No way Bruce Lee could’ve Bench pressed 275 for 4 reps. Great work dude.
Bin:
Thanks. Maybe Bruce Lee couldnt bench 275? But he sure can punch something serious to those who can bench 275, LOL. I am the same height and I have the same arm reach as Bruce. My forearms and Lats repond very fast when trained for mass like Bruce. However, my natural gung fu talent and Bruce’s is not the same which sux for me, lol. I wondeedr if Bruce Lee share the same taste in women? Err nevermind. For the last three months, I have been focusing on single arm push ups and their variations and now I doubt if I even bench 180lb for reps?
Samurai Jack - I got maybe a few pounds. Mass cycles don’t really work for me. And yes, I eat a lot.
Foo - I HAVE to do squats. My body is evidently not designed for squatting and if I take off more than a week or two my weights go down down down. With DL I can take time off and still come back and be strong, but not squat.
Pistols for me don’t seem to work my quads much. I’ve done killer squat workouts to the point where I can barely walk afterwards, and I can still knock off some pistols at that point. I don’t know what they work, but it’s not my quads. Also, at one point when I was REALLY busy with school work and I couldn’t go to the gym, I was doing only bodyweight stuff. I did a bunch of pistols for a few months and when I tried to squat again I really couldn’t do very much. So, that just might be my crazy physiology, tho. Most people don’t seem to have that problem.
Iron:
If you feel that squating is vital and good for you, then do it. From what I understand from reading your post, you feel squating works your quad better; whereas doing pistols is inferior because once you tired your legs from conventional squats that you are able to knock off some pistols. This reasoning alone doesnt work for me and there is no way for me to see why the reverse is not possible? However, I would just argue that pistols can be as an effective exercise as convetional squats as long you have the proper load for max strength or hyperthrophy. In any case, if your goal is to target your quad for hyperthrophy, then either squats or pistols would be the best exercise. I believe you gain more muscle in your quads by doing leg extension which you can fatigue to the point of muscular failure perhaps after your sets of squats?
Don’t know about BW pistols, but weighted pistols seem to hit the bottom of the glutes where it meets the hamstrings. Can hurt to sit the following day.
BiN:
I agreed when I do weighted pistols, my arse gets a good workout that even my present girl friend can tell a difference. <wink> I remember when I first started pistols I felt very sore in my glutes and quads. Performing BW and not weighted pistols is part of wing chun Sifu Alan Lee’s exercise curiculum. He taught us to use the rope as a mean to help perform the pistol. When sifu Lee taught me the rope pistol, he told me to do as many as I can. When I asked, “Sifu, what is a good number?” He smiled and said, “A hundred. Ok, go.” I was like “O, Man!” In any case, I might have been sore from doing other things in the kwoon?
If you want to activate more quads in the pistols with weight, then do them half way. Hold for 5-10 sec in the mid position and then go all the way down and then go back up. Repeat. Focus on the concentric and isometic movement of the pistol if you want to develop your quad. Here is something I have been playing with and to due a particular left ankle weakness. There is an unstable rubber inflated disc http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4407_A_CategoryID_E_231) used in therapy, one side is smooth and the other side is spikey. Place your primary foot on this disc and do your pistols without shoes. Start with no weight and when your balance gets better, gradually use weights. I promise your calves and legs will be in pain.
Pistols probably do work most people’s quads. I’m just a freak 