Hey friend:
I do have the same problem...my biotiype is strong and muscular you can say from the waist up...but from there down is really hard for me to gain serious muscle.... :mad:
What ia have been doing for the past year and so, is doing lunges...as part of my leg routine, they seem to work and reclute more muscle fibers...and tend to make your legs look bigger....also I try to go heavy doing leg presses, they don´t hurt as much my back, and I find them really fun.... :D
As for how many times I do this....well, I do legs with shoulders, and usually twice a week....
Try to put at least two variations of lunges...dude, they really trash your quads and hamstrings...
Good luck and enjoy the offseason

Santiago

Do you want huge legs or strong legs? Extra muscle bulk is a disadvantage in triathlon. Any extra weight puts you generally at a disadvantage. Most tri strength programs center around complementing your endurance in the weight room. Think high reps, not real heavy weight.

Does Lance have strong legs? Hell yeah. Are they huge? Nope.

Decide what you want. Bulking up and triathlon training generally don't go together. You may actually have an ideal body type for triathlon. Take advantage of it!

I agree with Kona and others. The best way is cycle in the gym and ride, but I would like to add, ride hills. Hills, Mtns. etc. are great. Ride to "pain" then go home and eat lots of protien. Over time this will increase the strength in the legs.
BBB

I recently read this on the Bicycling website. I Have done most of these exercises.
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,3253,s1-10981,00.html?category_id=363
I beleive it has a lot to do with genetics. My legs are relatively thin compared to my upper body but are fairly strong. I have never been able to get my calves to grow but they seem to do their job ok.
- T

Christri25. Have you done the AoMM (Assault on Mount Mitchell)?
I hear that is a monster event 117miles with over 12,500 ft of climbing. :eek:
Now that's a leg workout (not to mention everything else).
- T

well , the AoMM would be fun to do except for a few things. First, you have to pre ride the year before basically you ride 3/4 of the ride and you have to stop at Mt . Marion and then the following year you can get an invite to do the whole thing.
or Two, You can buy a race number. No joke people sell and buy these things on Ebay for like 200$. So, I have not done the official ride. But I do the same type ride by myself or with some people. The next best thing is the 6-Gap ride in North GA. Thats tough. 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing.,

I guess we have different ideas about what big legs are.

This month in Cycling magazine (I must check the rack tomorrow for the exact reference
I browsed it 2 days ago) there is an article about building powerful cycling legs
- this is the time of the year to do it.
The writer placed the emphasis on the gluteus, without neglecting the quads and
even the vastus medialis.
Glutes are effectively "trained" with lunges, assuming your knee joints are in good
shape to begin with, but powerful gluteus muscles are "built" with squats and deadlifts,
and not especially by leg presses which tend to take the hip flexors/extensors
out of the effort action.

Individuals who have a need to build the gluteus in this, the off season,
should learn how to squat safely - including developing the flexibility to squat deep,
but no more than parallel. Then, take the time to build strength in the hips and quads
by using a pyramid set structure.

Once the skill and flexibility is acquired. Start out with sets of 12 with a light weight
(initially just the 45lb bar) and go all the way down until the butt touches the heels.
Do not bounce. Do not stop at the bottom.
Then the next set can be 10 reps with 115, but only down to a thighs parallel position.
Steady, controlled reps.
Next, 8 reps with 185lbs to parallel. steady controlled.
Then 6 reps with 205 say.
Now do 2 more sets with 205 x 6
Build your way down the pyramid so it looks like this
1x12x 45
1x10x115
1x8x185
3x6x205
1x8x185
1x10x115
1x12x45
All suatting should be done in a safety cage/rack - with a properly trained spotter.
That's a pyramid. It is only an example to give a sense of the structure.
The weights may/will vary depending on your strength and level of muscular endurance.
But anyone can build up to this. If you are an advanced lifter then adjust the weights accordingly.
At my absolute peak, my pyramid looked like this:
1x10x135 (deep)
1x8x185 (deep)
1x8x225 (parallel)
1x8x275(parallel)
4x6x315(parallel)
1x6x405 (1/4 squat - barely bending the knees)
1x8x275 (parallel)
1x8x225 (parallel)
1x8x185 (deep to flush the muscles)
stat. bike 15 mins spinning to flush lactic acid and cool down

My thighs didn't become "huge." They are still about the same - 26.5 inches
(I'm 6'3"tall) and I don't lift like this anymore. That was 10 years ago when I was 43 yrs old.
Even heavy lifting and a lot of volume doesn't mean you will blow up like an
Olympic medalist or a WWF wrestler. That takes huge diets and steroids.

Ya gotta build 'em, before you can train 'em.

Geoff

Wow....that was someone who really knows how to train your legs...!!!!
Thanks....!!Geof
I feel just like a class act....but so happy cause´ I am learning so much to get the best of myself...
Regards
Santiago

As an alternative to squats (something I've never liked), there's an inclined machine that's a bit less of a strain on you. I don't know what it's called, but in our high school weight room, it was known as the "blaster". It's where you get on a seat and the weight is on about a 45 degree angle. You can obviously lift more because you're not lifting straight up, but the form isn't as important and it's much more difficult to hurt yourself. If there's one of these at your gym, I'd highly recommend it. But that's my own preference.

I agree with Geoff about the need to build your legs. As an ex-rugger and a clyde, when I moved over to Tris I really cut back on the lifting and my performance suffered.Now I use a program that I got from fitrex.com. I'm on a program for triathlons. Check out the site its totally free and you can really design a good program for yourself...Jose the machine you are talking about is called a hack squat. good luck

This guy is by far big meat, but way cool. Just wanted to share. Take a look. He is one of my heros, next to my boyfriend and oh... the hitman too :D .
http://www.olivierbernhard.com

Sweeeeeeet! thanks for posting Blitz! (speakers blasting...)

Did I miss it or is there an English translation site? :confused: I want to read more about him...

Thanks!

Blitz & Scout -

Heroes gotta help each other out. :cool:
Don't know that its the best way, but you can get just about anything on the Web translated through Google;and probably other search engines and sites. Google-search for "Olivier Bernhard," for example, and the #1 hit should be his website --- acccompanied by a "translate this page" option. Only translates the home page, though --- I'm sure that more computer-literate geeks would know how get the entire site translated.

thehitman