26/F 118lbs, good diet- skinny legs- Help! Creatine??

heidi_sweetclover · Post by **heidi_sweetclover** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:38 pm

Ok, as the title states, I'm 26, 118lbs., 5 foot 3 inches, in good shape, I eat very healthy, and I believe I have a solid workout program.

But, no matter what I do, I can NOT gain anything on legs- and I mean I TEAR them up 2x a week for atleast an hour- with no cardio so as not to waste any precious calories!!

Is Creatine bad for women? I am just so sick of all effort with no results.

Any good advice would be greatly appreciated

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:05 pm

post your food and training plans for a closer inspection to see what could be improved...i'm not big on supp's if simple training/diet changes can be made instead

DianaB · Post by **DianaB** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:02 am

Diet training etc...
But if it's solid, you might want to look into beta alanine. Creatine wrecks havoc on stomach and causes alot of bloating. I've had great results with beta alanine. Although some women swear by creatine for mass building.

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:47 pm

Creatine could help women, but I'm not sold on it, unless they're quite powerful.

The main issue as well is the Water retention, and when you get "week", it could really be an issue potentially, when you get Water ret during that week.

vamp · Post by **vamp** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:03 pm

Just a question here,

why work on a muscle group for so long?

1/2 hour to 45 minutes tops! No cardio on weight days and 3 times a week not 2 for trouble muscles. Good old calf raises on a 2-4" step for full extension and range of motion. straight toes, toes in and toes out. Do 2 to 3 sets of each on higher weights and use progressive overload principle (increase the weight each workout) and use a 8-12 rep range.

2-3 minute rests in between.

Cheers.

Anyone else got any ideas?

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:17 pm

she hasn;r specifieis what part/s of her legs are not growing so it;'s hard to see what she needs...i assume she needs to get off the leg press and picjk some wts off of the ground

vamp · Post by **vamp** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:30 pm

swanso5 wrote:she hasn;r specifieis what part/s of her legs are not growing so it;'s hard to see what she needs...i assume she needs to get off the leg press and picjk some wts off of the ground

Your right, don't know why I was focussing on calves, sorry 'bout that.

heidi_sweetclover · Post by **heidi_sweetclover** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:19 pm

Ok-
Diet on a weight day generally is 1 or 2 hard boiled egg whites, Protein bar (15g) before wk out. After wk out, 30g protein shake, lots of water all throughout the day, snacks and dinner either, chicken, fish, or turkey usually.

I never do cardio when I work legs
routine -well there is no "routine" I do best to switch up weekly-
3 -4 sets of 8 or 10 on leg press at 220 or 240 lbs.
40-50 lunges holding a 25 lb weight in each hand.
4 sets calf raises at 20times . at 120-140 lbs.
3 sets of quadricep extentions 8 or 10 times . at 90-100lbs.
3-4 sets of hamstring extensions 10 times . at 60 lbs.

Keep in mind I have a pretty small frame, and that weight is pretty grueling ! main concern is upper legs (quad, hams, glutes etc...)

DianaB · Post by **DianaB** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:44 pm

You need to squat.
Try the Stronglifts.com 5x5, you need a real training program.
If you can do 40-50 lunges with 25lbs db's, you'll be OK for the 5x5.
You can be small and strong, don't worry about your small frame.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:12 pm

like i said earlier, get off machines and hit the free wts...

to get all round leg develoopment you really need to hammer in on the glutes and hamstrings which mean heavy wt and full (deep, deep, deep) range of motion

try this for 2/week:

session 1
deadlifts working up to a 3rm max...if you haven't done these before then have someone teach you and start slowly
reverse lunge 3 x 8
glute ham raise 3 x 8

session 2
front squat 4 x 6
static lunge 3 x 8
stiff leg deadlifts 3 x 8

i'm big on routines, not just doing something different each time as youm can't chart progress in wt, sets and reps etc...it's very important to make the wt heavier reach time you reach the prescribed sets and reps

vamp · Post by **vamp** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:33 pm

Like that routine, although can you refresh me, what is the ham/glute raise? (brain fart)

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:43 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52O921InSNI

trains the hamstrings for they actually do which is knee flexion and hip extension unlike leg curls etc which only train knee flexion...hip extension is way more neglected than knee flexion which is trained through squats, lunges etc

heidi_sweetclover · Post by **heidi_sweetclover** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:00 am

Ok I'll try that Swanso-
Thanks for all of the advice people!

HOUSTON TEXAN · Post by **HOUSTON TEXAN** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:46 pm

Plus squats get you a nice booty.

heidi_sweetclover · Post by **heidi_sweetclover** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:50 pm

Speaking of Booty's--- I have a total white girl booty- it's nice enough, but will squats add some "junk" to the ol' trunk, or will it just make it tighter and smaller?