PNBA bodybuilder Mitch Jarvis refutes blaming genetics for tiny legs.
Omitting leg day is a newbie gym-goer mistake. Leg day is imperative to build a strong, muscular physique. But gym rats often claim that bad genetics are responsible for their lack of muscle growth (not skipping leg days). However, Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA) British bodybuilder Mitch Jarvis explains why genetics aren’t to blame for your lack of leg growth.
Mitch Jarvis was the 2020 UKDFBA Overall UK Champion, 2021 PNBA Pro UK Champion, and Pro World Runner-up. A few months ago, Jarvis garnered much attention on social media after uploading his massive leg transformation. Jarvis says that as a former gymnast, his legs were small. During a Longetiviy Muscle Podcast interview, Mitch Jarvis detailed how he got his legs to grow and rebutted, blaming poor genetics for lack of leg muscle growth. Jarvis stated:
“In gymnastics, obviously, I still had quite small legs compared to some of the other guys. And growing up, my dad would always say, “uh, it’s just our genetics; we can’t grow big legs. He said I’ve tried. I’ve squatted, I’ve done leg press, I’ve done all sorts over the years. We just can’t do it.” And that kinda that got me going. And I was like, well, well, I’ve gotta have big legs. You have big arms. You might as well have big legs as well.”
Training at a High Intensity Trumps Genetics
Mitch Jarvis credits consistently squatting at a high intensity for his massive leg transformation. He claimed he was squatting 3x a week from 2015 to 2017. And Jarvis would start with squats every gym training session–this was when Jarvis was still doing gymnastics before he transitioned into bodybuilding.
Jarvis said he tried many different training approaches, including German volume training. However, it was through Mitch Jarvis’ training intensity that bolstered massive leg growth. Doing more volume wasn’t the primary factor in Jarvis’ leg transformation.
Low Volume to Avoid “Junk Volume”
Mitch Jarvis described how he’s been getting better results in the gym after reducing his training volume. Instead, he trains harder. Jarvis describes this extra volume as “junk volume.” Jarvis describes junk volume as:
“Those sets that you’re just not really do anything with. It’s just it’s just filling up time in the gym. And it gives you a nice pump, and it makes you feel good. But they don’t really build the muscle. And I think that’s what I learned a lot. It’s, it’s all about the intensity.”
You can see a clip of Jarvis explaining this phenomenon below.
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Natural Bodybuilding Training Volume
Mitch Jarvis says his training is focused on lower volume at a higher intensity, which is why he reduced his training volume to four days a week and cut “junk volume” training. Jarvis says that his body struggled to recover from training five days a week, even with proper nutrition and sleep.
Of course, natural bodybuilders won’t be able to train with as much volume as performance-enhanced lifters can since their bodies will take longer to recover.
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