Ladies of strength training...

[fitx3]

How often do you work your legs and glutes?

My upper body is developing nicely, but I feel my legs and butt need some catching up! I have more of a curvy muscular built- think Trish Stratus.

At the present I'm only working this area once a week like the rest of my muscle groups and I'm wondering if I should kick it up to twice a week.

Oh yes, another thing....Any of you take any fat burners? I just started taking Lipo6 and I'm really liking it!

[StephanieShine]

I do legs every 5 days. But depending how you count it my suggestion and suggestions in magazines can be decieving. I consider Day 1 to be the day I do legs, Day 2, 3, and 4 are off and day 5 is leg day again. So technically I take 3 days off between legs. If you dont find this to be enough time for recovery, I just note the day I stop feeling sore and go a day after that.

[Honeywith4bees]

I do my legs about every fifth day a well, but if that isn't working for you, ramp it up! Or add more weight on your on days.

I don't take any fat burners but I drink whey shakes.

[fitx3]

Okay, so it's looking like the every 5 days thing is working for you gals. I'm going to try it and see what happens. I was doing legs every Friday so I could endure the soreness through the weekend, days of rest.

I was doing the whey shakes and I started getting puffy! Not good for me. Perhaps it was the creatine in the mix that was doing it. I may just look into glutamine.

Thanks!

[Honeywith4bees]

What kind of whey shake were you using? I'm just curious because I just bought a different brand than I'm used to.

Also, what are you doing for a legs workout?

[fitx3]

Originally Posted by Honeywith4bees

What kind of whey shake were you using? I'm just curious because I just bought a different brand than I'm used to.

Also, what are you doing for a legs workout?

The whey protein I was taking is Six Star Muscle Professional Strength. It's loaded with all kinds of scientific words. I was also using Muscle Milk which is a casein protein before bed. I would mix it with a little bit of water and make a pudding out of it. It really helped out with sugar cravings because it is definately the best tasting protein shake out there, hands down.

Legs, I try to mix it up every few weeks with various exercises. My staples are.

Lunges: Smith, Barbell and Walking
Squats: Barbell and Smith
Leg Curls: Laying and Seated
Butt Blaster Machine (LOVE THIS ONE)
The Leg Machines with the levers you find in the "Big Boy" part of the gym. (don't know what they are called)

A lot of the time I use my own body weight (on the Smith) or I'll start with 45lb plates on the machines and then increase the weight with quarters until I get to my max weight. I use these machines for my calves as well.

I do 4 sets to failure, which is pretty quick and then I die a slow death until my next workout!

[Honeywith4bees]

Thats just about the same thing I do for a leg workout. I also do something called "boot strappers" and in between sets, I run up and down the six flights of steps in the gym.

When I can barely walk down to the locker room, I know I've had a worthwhile workout!!

I just bought Muscle Milk, (I've been using the Vitamin Shop's store brand,) and yeah, its wicked sweet!

Good luck!

[fitx3]

Thanks! You too.

Oh by the way....This "boot strappers" sounds like a good way to break up the sets. I should try that sometime. The only thing is, there is only 2 sets of stairs with a corner in between the cardio and weight rooms. I sometimes trip coming down the stairs during a regular workout, I can imagine what would happen tagging it to legs!

[StephanieShine]

The "big boy machine" is simply called the leg press. If you are doing barbell squats and deadlifts there is no need to use this machine, it messes up hip flexors and balance.

Also creatine has somewhat of a bloating effect, moreso on women than men. I was taking 5 grams post workout and 3 grams on non-training days, now I just take 3 grams every day and drink lots of water and I am fine. Creatine essentially pulls water into skeletal muscle cells.

As for the glutamine, I'd say hands down approve! I have 5 - 10 grams every day and my immunity and recovery is fantastic. If I had to choose one of the two (cre vs glu) I'd choose glutamine because at this point I care more about recovering properly than having my muscles look full.

[fitx3]

Originally Posted by StephanieShine

The "big boy machine" is simply called the leg press. If you are doing barbell squats and deadlifts there is no need to use this machine, it messes up hip flexors and balance.

Also creatine has somewhat of a bloating effect, moreso on women than men. I was taking 5 grams post workout and 3 grams on non-training days, now I just take 3 grams every day and drink lots of water and I am fine. Creatine essentially pulls water into skeletal muscle cells.

As for the glutamine, I'd say hands down approve! I have 5 - 10 grams every day and my immunity and recovery is fantastic. If I had to choose one of the two (cre vs glu) I'd choose glutamine because at this point I care more about recovering properly than having my muscles look full.

Yes, I figured it was the creatine that was doing it. I am trying more for the defined look so I don't need to bloat any more than normal! I know that cut up definition is all about diet but I'm not crazy about starving. Besides, if I'm not competing why should I?

Do you have any brand recommendations for glutamine?

[StephanieShine]

Brand recs for glutamine - Not really, its pretty standard. You just want pure glutamine. I prefer powder form to mix into my whey. Although if you find a deal on pill form they can easily be opened and stirred into liquids / on your oatmeal. Pay attention to servings sizes, some can say 6 pills equals 3 grams, there is probably alot of filler stuff in that. With the powder I find it best, as with anything, to buy in bulk. A 60 serving container (4.5 g each) at $19 will last 50 to 70 days, so I consider that a good investment. I purchase standard stuff like glutamine from vitacost.com because shipping is always 4.99 and their NSI brand glutamine is the cheapest on the site.

[catfightreport]

Originally Posted by fitx3

How often do you work your legs and glutes?

My upper body is developing nicely, but I feel my legs and butt need some catching up! I have more of a curvy muscular built- think Trish Stratus.

At the present I'm only working this area once a week like the rest of my muscle groups and I'm wondering if I should kick it up to twice a week.

Oh yes, another thing....Any of you take any fat burners? I just started taking Lipo6 and I'm really liking it!

The Trish Stratus look is great!

Keep it!

[Defiance]

You are so lucky! I WISH I could get my butt more curvy and muscular! I seem to be the only woman I know who wants a bigger butt and thighs.

I have added sprints and plyometrics to my heavy leg workouts and have seen great results. I have gained an inch in my quads over the past two months. I have also been doing butt-to-the-ground squats on the
Smith machine. Those will really work the butt too!

[fitx3]

Originally Posted by catfightreport

The Trish Stratus look is great!

Keep it!

Thank you so much!

[fitx3]

Originally Posted by Defiance

You are so lucky! I WISH I could get my butt more curvy and muscular! I seem to be the only woman I know who wants a bigger butt and thighs.

I have added sprints and plyometrics to my heavy leg workouts and have seen great results. I have gained an inch in my quads over the past two months. I have also been doing butt-to-the-ground squats on the
Smith machine. Those will really work the butt too!

Funny, I feel the same way. I live in a city that seems to worship waif type figures. I feel so fat around the women here and I'm so not a fat girl!

Thank you too.

[Lauxa]

I'm still a newbie to regular workouts, but I'm starting to work on pistols. They just look so cool! Okay, so I lower myself down to a chair and even so can only do 3 on my left leg (which is nothing for my right leg)... but it'll improve...

I try to work out twice a week, sometimes thrice. But my workouts only take about 20 minutes.

Oh, also, my MIL told me that bike riding is AWESOME for your butt and thighs. She used to do distance riding and said that was the best her butt ever looked!

[StephanieShine]

Pistols are very tough to do correclty. Although you are using a chair I would start with body weight squats and then start adding weights until you can squat 3/4 to nearly all of your body weight. You can also try squating from a bench. It will take awhile but it will make pistols and other one legged squat and lunge variations easier and safer for your hip flexors.

[fitx3]

I'm not sure I know what pistols are. I can look it up later but if anyone has the time to tell me how they are done, that would be .

[Lauxa]

Just another name for one-legged squats.

More here: One Legged Squat

[fitx3]

Gotcha! Thanks. I think I'd need to work on my balance a bit more to do these correctly.