# Doing legs affecting Test- and making the rest of the body bigger



## JMRQ (Aug 11, 2010)

*Doing legs affecting Test- and making the rest of the body bigger*

I have a question, will doing squats and leg presses trigger the body to release more Test in general ?? ie. will it make your upper body grow too ???

Will doing awesome leg-sets also increase everything else because more Test is released into the bloodstream ??

I'm curious how this works...

I want to know how much effort I should put into my legs (if it will make me release more Test and HGH...)


----------



## Phineas (Aug 11, 2010)

The legs contain the largest muscle groups in the body. When you train those muscle groups, especially when in compound movements like squats and deadlifts -- which also involve the rest of the body -- the amount of muscle fibres trained is extremely high. Consequently, you release more growth hormones.

Growth hormones aren't dormant; they travel throughout the body and interact with all muscle groups.

Short answer: yes -- leg compounds will make your upper body bigger.


----------



## LAM (Aug 11, 2010)

also people forget that there is only such much free androgens in the body that are available for anabolic processes in muscle tissue.  these androgens circulate throughout the entire body not just to the body parts that have been exercised.


----------



## JMRQ (Aug 12, 2010)

LAM said:


> these androgens circulate throughout the entire body not just to the body parts that have been exercised.



So it's possible to get bigger arms by doing heavy leg exercises- GREAT

that's just what I was looking for...

And I hear that exercise releases HGH- does it also release IGF-1 ??

IGF-1 is what I'm most interested in- what's the best way to increase it ???


----------



## johnson 45 (Aug 12, 2010)

JMRQ said:


> So it's possible to get bigger arms by doing heavy leg exercises- GREAT
> 
> that's just what I was looking for...
> 
> ...


Buy it


----------



## JMRQ (Aug 12, 2010)

johnson 45 said:


> Buy it



I've taken it before, with no complaints, but I'm now looking for a natural way...

Anyone know how to increase IGF-1 ???


----------



## unclem (Aug 12, 2010)

doing squats are not going to make your arms bigger, you might get a " pump " while doing squats throught every muscle but as far as making your arms bigger in size no way, dont buy it. thats just my opinion. never ever worked for me. bench press will increase your arm size, back training will increase your arm size. but wat do i know.


----------



## JMRQ (Aug 12, 2010)

unclem said:


> doing squats are not going to make your arms bigger



But doing squats increases anabolic hormones THROUGHOUT the body, right?


----------



## unclem (Aug 12, 2010)

if you think just because you have hormones running through your system that squats are going to enlarge your arms , then my friend be my guest.


----------



## stylus187 (Aug 12, 2010)

unclem said:


> if you think just because you have hormones running through your system that squats are going to enlarge your arms , then my friend be my guest.


Unclem is absolutely correct!!!!!!!!


----------



## PushAndPull (Aug 12, 2010)

How about working out your legs so you're not a top heavy douchebag?


----------



## stylus187 (Aug 12, 2010)

PushAndPull said:


> How about working out your legs so you're not a top heavy douchebag?


first of all, whatch your smart ass mouth! I train legs!  If you think there is any connection with growth size being related to your arms while training legs then knock yourself out. I think its funny how some of these guys including yourself always want to act hard on the internet.


----------



## JMRQ (Aug 12, 2010)

I don't care what you guys say, I'm still going to exercise my legs enough so that I think I'm doing the rest of my body a lot of good...


----------



## stylus187 (Aug 12, 2010)

JMRQ said:


> I don't care what you guys say, I'm still going to exercise my legs enough so that I think I'm doing the rest of my body a lot of good...


train your legs brother!!! You burn more fat "period" while training your legs. Its one of the best fat burning things that you can do. Train those legs heavy.


----------



## unclem (Aug 12, 2010)

JMRQ said:


> I don't care what you guys say, I'm still going to exercise my legs enough so that I think I'm doing the rest of my body a lot of good...


 
 hey , i didnt say not to train your legs, absolutley train your legs hard, and deadlift , bp then your other bodyparts, i was just saying if u dont train your arms and just train your legs they wont grow, now if your a powerlifter, i know nothing about how to train in that fashion , but, in bbing if not training your arms they will grow only if u train bench and back, but not to there fullest potential. u can bet on that. train your arms just as with your squats. but if big legs is all your after then ull be fine doing deads and squats .


----------



## PushAndPull (Aug 12, 2010)

stylus187 said:


> first of all, whatch your smart ass mouth! I train legs!  If you think there is any connection with growth size being related to your arms while training legs then knock yourself out. I think its funny how some of these guys including yourself always want to act hard on the internet.



first of all, go fuck your mother!
Second of all, i'll say what I want.
Third of all, go fuck your mother again.


----------



## JMRQ (Aug 12, 2010)

stylus187 said:


> Its one of the best fat burning things that you can do. Train those legs heavy.



Thanks Stylus187 !!!


----------



## LAM (Aug 12, 2010)

JMRQ said:


> So it's possible to get bigger arms by doing heavy leg exercises- GREAT
> 
> that's just what I was looking for...
> 
> ...



the best way to increase GH output with resistance is to train with loads at or greater than 80% of the 1RM.  with cardio you want to exercise at or near the VO2max, interval training is the easiest for that.


----------



## Merkaba (Aug 13, 2010)

stylus187 said:


> train your legs brother!!! You burn more fat "period" while training your legs. Its one of the best fat burning things that you can do. Train those legs heavy.



Can you explain the bio thermogenics behind this statement? Your thesis is Training legs heavy burns fat....go


----------



## stylus187 (Aug 13, 2010)

PushAndPull said:


> first of all, go fuck your mother!
> Second of all, i'll say what I want.
> Third of all, go fuck your mother again.


" I love your sweet pillow talk"


----------



## stylus187 (Aug 13, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> Can you explain the bio thermogenics behind this statement? Your thesis is Training legs heavy burns fat....go


 Merkaba, I do know that when you train your larger muscle groups, You lift heavier thus exerting more energy being used and burned. Since this is the largest muscle group, your gonna burn the most energy required to withstain your workout. The exact thermogenics behind it, I wont pretend to know exactly. If I am wrong please correct me.... Stylus187


----------



## 200+ (Aug 13, 2010)

I am having a hard time understanding how someone can even question whether to train legs or not.


----------



## PushAndPull (Aug 13, 2010)

200+ said:


> I am having a hard time understanding how someone can even question whether to train legs or not.



Yup, that was my original post was about before this idiot thought it was directed towards him. Who cares if it makes your arms bigger or not? You're gonna look ridiculous with a big upper body and little chicken legs. Not to mention by strengthening your posterior chain it's going to help you avoid all kinds of injuries. Who wants weak legs, anyways?


----------



## PushAndPull (Aug 13, 2010)

stylus187 said:


> " I love your sweet pillow talk"



Go burn some fat, by doing some squats half-wit


----------



## BigBadWolf (Aug 13, 2010)

The "training legs to get a bigger upper body" debate has been around forever. ive read a ton of articles on it,stating when your legs are trained the body releases more growth horomone.I dont know if theres any truth to it or if its just semi-guided bullshit.One thing i have read and taken notice to in my 20 plus years of lifting experience, is that in order for GH to work (growth) the body must be in a state of catabolism.ive seen countless guys take GH and make no size gains whatsoever,although the majority of them shedded bodyfat extremely fast,coincidence? maybe,proof? no, just an educated observation.Heres my opinion on training legs for a bigger upper body, when you train legs you not only get stronger legs but you get a stronger core,when you get a stronger core,you will in fact get a stronger upperbody,which inturn does mean a bigger upper body,providing diet/rest needs are met.


----------



## Gazhole (Aug 13, 2010)

There's a reason why Randy Strossen didn't write a book called "Super Curls".

It's because from a physiological standpoint doing arm work is like sending a flea up a horse's leg with the intention of rape. Even if he does everything right, at absolute best it's just going to cause an itch.

Do some squats and give your body something to actually adapt to.

This isn't to say that you should ONLY do leg work, but id bet you'd see far more growth from doing ONLY squats than you would from doing ONLY rows or ONLY bench. 

Shit like curls and kickbacks dont even register on the horse-rape radar.


----------



## 200+ (Aug 13, 2010)

Gazhole said:


> Shit like curls and kickbacks don't even register on the horse-rape radar.



I hardly even do arms.  I find humor in the people working so hard day in and day out at training their arms; they end up looking disproportionate


----------



## LAM (Aug 13, 2010)

BigBadWolf said:


> The "training legs to get a bigger upper body" debate has been around forever. ive read a ton of articles on it,stating when your legs are trained the body releases more growth horomone.I dont know if theres any truth to it or if its just semi-guided bullshit.One thing i have read and taken notice to in my 20 plus years of lifting experience, is that in order for GH to work (growth) the body must be in a state of catabolism.ive seen countless guys take GH and make no size gains whatsoever,although the majority of them shedded bodyfat extremely fast,coincidence? maybe,proof? no, just an educated observation.Heres my opinion on training legs for a bigger upper body, when you train legs you not only get stronger legs but you get a stronger core,when you get a stronger core,you will in fact get a stronger upperbody,which inturn does mean a bigger upper body,providing diet/rest needs are met.



the logic is quite sound when you think about it if you focus on the large body parts the smaller ones are obviously stimulated as well.  how many times do we all see someone with with big arms and scrawny legs and no back? how often do you see someone with a big back and legs with scrawny arms?


----------



## Gazhole (Aug 14, 2010)

200+ said:


> I hardly even do arms.  I find humor in the people working so hard day in and day out at training their arms; they end up looking disproportionate



At best they end up disproportionate, at worst they end up staying small, lol.

Pointless waste of valuable time and recovery.


----------



## Phineas (Aug 14, 2010)

Gazhole said:


> There's a reason why Randy Strossen didn't write a book called "Super Curls".
> 
> It's because from a physiological standpoint doing arm work is like sending a flea up a horse's leg with the intention of rape. Even if he does everything right, at absolute best it's just going to cause an itch.
> 
> ...



I can't rep Gaz yet. Can someone please rep him for making what has to be the first post in IM history with the phrase "horse-rape radar".

That post was disgustingly brilliant.


----------



## talithakoum (Aug 14, 2010)

thx for posting this.....helps me a lot!


----------



## talithakoum (Aug 14, 2010)

*training legs burns more fat*



stylus187 said:


> Merkaba, I do know that when you train your larger muscle groups, You lift heavier thus exerting more energy being used and burned. Since this is the largest muscle group, your gonna burn the most energy required to withstain your workout. The exact thermogenics behind it, I wont pretend to know exactly. If I am wrong please correct me.... Stylus187


 

years ago a trainer told me working out the back burns the most fat, so it's really the legs, eh?


----------



## suprfast (Aug 14, 2010)

I repped for you.  Gaz is truly a word artist.


----------



## LAM (Aug 14, 2010)

talithakoum said:


> years ago a trainer told me working out the back burns the most fat, so it's really the legs, eh?



Resistance Training and EPOC


----------



## Built (Aug 21, 2010)

For all the haters in here. 

Listen, nobody with half a brain thinks squatting will build bigger arms, okay. Squatting won't even build bigger legs unless you eat. 

For anyone who isn't on a cycle, the anabolic response follows workout-induced microtrauma. An arm workout will do this, but a heavy leg workout does it so much more.

Rob Faigin, author of Natural Hormonal Enhancement, says you can tell you're anabolic from your sex drive: http://www.hormonalfitness.com/pdfs/NHE-Chapter-21.pdf



			
				Rob Faigin said:
			
		

> One highly inexact but easy way for men to gauge their testosterone status is to monitor sex drive and potency, which tend to track testosterone fluctuations.



So how about this: train arms with legs, then go home and eat. Your arms (and legs) are now primed for the anabolic response. They're both micro-traumatized, they're both about to get fed, and the increased systemic testosterone will enhance partitioning and protein synthesis wherever the demand is greatest (ie at the sites of recent microtrauma). 

Of course, you're going to have to eat more if you do this. You're not just building arms anymore, you're also building legs.


----------



## Built (Aug 21, 2010)

suprfast said:


> I repped for you.  Gaz is truly a word artist.



He really is! I repped him too.


----------



## sewardfitness (Mar 15, 2014)

look at it like this.. legs are 50 percent of your body. do you get results out of doing anything half way? NO


----------



## flood (Mar 15, 2014)

I've read studies on, and watched a BBC doc on - HIIT. It's supposed to up the release HGH, from what I understand, by quite a bit. That stuff is supposed to let you eat like a teenager and lose fat and make gains too. But there's probably a study somewhere that says it aids flea-on-horse sex too. YMMV


----------



## ElitePeptides (Mar 26, 2014)

I definitely believe so 100%


----------



## Acheron (Mar 26, 2014)

Quoted from Katch, McArdle, & Katch's _Essentials of Exercise Physiology_:



> GH secretion
> increases a few minutes after exercise begins. Higher intensity exercise
> increases GH production and its total secretion. Moreover, GH secretion relates
> more closely to peak exercise intensity than exercise duration or total exercise
> ...



The bottom line is that a leg workout which is (presumably) more intense than an arm workout will release more GH, which in turn is beneficial to growth overall.  It does not mean that you can neglect the other muscle groups and expect them to grow, but I don't really think that's what the OP was asking.  Regardless, as others have pointed out, you should be training your lower half just as hard as your upper half.


----------



## SoCalSwole (Mar 30, 2014)

BigBadWolf said:


> The "training legs to get a bigger upper body" debate has been around forever. ive read a ton of articles on it,stating when your legs are trained the body releases more growth horomone.I dont know if theres any truth to it or if its just semi-guided bullshit.One thing i have read and taken notice to in my 20 plus years of lifting experience, is that in order for GH to work (growth) the body must be in a state of catabolism.ive seen countless guys take GH and make no size gains whatsoever,although the majority of them shedded bodyfat extremely fast,coincidence? maybe,proof? no, just an educated observation.Heres my opinion on training legs for a bigger upper body, when you train legs you not only get stronger legs but you get a stronger core,when you get a stronger core,you will in fact get a stronger upperbody,which inturn does mean a bigger upper body,providing diet/rest needs are met.



BINGO!! ^^^^^^^^^^^Right here! 

Your body will never continue to develop disproportionately (too a point) But I mean if you want a freaky back you need a freaky chest and vise versa. The body works as a whole unit. You want big legs you need a strong core to support those heavy lifts. Strong core equals strong back, strong back equals strong arms and so on and so on. I used to train my calves almost everyday first thing because I wanted big ole calves. I noticed that on shoulder day on my heavy overhead shoulder press that on days when I didn't do the calf work ahead of time I could push more weight over head because I could better stabilize myself with my calves.  Everything is connected Bros.


----------



## Stretch512 (Mar 31, 2014)

SoCalSwole is right on.  Your body should be viewed as a comprehensive whole.  If you want ripped legs then you gotta have a strong core.  Most of my strength and endurance training is on a road or mtn bike.  I do some squats but I can tell you that when I ride for 3-4 hours not only are my legs getting worked out but so is my core.  Bent over on the bike is like doing a constant push up so my arms are getting a work out.  Good form means you have a strong back so my back is getting stronger.  Every year I shed my winter weight and see my abs come out without ever doing sit ups.  Legs for sure help the overall!  Of course if you wanna do legs all day then knock yourself out its not gonna hurt your strength.


----------



## Glycomann (Mar 31, 2014)

look at powerlifters.  Once they strip off the fat a lot of them are pretty damn thick. heavy leg and back work makes the whole body grow,


----------

