Advice please

[tibbam]

Taking into consideration that I am a relative newbie to weight training and that I am just starting out on my quest to reduce bodyfat and put on lean muscle mass, I was wondering whether one day a week for legs was sufficient? I have posted my workout routine in the workout journals forum and you will see that it is pretty loaded with cardio. Should I change it up to increase legs to twice a week or is it sufficient for now?

[HarryB]

Recovery has a lot to do with your CNS ability to deal with your workload and your joint integrity so if your body can handle then go hard. Won't know until you try will ya?

As you get a bit further along it becomes harder to do legs in a bodybuilding manner because there is a lot of volume and intensity involved.. Intensity being the main factor. The ability to work your muscles further and further past what you would have assumed possible initially is a learnt thing. That and the fact that over time your load increases (or should!!!) and then other factors come into play relating to your ability to recover.

Didn't look at your programme just your post here so just working off that.

Good luck, always good to see someone who wants to know if they can train legs MORE often not less!!

[teamfatboy]

I'm with Harry - at this stage, how you feel after leg day is going to be a clue... if you can walk the next day, then the intensity's got room to grow

But one compound and one isolation each for quads and hams (squats/lunges/extensions/curls), depending on how strongly you finish the last set of each, could handle some adjustments, perhaps.

If your objective is primarily about conserving muscle/ building it, while shedding bodyfat, one reason to consider two leg days, or a different split, is that the legs, the biggest muscle groups, will burn the most calories while working.

You could consider quads-chest and hams-back as alternative splits, for example - so your three weights days would be quads-chest, hams-back, and shoulders-arms.

Just my 2c worth.

[Grover]

I'm with Harry - at this stage, how you feel after leg day is going to be a clue... if you can walk the next day, then the intensity's got room to grow

But one compound and one isolation each for quads and hams (squats/lunges/extensions/curls), depending on how strongly you finish the last set of each, could handle some adjustments, perhaps.

If your objective is primarily about conserving muscle/ building it, while shedding bodyfat, one reason to consider two leg days, or a different split, is that the legs, the biggest muscle groups, will burn the most calories while working.

You could consider quads-chest and hams-back as alternative splits, for example - so your three weights days would be quads-chest, hams-back, and shoulders-arms.

Just my 2c worth.

No longer legal tender!

So value .........

jusst sayin

[Riccardo]

When you are a newbie, any stress you place on your body is gona cause it to grow. To train at an intensity great enough to cause an adaptation is not hard because you are not very strong, have yet to learn motor patterns and establish neurological connections. Because you are training at such low intensities, your body's ability to recover is a lot better. You don't need to train with some complicated split with 5 different leg exercises. This is absolutely the worst thing you can do as you are relatively untrained it is over kill and will only hamper your body's ability to recover with no real gain over doing just squats and deadlifts.

Because your body's ability to recover outmatches your training intensity you therefore have the opportunity to train with greater frequency, Therefore I would suggest squatting and deadlifting at least twice a week.

As your body adapts further gains will be harder to come by and your training sessions will become more complicated and more intense to cause an adaption because the bigger and stronger you become, the heavier and harder you must lift to push your body to elicit a stress large enough to convince your body it needs to adapt. Therefore your recovery time will increase and you will be able to train less frequently.

my $10 (future proofing)

[teamfatboy]

Just my 2c worth.

No longer legal tender!

So value .........

jusst sayin

my $10 (future proofing)

Oh crud - we make a economist Prime Minister and suddenly everyone's bringing it... :grin:

And now, returning to topic

When you are a newbie, any stress you place on your body is gona cause it to grow. To train at an intensity great enough to cause an adaptation is not hard because you are not very strong, have yet to learn motor patterns and establish neurological connections. Because you are training at such low intensities, your body's ability to recover is a lot better.

Because your body's ability to recover outmatches your training intensity you therefore have the opportunity to train with greater frequency.

Those are two great points, right there...

[tibbam]

Thanks for the advice. I wil be adjusting my routine to incorporate two leg sessions a week focussing On deadlifts and squats.

Cheers