Legs, After and Before

[BCC]

Here's a comparison of my legs now, compared with 5 months ago.

[BCC]

now who says high reps don't work...I can recall only on rare occaision going below 20 reps

[Shocker]

left is after, right is before?

[BCC]

I redid it so there's no confusion.

[Shocker]

nice one.

how long have you been training your legs for?

[Thorazine]

Chasey,

All I want you to do is explain to me WHY legs require high reps, and what exactly the high reps are doing for you.

Otherwise you look good.

Thorazine

[PowerManDL]

So 20-reppers tan and shave your thighs?

[BCC]

Originally posted by PowerManDL
So 20-reppers tan and shave your thighs?

and your legs are twice the size of mine, look better, are much stronger, and you're not 6 years older than me :rolleyes:

[Thorazine]

Why don't you just answer the question.

Why don't you do 20 reps for everything? Why 20 reps for your legs, WHY? What does this do that 8 reps won't?

That's all I want to know.

Thorazine

[YatesNightBlade]

You've got good genetics for big legs.

[Daniel Clough]

great genetics!

I am not taking anything away form you, I am sure you worked damn hard but i would kill for a pair of those before legs lol

good work,.

[syntekz]

Look'n great. Pretty nice size. How far apart are those pictures?

[Tryska]

again with the crotchshots. i'm gonna go blind looking at this site. i just know it.

anyways...you do have great leg genetics. I can see a size difference, but it's hard to tell really unless you can cut some so we can see the legs in similar states of shreddedness.

[TerryRay]

The result of hard work!

[The_Chicken_Daddy]

no offense man, but i think the pics of your legs before look better than the after pics.

i'm not saying they've gotten worse, but the before pic does them more justice imo.

[BCC]

To answer Thor's question of why I do 20 reps, and only for legs and not other body parts, it's all about the work factor. The quads are very large muscles...you can't tell me that you can find a heavy weight, and only be able to squat it until you reach 10 reps and then your legs give. Infact, any weight I can squat 5 times, I am mentally confident I can squat it 20 times. Sure, low rep squats are great for strength, but why stop at a certain number of reps when you could go on? And believe me, you can go on.

Other muscles of the body are different. You cannot always keep going once reaching your target rep zone. The quads are large enough muscles that it takes a large amount of stress to fatigue them. 20+ rep squats require one to train at a whole new mental level.

[TreeTrunks]

Those are some freaky looking quads man

[Thorazine]

I guess that's where philosophies differ.

If I choose a weight I can do 5 times, I *may* be able to push to 7/8 with a spotter, but when I say 5 times, I MEAN 5 times.

Anyways, nice quads buddy. I'm going to give mine a shave/tan and see if they turn out to be any different. You're going to have MONSTER legs when you're older.

Thorazine

[TreeTrunks]

Not all parts of the legs respond best to 20 reps. I know hammies don't, they like low reps.

[Leviathan]

If you are hitting 20 reps you aren't using enough weight... enough said.

You need to shock your muscles for them to grow, that is why you don't have significant growth in your quads from 5 months ago until today. It looks like you bulked some, but you didn't put on much new lean muscle mass down there.

I suggest you try some HIT training for... say... 3 months and see if you notice any difference. What do you have to lose?

[Mr.Anonymous]

Nice gains! :thumbup:

[Tadger]

I dunno about the high rep thing. I think that you should start with lower weight/higher rep scheme and over a couple months or so you should shift to a high weight, low rep routine. When your lifts come up, start over again.

Everyone knows there's is a big difference between strength and hypertrophy training. I've had the best luck shifting back and forth between the two.

[notSoBig Guy]

Your legs don't look that much different. I dislike high rep squats , and I'v made bigger gains than you in the same period of time using 6 reps, and very heavy weight, so heavy that after 6 I can't do any more.

[Mr.Anonymous]

Originally posted by notSoBig Guy
Your legs don't look that much different. I dislike high rep squats , and I'v made bigger gains than you in the same period of time using 6 reps, and very heavy weight, so heavy that after 6 I can't do any more.

He has definitely added some mass to his quads.

Let's see your before and after pics! :)

[Twiztid]

Looking good!

[Jane]

Originally posted by notSoBig Guy
Your legs don't look that much different.

are you joking or what?

[BCC]

I don't know...i think 3 inches on each leg looks different.

And you see...I am using a lot of weight for 20 reps...my legs just don't fatigue after 5-8 reps regardless of weight, it's possible to keep going. I can throw on 315, go ass to heels for 5 reps, all the reps feel very challenging, but I can keep going and going and every rep feels like it's going to be the last, but it's not.

[Jane]

try 350 then :)

[BCC]

Oh, and BTW. I do agree with trunks that 20 reps is not the way to go to hamstrings. I can say that I don't feel like I can keep going forever on SLDL's.

[syntekz]

I don't think I could 'go forever' with squats either though...

[Thorazine]

Yeah, I'd have to concur with Jane.

If you're doing 315 20 times...then it's not what you can do for 5 reps, it's what you can do for 20.

What you can do for 5 reps you should be shaking and straining and striving and maybe need a spot up.

That's 5 reps. However, I'm going to take and test your philosophie. I'm going to keep pushing more more and more reps (though I'll probably puke), so wish me luck ;)

Thorazine

[BCC]

Pukin's what it's all about, pushin the limits :cool:

I wish you best of luck in your training Thor. You've come a long way, you're doing great.

[Maki Riddington]

Nice tree trunks!!!

[chris mason]

You have great genetics for monster legs, and they look very good. For those who don't notice a difference, I think you all are nuts, I can see a very substantial difference. Keep in mind that the before pic was taken closer up than the after picture. Your quad shape is very reminiscent of Mike Francois, look him up on the net and you will see what I mean.

20 rep breathing squats are a great exercise, but not the only way to big thighs. Lower reps will do just fine as well. Personally, I like to switch to 20 reppers on an infrequent basis for a ass-kicking workout, and a change of pace (I will stick with them for a few months). I then switch back to low reps to build peak strength. When I go back again to the high rep squats, I quickly am able to handle new, higher weights for reps (after the low rep training for a period of months). Let me be more clear, when I reach a plateau on the high rep squats, I switch back to low rep strength training. After a long period of this form of training I switch back to the high rep training. At first, I may not exceed my previous best, but as I acclimate to the exercise I quickly go on to new highs in the breathing squats.

[joey54]

great looking legs man. the 20 rep squats are a killer and do put size on, but so do the lower reps. it is just a matter of finding out what your body is responding to at the current time. chris's method is perfect to maximize your leg gains in both strength and size. keep it up man.

[notSoBig Guy]

I'm not trying to insult you in any way, cuz it's probably that the before picture is more close up, and at first I thought your "before" picture was actually your "now" picture. Your legs got great genetics, and are pretty freakin big, but you can get even bigger legs if you switch to lower reps sometimes. You say you can do 315 easily, then try 405 or even 495.

** Don't do that. ps

[Chris Rodgers]

Originally posted by TreeTrunks
Those are some freaky looking quads man

:withstupi

[Mr.Anonymous]

Originally posted by notSoBig Guy
Mean statement

Why would you say that?

You insult the guy that posts his before and after pics.. edited for niceness. ps

[notSoBig Guy]

I never insulted him, and I'll post my pics when I feel like it.

[Belial]

Children, please.

[hemants]

I recall reading that 20 rep squats promote more testosterone release than 10 rep squats but I don't know how valid that is.

I also know that the cyberpump/hardgainer crew advocates 20 reps for squats and deadlifts for what it's worth but don't know if they have tangible research as to why.

[David]

hey Big C what about the CALVES??? :confused: