Legs of steel
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[b]Hindu squats[/b] are the perfect choice to develop power and endurance in the thighs.<br />
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Just assume a standing position, feet shoulder width apart, feet pointing slightly outward.<br />
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Squat down below parallel, then come back up, but don't lock out. Keep the movement continuous.<br />
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Breath out on the way down, and in on the way up. Keep the back straight.<br />
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As you squat down, your arms should be straight, moved to your sides and behind you, then be brought straight out in front of you on the way back up.<br />
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Do them in sets of 50, 2-3 minutes rest between each set, for a total of 500 reps, every day. That's what I did. After 3 months my legs were tree trunks - an extra 8kg of muscle!<br />
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This exercise improves your aerobic and anaerobic capacity.<br />
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80 minutes of rugby becomes a breeze! -
So you ended up looking like an Olypmic Sprint cyclist....massive legs and wizened shrivelled little upper body? <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> <br />
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[quote]Squat down below parallel, then come back up[/quote]<br />
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:-k parallel to what? -
My upper is ok, bro. Enough to damage the opposition! <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> <br />
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Below parallel = thighs lowered to at least parallel to the floor, or deeper. -
Shirley having legs made of 'steel' would make you too heavy for your weight?
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No, with the pea brain - it balances itself!<br />
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<img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> -
Been working on my chicken legs for years and have given up...no amount of squats, legs press's etc have made any difference to my legs.
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Fair enough, spent about half an hour a day and get legs that can lift your own bodyweight, admittedly, quite a few times.<br />
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Or, do a range of squats, deadlifts and lunges, at differing speeds and weights, twice a week. totalling about an hour a week. spend the rest of time building up your aerobic/anearobic fitness for rugby, maybe even doing a few upper body weights.<br />
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I think you're better off with my idea.<br />
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You could do a paper on it, but it depends what you want, strength endurance or a combination of strength, power, speed and endurance. -
Free weight squats could be added, as well as some deadies, but they are not developers of functional strength ie. how many deadies do you do on the field? <br />
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Functional strength is most important, maybe only some deadies for the tight 5?<br />
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and this 'I can bench press such and such a weight' is codswallop. You don't do many benches on the fiels ie. not a functional strength movement. -
blackdragon - functional strength?? How many squats do you do on the field... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' /> <br />
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overall body strength (overall functional strength perhaps), can't go past the big three, deadlifts, squats, bench press. Turf the rest out, sub shoulder press for bench a few times, and there you have the worlds most basic weights programme, that will work!! -
Thank you bartman,<br />
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functional strength? That's the reason you don't have to waste your time doing bicep curls or other isolation exercises. Squats and deadlifts are compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups that you will use during a game of rugby.<br />
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it's no use having strong legs if your lower back folds the first time you try to use them. -
Hindu's, my lads. Plenty of them. Try it mate. I did squats and deadies for 6 years, and it improved my strength tremendously - ie. 10 reps with 200kg in the deadlift, and 140kg for 8 reps in the squat.<br />
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But I bet you dollars to dougnuts, if you can squat 100's of pounds, you can only do 30-40 Hindu's. <br />
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Hindu's are way better than squats and deads for developing overall flexibility, strength, endurance, and cardio. [b]Try it first[/b] bro. I've done both, and the results are amazing! -
those weights are made up BD?? only squatting 140, but 200 on DL, just does not compute in my experience of weight training, have found that most would be able to squat more (amateur played dunno about pros), than dead lift.<br />
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I think I carcked 220 for DL, and 260 odd for squats, and found that sort of ratio the norm, biys being able to squat more (legs) then DL, legs and back.<br />
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but agree, try something before you knock it, but also, use the proven methods first, before trying the alternates - in my opinion anyway! -
When I was doing Deads I was lifting about 30kg more in my DL than I could in a squat<br />
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Although I think that just means I can squat fuckall :? -
different for different people i s'pose, but I ahve never noted it that way around!!
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Normally depends on what i do first, i'm pretty even at the moment.<br />
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BD, it's just the amount of time you seem to have to spend doing it that would put me off. You could do a lot of other training in the time you were doing hindu squats. -
do them on different days - can never go heavy on both on the same day - kill yourselof!!
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Tell me about it. Deadlifts, squats and then lunges. If i put the effort in i struggle to walk the next day. It knocks a bit off my squat but it gets it all done. Workout has 4 upper body exercises as well, and some abs, don't know if it's too long, but it seems to work. Seems better than when i used to split stuff.
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I've always had a strong lower back. My biomechanics are suited to deadies as I am tall, so the squat weight is lower.<br />
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Not a normal ratio, thats why I did the Hindu's to up my power, so now the ratio is pretty good.<br />
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I must congratulate Bartman, we don't often see eye to eye, but these are pretty good poundages there Barty! I'm impressed! <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' /> <br />
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Also, I injured my back for a while in the scrum, so I placed more emphasis on the Hindu's. They place less stress on your joints. -
Ok experts so what is the best workout routine for weight room time for high school kids. or can someone point me to some website where i can share this info with them.
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Pushups<br />
Chins<br />
Hindus<br />
Sprints<br />
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But remember to stretch. Heaps of rugby players become 'stiff' when they train too much, making them more injury prone because they don't stretch. -
[quote name='\"blackdragon\"'][b]Hindu squats[/b] are the perfect choice to develop power and endurance in the thighs.<br />
<br />
Just assume a standing position, feet shoulder width apart, feet pointing slightly outward.<br />
<br />
Squat down below parallel, then come back up, but don't lock out. Keep the movement continuous.<br />
<br />
Breath out on the way down, and in on the way up. Keep the back straight.<br />
<br />
As you squat down, your arms should be straight, moved to your sides and behind you, then be brought straight out in front of you on the way back up.<br />
<br />
Do them in sets of 50, 2-3 minutes rest between each set, for a total of 500 reps, every day. That's what I did. After 3 months my legs were tree trunks - an extra 8kg of muscle!<br />
<br />
This exercise improves your aerobic and anaerobic capacity.<br />
<br />
80 minutes of rugby becomes a breeze![/quote]<br />
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after reading that does anyone seriously believe that bd isn't a wind up merchant? -
I probably should have spotted it. :roll: <br />
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I was caught big time there. I actually considered trying it out for all of .2 seconds.... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> -
I'm skeptical about the 8kg of muscle but some martial arts training suggest Hindu squats for a similar rep range and often a lot more.
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knowing dick squat about hindu squats it may be true, i dont know. but bd is taking the piss there.<br />
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dont worry ed, i wont spread it round wales, the sheep will still love you <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> -
yeah, twas the 8kg of muscle that pushed it. still, can't spend half my life doing fookin squats, can i?
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Pfft - bringing your knee joint lower than 90 degrees generally provides no further benefit than getting to 90 - ask any weights dude when squats are happening.
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all it does it increase chances of injury, by extending your knee cap past some point or other, and thus reducing stability. So the extra 'gain' you get from going past 90, is not worth the exta chance of injury that you may sustain from going to deep...
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Re-reading the shite from BD, the idea does come to mind that any benefit he might have seen would have been considerably bettered by spending the same amount of time on an ergometer... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />
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Sprints and bodyweight squats do it for me.<br />
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I used to be heavily into lifting--at one point I was squatting 410 pounds for sets of 8.<br />
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These days the spine has had enough of heavy weights.<br />
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But sprinting is amazingly good at building leg strength, and at least as hard as a heavy squatting session if done properly. -
[quote name='davidav']<br />
Sprints and [b]bodyweight squats[/b] do it for me.<br />
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I used to be heavily into lifting--at one point I was squatting 410 pounds for sets of 8.<br />
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These days the spine has had enough of heavy weights.<br />
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But sprinting is amazingly good at building leg strength, and at least as hard as a heavy squatting session if done properly.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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<img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> ahhhhhhhhhh..... the pleasure of knowing I'm sometimes right. Come on lads, give it a crack, eh? -
[quote name='blackdragon']<br />
<img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> ahhhhhhhhhh..... the pleasure of knowing I'm sometimes right. Come on lads, give it a crack, eh?<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Read his post again, he does your exercise as his back is stuffed. -
[quote name='Kirwan']<br />
Read his post again, he does your exercise as his back is stuffed.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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You are right Kirwan. But at this stage I'm starting to wonder if heavy lifting is good at all. Granted, I was (and still am) very strong in all lifts--squats, bench presses, deadlifts, etc. But I don't think the injuries are worth it anymore. The last one, which I'm just now recovering from after at least 2 months of extreme pain, was a severe herniation in one of my discs, plus two other bulging discs in my spine.<br />
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I've been doing alot of reading and studying on exercise physiology, and have come to the conclusion that bodyweight training is pretty good for overall fitness, and a lot safer than lifting. And I've found a number of "boot camp" style routines that would make even well-conditioned athletes cry.<br />
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Combine this with jogging and intensive sprinting, and you've got a workout at least as good, if not better, than anything you can do in the gym.<br />
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I've been training hard all my life, and these days I am more interested in functional fitness (real strength and power), than "gym fitness". You see alot of "tit queens" in gyms--guys who are really good at certain lifts, so that's all they do. Take them out onto the field, have them do a very intensive military-style training session, and they crumble like rice paper. -
If I was going to do it I would have to weigh up the time it would take to 500 reps as opposed to what 20/30?<br />
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Also, if you don't rest (he says do that every day) your muscles don't grow, all pretty basic stuff that Blackdragon seems to have missed.<br />
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Anybody else think he weighs 70kgs soaking wet, and has a ponytail? -
[quote name='Kirwan']<br />
If I was going to do it I would have to weigh up the time it would take to 500 reps as opposed to what 20/30?<br />
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Also, if you don't rest (he says do that every day) your muscles don't grow, all pretty basic stuff that Blackdragon seems to have missed.<br />
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Anybody else think he weighs 70kgs soaking wet, and has a ponytail?<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Agreed. Overtraining leads to injury. If you're training more than 5 days a week, you can't be training that hard. There's an old saying that is absolutely true: you can either train hard or often, but you can't do both.<br />
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And for really ball breaking work like "boot camp" style workouts, I recommend 3 very hard training days and maybe 1 light day. Aerobics should include roadwork (jogging) and something more intense like sprints or rope skipping.<br />
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With this kind of training, you just can't do more than 4 sessions a week. Otherwise your body will be fucked, and you will get hurt. Trust me. I've tried everything you can imagine. -
I like that, "you can either train hard or often".
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Amateur weightlifters (I'm think under 20 years of age too) should be deadlifting (orf at least aiming to) around 3 times their body weight, I'd doubt many people could do that amount on the squat.