Difference is quad size

J

JARHEAD2

Member

I've never discussed this, but I am a disabled veteran. I was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1995 with a medical discharge. I got busted up a little bit & destroyed the lower part of my knee cap. I had a few surgeries & they amputated the lower part of the patella & stretched the ACL & reattached it. That in itself has been a problem that I have to overcome from time to time. I had to wear a cast from my hip to my toes for a year so that everything had time to heal sufficiently (Especially the ACL). When they took my cast off my left was significantly smaller than my right & especially my quad. This has been a battle for many years now for different reasons, but It was over an inch different in the beginning. I have now got them within a 1/4". My question is this. What type of leg workout would be the most beneficial to getting both legs the same size. If I was wearing shorts, which I never do, you can easily see the difference in diameter.  Do I maintain the right leg while working the left harder? Y'all put your minds together & help out an old disabled Devil Dog!!!

 
B

blastthru23

Moderator

The first thing that comes to mind is how i deal with imbalances between the biceps. I used a load that i could do 12 reps with the smaller arm, and used that load for both arms, using dumb bells of course.

So for quad imbalances, you will need to work each leg independently. Single leg extensions, a variety of lunges, side lying single leg presses using either vertical or incline leg press.

I imagine you may have imbalances in the hams and maybe glutes. The key here is to work the legs independently, but thats not to say dont do squats! Definitely do squats.

Because the muscles in the qudriceps a very large in comparison to our arm muscles, it will tale an appreciable amount of time and work to get them to even out.

Hope this helps! Im sure others will have more poignant imput, but i think this is a good start :)

 
J

JARHEAD2

Member

You got it bro! This has been my application so far. Sometimes I worked them at the same time, but I have to focus on them individually. It can be a pain to have to keep changing the weight between legs, butnits the only way I can think of to accomplish getting them closer. 

 
B

blastthru23

Moderator

Keep the weight/load the same. The good leg gets the same as the bad leg. You could do more reps with the bad leg, but keep the same load for both.

 
B

blastthru23

Moderator

Also, you want to use movements that are squat like to urilize the bi-articulate muscles, and leg extensions for single joint muscles like the vastus medialis etc, :)

 
Dolf

Dolf

Moderator

Jar...is it just your quads or the hammy too?

I agree with blast on more isolation work, but also I would work the smaller muscle more often. Whether it be doing more reps and sets on a single leg day or adding an extra day every week just for your smaller quad.

 
B

blastthru23

Moderator

Greater frequency with the isolation work is an excellent idea! Nail those suckers a few times a week with one day ending is metabolite work (60+ consequtive reps; cell swelling session). Maybe twice per meso cycle to allow for sufficient recovery

 
J

JARHEAD2

Member

I notice the quad more of course, but with the difference being in diameter I'd say it is hammy too. The biggest difference I can see is the the lower quad where it's attached to the patella 

 
J

Jeromes

Guest

is typical, keep in mind when you do 10 reps with your dominant leg the srimulation and contraction is much greater you mind has created such a powerful connection, so if it's your biceps an eazy example is this say your right handed your mind has been trained since birth to use that side of your body so in order to help break that imbalance and create a better connection to the left side you must essentially become left handed.it may sound silly but this is something you do outside the gym you would use your left hand for everything door knobs opening a soda jerking off, over time the pathways will be built and you will now have a greater connection.if you can take that example and shoft

it to your legs it will help as with the above advice.uni lateral movements are very important focusing you mind on just your small leg and avoiding even glancing at the right will also help.my legs have a lot of separation but my right leg is smaller due to a horrible injury about a year ago so when I do leg extensions I stare at my left leg or show leg lol because of how impressive it

is to me but what that did was just reinforce the imbalance and created an even Greater Inbalance, so truly focus on your weak leg roll your shorts up only on the left side expose it to your mind to your eyes.over time it will catch up, uni lateral work I always incorporate into my

training an if it's just one set of single arm db benchpress 

 
J

Jeromes

Guest

perform a pre exhaust technique which imho would be a super valuable tool so head to the leg extension and do 3-4 sets only on your weak side then go about your leg day that fatigues the weak leg and it will reach failure before you dominant leg does.just food for thought

 
J

JARHEAD2

Member

So in theory, by focusing on the weaker leg & concentrating to actually the do the majority of the lift it still works the dominant leg, but allowing the less dominant to reverse roles.... makes sense bro! I think also by doing the weak side separate & then applying this to the set with both legs it would have to help!

 
J

Jeromes

Guest

i gurantee you will

see improvements,I love training and the problem is that typically aas users train in 3 different ways.1 they try to lift as much weight as possible to impress others,2

they lift girl weight and talk about how it's all about the squeeze,3 the super high reps guy that come

off gear and shrink because they never truly built

muscle They just built fluff. Train intensely my friend think outside the box, understand each body parts strength curve learn what is the full range

of a particular muscle such as the chest biomechanically  you will suceed.Heavy weight builds muscle generally, sorry went on a tangent  just enjoy discussion of how to maximize

muscle growth and development =)

 
B

blastthru23

Moderator

One technique that i am finding quite effective is to do single leg extensions, first leg A, the B for 10 reps. Then with no break, do leg A then B, repeat for 3-4 sets. Then, without a break, keeping the same load, use noth legs a go till in burns. Rest just long enough for the lactic acid to disipate, about two or three seconds, and go again until you reach 60+ reps total. For me, a load that i can do 30 or so reps seems good. 

This way you hit each leg independently, the simultaneously. You might consider doing something similar with seated or lying leg curls. Same idea but hams get hit. I also like doing dumb bell still leg and lying leg curls in a super set fashion. For the LLCs, use a load such that you can get up to 20 reps, with the last couple coming close to mechanical failure. The DBSLs i do 8-10 reps. This way you get hip extension, and leg flexion. 

Good luck Jar :)

 
calmb4dastorm

calmb4dastorm

Moderator

It has proven to be of great benefit for me to utilize isolation when training legs. It's no secret that calves and hams for me are tragic. A bunionectomy several years ago caused my left calf to become emaciated after having to wear a cast then a boot for months . It was so very puny and weak. I had to work it more than I did the right calf. I kept and still keep the load the same. It proved effective to isolate each calf, then work them simultaneously. The left calf has dramatically improved, but it is still not the same size as the right one. 

I think you will be pleased with the outcome of implementing the ideas the brothers have posted here in! 

May the gains be with you ;-)

 
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