Lagging Bodyparts

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wrestlingmark

New Member
I lifted weights with absolutlely NO knowledge whatsoever for about 2 years. My lifting schedule looked like this. Biceps, Chest(actually front delts), talkin to people, and triceps every other day. So, I gained some mass in those areas(when i ate more than i burned) and now my front delts and arms are a good bit bigger than my rear delts and back. Also, my quads are quite a bit bigger than my hamstrings.


I was wondering what I should be doing to bring these lagging body parts up to size.
Should i eliminate all quad, arm, and chest exercises, and just do ham and back exercises for a cycle or two or three? Please if you can , respond to this post, as I am going to be finding my rep maxes in two days. Thanks.
 
I would say if you have certain areas that are too big, then working them along with the lagging parts will keep that same gap in size.
For example, lets say from 1-10 you rate your hamstrings a 2, and quads a 6. After doing exercises to increase mass in both areas, your hamstrings will become a 4, and your quads will become a 8. The best way to get rid of this gap is to neglect your big parts, and let the smaller ones catch up.
 
Maybe you could just put emphasis on the lagging body parts. For example, do one set for quad, arm and chest exercises and do two sets for the others. Also, throw in some metabolic stress techniques for your lagging parts during the 5s and negs - drop sets, loaded stretches, pulses, etc.

That way you are still gaining everywhere and your lagging bodyparts will catch up.

If the difference is really obvious and you want to get the other body parts to catch up quickly, you might want to try winterfresh's suggestion.
 
Heya wrestlingmark  :)
First of, as regards to your lagging body parts, it is really helpful to ask who they are obvious too. Do people really notice? Or is it just you, or your wife/girlfriend? Other bodybuilders around you? Perhaps it's just you, so all you have to do is give yourself a break, relax. They'll catch up eventually. You don't have to do a drastic change on your workout. Just do your lagging parts first in your workout, so you are still fresh when you are working them out.
Doing extra sets might not be the answer. If you force yourself to do the extra sets (thus increasing the volume despite the load remaining high), you might end up doing "too much." By that I mean you do an amount that requires much more rest before you can start training effectively again, thus limiting the effectiveness of the frequent training in HST. But if you can manage an extra set without going to failure, and you notice that you are still up for it on the succeeding workout, then by all means do add an extra set.
Hope this helps. Good luck wrestlingmark  :)
- JV
 
i would say dont increase the weight on your lagging parts just maintain for a couple of cycles untill the other parts catch up :D
 
To bring up lagging parts do more volume, this can be done through adding more frequency to the lagging parts or by more individual workout volume. Be sure to progressively increase the tension on those groups.
 
I agree with dan and lance, instead of cutting out the rest of your routine and only focusing on your lagging parts, just increase the volume or frequency. Add in a couple other exercises for those bodyparts or do your whole body routine 3 times a week, but do the exercises for those bodyparts on your days off as well.
 
Yes, don't neglect the other muscle groups...
I once did it, in my younger years, when I was even more stupid than today...
I have always had a great asymmetry (at least in my eyes). For example left arm was once an inch (yes 1") smaller than my right arm. If you're talking about 24" arms, that's not too bad, but at that time they were like 13-14".
So I thought "hey, let's cut out the right arm work for a few weeks". So I did.
Result after a few weeks. Difference only mildly reduced. BUT my left arm was stronger than my right arm!
So now, 2 years later, there are still a lot of exercises where my left arm is stronger than my right arm, but my left arm is still 3/4" smaller....
So DON't NEGLECT other body parts
 
I have the small pec 'syndrome' and want to up the work on them. I'm thinking of just adding flyes to the routine so the chest gets hit twice in a workout. Wouldn't that be better than extra sets or neglecting the rest of my body?
 
I don't know if flyes are what I would add to get the extra work in though. What are you doing right now for pecs? Incline Bench and Dips are a powerful combination.
When you get into the 5s and post-5s, it helps to also add one 15 - 20 rep set of DB press as well, to get a burn. Don't do this burn set until after your normal workout though.
 
I'm on my first HST cycle with as you mentioned, incline bench alternating with wide grip dips. I just came off of the MuscleNow program at the end of the five-set weeks. I've been doing one chest day about every five days using bench, incline bench, occasional flyes and dips (I know, no consistency there). Chest has always lagged. In the old days, did the traditional 3 sets of 8 for years and got nowhere except for a five year plateau! Quit for four years and got into Musclenow for 2 and here I am.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 11 2006,09:36)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I don't know if flyes are what I would add to get the extra work in though.  What are you doing right now for pecs?  Incline Bench and Dips are a powerful combination.
When you get into the 5s and post-5s, it helps to also add one 15 - 20 rep set of DB press as well, to get a burn.  Don't do this burn set until after your normal workout though.</div>
I'm just starting my 5 rep cycle in, oh, five minutes.
I'll be adding in the db burns at the end as you suggested and we'll see how it goes. Tired of my gut matching my chest!
 
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