not getting a pump on leg day.

[stevonov]

Am I subconsciously half assing legs or is it harder to get a pump going in bigger muscle groups like quads? get best pumps on chest and tris. those are my two favorite muscle groups to hit. am I working them harder or do they just respond better. feel like intensity is the same.

 

[spiffy0]

ronnie coleman used to get a disgusting amount of pump in his legs. its all about doing a massive amount of reps

 

[Evom1]

Focus on squeezing the muscle and not just moving the weight

Let's take squats for example....3 seconds down, no pause at parallel immediately come up and come up 85% of the way and immediately go back down, no rest. Do 6x20 here... Let me know how the pump is

Leg press, same thing but add bands

 

[ickyrica]

Lol, no pump in legs.

Throw an intensity day in once a week if you want to but you want a pump? Volume as stated above.

I like getting my hams warmed up before hitting quads when I do volume. Been digging on some Meadows training for legs.

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Think @Evom1 hit the nail on the head with this one. Also as @ickyrica stated I also pick a hamstring exercise to warm up with. Look into some of John Meadows training techniques and exercise implementation for legs. He has plenty of videos on YouTube and there’s tons of information you can find out about some of the routines. Incorporating drop sets, iso holds, exercise sequence all plays a bit of a part as a whole.

Personally just using a weight that’s challenging but I can comfortably work through the ROM of the exercise and feel the slow eccentrics (3-5 seconds) and be able to also get hard contractions out of each rep as well. Hack squat variations, Smith machine/barbell squats, leg press variations, Smith machine lunges, Bulgarian Squats, kettlebell/dumbbell Squats (throw a 5lb plate under your heels to emphasize quads) ...
Two warm up of 15 then get three good working sets building up in weight and work up to your 4th set. Hit a set of 10, drop weight and get 10 more, drop one more time for a final 10, and if you really wanna feel the pain throw 10 partials in the end. Can use this technique for damn near any of those exercises bro and if your not feeling the pump after that well then..... idfk. Haha.

 

[stevonov]

I will try all these suggestions thanks.

 

[Ironlord]

You want a pump? Take a weight you can normally only get 10 reps with and do breathing squats for sets of 20..

 

[showstoppa]

Do what @Ironlord just said. And change your mindset, pump doesn't equal growth in general.

Want bigger legs, get a bigger 20 rep squat.

In general though if you want to get a pump in something like legs and you want them to grow faster, legs tend to respond to ultra high reps.

So if you want a stupid pump without doing bfr training, squat your bodyweight on the bar for 50 reps. Rest all you want, so long as the barbell stays on your back. Just get the work in. After do 200 squats with no weight ass to grass in the shortest time you can. Time the workout and repeat weekly and try and improve the time.

 

[Eman45]

Am I subconsciously half assing legs or is it harder to get a pump going in bigger muscle groups like quads? get best pumps on chest and tris. those are my two favorite muscle groups to hit. am I working them harder or do they just respond better. feel like intensity is the same.

Do couple sets of leg extension before ur leg press the pumps n cramps will be crippling. I don’t recommend this becuae it’s to painful to finish legpress sets but hey if u can’t get pump try it see how it works n if it don’t maybe u don’t have legs on your body then lol good luck

 

[stevonov]

I am doing the "poliquin" split. doing hams and quads on separate days helps keep my intensity up. pumps have been great even with blood donation every 8 weeks.

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Do what @Ironlord just said. And change your mindset, pump doesn't equal growth in general.

Want bigger legs, get a bigger 20 rep squat.

In general though if you want to get a pump in something like legs and you want them to grow faster, legs tend to respond to ultra high reps.

So if you want a stupid pump without doing bfr training, squat your bodyweight on the bar for 50 reps. Rest all you want, so long as the barbell stays on your back. Just get the work in. After do 200 squats with no weight ass to grass in the shortest time you can. Time the workout and repeat weekly and try and improve the time.

This doesn’t sound enjoyable whatsoever hahaha

 

[Plate Smacker]

Reverse band squats in squat rack.
I have red monster mini bands that I lay over top of rack. Full weight at top, probably takes off 40lbs at bottom. Continuous tension by not going fully parallel or locking out at top. Watch a video of Lee Priest in Squat Rack and his range of motion, pretty much like that. Not using heavy weight, so you can keep core tight while still breathing. Constant up and down.
20 reps.
Superset with walking lunges if you dare.

You could also go parallel, and lock at top for split second, and still get good pump...

 

[BigNattyDaddy]

High reps. 40,50,60. You'll get a pump after that.

 

[Logan44551]

Give these a try, they will definetly get the blood moving! Leg extensions – drop set of death
You will do 4 sets here. Pick a weight and do 8 reps with it. On the next set go heavier and do 8. On the 3rd set go
heavier and do 8. On the 4th set start heavier as well. After you do 8, pause at lockout and do a 5-second isohold
then drop down to the next weight and repeat. Keep repeating until you get down to the weight you used on the
first set. .

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

High reps. 40,50,60. You'll get a pump after that.

Did 20 reps squats the other week 10 front squats SS with 10 back squats with just 135 on the bar and they gave me a stupid pump and left me sore like I haven’t been in awhile. Don’t think I’ll be shooting for any 40 rep sets anytime soon hahahha.

 

[stevonov]

been really focusing on intensity and brought in a training partner to push me on leg day. definitely getting a pump but nothing life upper body. don't get that skin about to snap feeling and where I cant even move enough to soap up in the shower. legs are getting destroyed so I guess that's the most important

 

[Necessary Evil]

Pump in most cases is irrelevant and you shouldn't actively seek for and/or question if the work you do in the gym is legit based on that.

Generally speaking, there are many ways to get a pump in quads if you use some metabolite techniques like supersets, drop sets, occlusion and giant sets. Experiment with all of them and find which one works best for you.

 

[Savagesteve]

My favorite for really getting a pump in the quads is finishing with the leg extension machine. I do toes straight for 10 reps, toes in for 10 reps, the toes out for 10 reps...no break in between and each set is 30 reps straight. Usually manage 3-4 sets before I’m toast.

 

[Necessary Evil]

Just out of curiosity, if I remember correctly don't toes in in the leg extension machine target the quad sweep?

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Just out of curiosity, if I remember correctly don't toes in in the leg extension machine target the quad sweep?

Yes.