What the hell is up with my legs?

[IronFist]

Ok, I just came back from the gym and I'm pretty ****ed right now.

Now, I know I'm skinny and I know I'm an ectomorph and therefore by definition my legs are supposed to be weak and skinny, but what is up with this:

Alright, on 5/29 I was able to squat 225 for 5 reps pretty easily. I'm talking ass to the ground, full squats. On that day I weighed 164 lbs, with about 8% bodyfat.

For the next two months I was busy and really didn't work out that much. For for the last month, I hurt my right foot pretty badly so I limited my walking, and when I did walk, I had a limp.

Today, 7/25, I weighed 160lbs. My goal was to squat 145 for 5 sets of 8. But, because I'm such a wuss, I only got 3 sets and then I had to lower the weight to 135 for the last two sets, which really took a LOT of effort to complete. Really, like my legs were dead and I had to will myself to complete the last few reps while taking 5-10 second rests between each rep. Sad, really, because I think I wasn't even this weak when I first started lifting weights years ago.

Ok, so what the ****. Like I said above, I know my legs are naturally weak (I've had fat clients who could leg press more than me (when I'm trained) on their first day ever in the gym). But still, I'm really, really ****ed right now. I know all my endurance is gone from PTP'ing, but still, should I really be this weak right now? This is rediculous.

I don't want to do only PTP because it kills your endurance, but it seems to be the only thing I can make progress in.

Ford? El Pietro? Anyone?

IronFist

[stubbs]

is it your foot thats holding you back?
________
LINCOLN CONTINENTAL MARK IV SPECIFICATIONS (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Lincoln_Continental_Mark_IV)

[PLCrane]

Strength can be lost pretty quickly with disuse. I'm a skinny guy like you, and I've noticed that when I lose it, it comes back pretty quickly when I start exercising again.

As for those fat clients, remember, they're lifting weight every time they're on their feet, and they've been doing one-legged presses for as long as they've been fat - every time they use the stairs. If you wanna be like them, strap weights to your entire body for a few years.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by TonyM.
Horse stance and lotus position my friend.

Lotus position like how people meditate? Hmm, neither of those transfer directly to squatting power. Horse stance builds endurance, but it's limited to the static position in which you hold it.

IronFist

[neigung]

atrophy sucks a ss.
a good rule of thumb, it takes half the time you haven't been working out to get to where you were when you stopped.
i'm not so sure that horse stance training is only relative to being in that position. my legs and hips are much stronger all around and i only do stance training, no weights. than again, i'm doing much more than just a horse stance.

[fa_jing]

I think it just means that you've lost alot of strength and endurance. Suck it up and admit it. I've been through the same, although after even more time off. You prolly lost more endurance than you did strength. Next time don't get injured ;) On the postive side, you'll get it all back and more, soon enough.
Ever think of trying the Smolov Squats? There's a two-week intro cycle that's for people who have taken time off from squatting.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by TonyM.
Ditto. It has to do with how long you stay in the positions. Most people don't even sniff at the time necessary.

Not to be a jerk or anything, but sitting in a horse stance won't increase your squat power. If it did, elite level powerlifters would train horse stances.

It might add endurance, but only in that position. I doubt it would give you more endurance for squatting (unless you were a complete beginner, in which case any muscle stimulus produces huge gains).

IronFist

[IronFist]

Or, if you do low horse stances, it may prevent fatigue in the bottom portion of the squat, if you do ass to the ground squats.

IronFist

[Laughing Cow]

Ironfist.

Have you done horse stance training?

Cheers.

[fa_jing]

Originally posted by IronFist


Not to be a jerk or anything, but sitting in a horse stance won't increase your squat power. If it did, elite level powerlifters would train horse stances.

It might add endurance, but only in that position. I doubt it would give you more endurance for squatting (unless you were a complete beginner, in which case any muscle stimulus produces huge gains).

IronFist

It might help your squatting, just not as much as squatting itself.

[Ford Prefect]

To bring this conversation out of a Shaw bros movie...

Hey Iron. PTP is actually the thing. Most gains on PTP are neurological. While some myfabrillar hypertrophy occurs, the majority of the strength gains are through synaptic faccilatation/nuerological efficiency increases because of the frequency of the lifts. According to some studies I've read about done by various branches of the US military, neurological strength increases are the first to go when somebody stops training. Fortunately, the same studies showed that they are much easier to recover than building muscle back up after it has atrophied.

Something that always helps me break through plateau's is pyrmad'ing and 1-6 training. I'll pyrmamid 8-6-4-2-8 for a month and then I do 1-6 protocol for a month. I dunno.


To talk a bit about static position holding, here is an article I posted a week ago. Not bad. :)

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/270super.jsp

[fa_jing]

The article actually talks up isometric training pretty good. I like it myself, just find it a little boring. For fun hold some weight in your hands while you practice your horse - I found a kettlebell works nicely here because of the shape of the handle. But if you were training the horse strictly for martial application purposes, you might not want to alter your balance like that.

[fa_jing]

Originally posted by TonyM.
It's about the tendons my friend. Static horse for forty plus minutes is the start before frame hopping and weighted jumps. Multiple hours of lotus is a whole nuther story. Eventually you become incredibly connected from the ankles to the waist and lower back.

Hi Tony, thanks for your input. I guess you are not of the camp that says that extended periods of time in the full Lotus will stretch your tendons and ligaments too much and decrease your stability and reaction time? Personally I used to do about 15 minutes, switch position of legs and 15 minutes more - and I got great results, really helped with lower back, knees etc. The thought of me being overstretched is actually laughable, anyway. ;) So what is your opinion/experience with full Lotus position?