat 500+ like I used to but my goals are different.

Do 3-5x5 squats (front or back squats) and same for deadlifts. Repeat when you are not sore any more which could be 3, 5, 7 days. The most important thing is being consistent and focusing on form. What helps me recover a lot faster is doing an active recovery workout the following day (mobility work for me), seems to push some of the soreness out.

It also might help you to not dedicate an entire day to legs. Unless you are a professional body builder you don't need to alternate arms and legs days.

I usually workout 3x per week and do full body workouts so my legs get some exercise every time I hit the gym but I never really kill them by trying to do 3 or 4 different leg lifts in one day.

Wife is an Aggie said:

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maybe a thread derail... But how do some of you guys mix leg days in with running programs... After I finish even a moderate leg day I can't walk for 5 days.....Maybe something is wrong with me. I always tell myself it will get better after a few leg days but it doesn't. So because of that when I am in the middle of running a lot, i just stop doing leg days in the gym and allow the runs to be my only form of leg exercise.

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You have a couple options. If you are looking to get faster Weight lifting can help.

If you work legs regularly the soreness will become less intense after a few months. Eating enough protein and Carbs (gasp!) will help with the recovery. BCAAs are a good snake oil.

Option 1: Do 3 full body workouts and 3 Running work outs a week. More if you like as long as you are not over training.

Option 2: Work legs on Fridays if you take the weekend off.

Currently in my program aimed at weight loss with muscle retention, I Work out 4 days, and Upper/Lower split and run 2. That does not include playing racquetball, golf, or swimming.

NAFW

You could also try the 20 rep squat program. I add 10 lbs to my 1 rep max.

Hoosegow said:

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Eat. 6'2 160 is skinny. Eat clean and squat and add accessories such as glute ham raises, reverse hypers, good mornings, lunges, etc. Not being able to squat 225 for a man is not good. Good for you on recognizing that and working on it. At this point, any program will help.

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This.

Hoosegow said:

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Not being able to squat 225 for a man is not good.

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Depends on how low said "squat" is