Bodybuilding in its purest sense is all about developing the muscles on the human body so that each muscle group fits perfectly with the others giving way to a symmetrical, large and pleasing physique. Training splits have been developed so that over the course of the week, each muscle group would receive its just due attention and no one single body part would flourish while others lay dormant.
With the new crop of physique aficionados making their mark in the fitness and bodybuilding industry, one body part has seemed to have been forgotten about along the way, and that body part is the quadriceps. And it makes perfect sense when you think about it; why train a body part that is only going to be covered up by a pair of board shorts when you’re on stage? Instead, you can take that day that would otherwise be devoted to training quads, and attend to a lagging body part that will be on full display.
This generational shift in the way we approach training has unfortunately left many looking like upside-down bowling pins and if you’re tired of having a superb upper body on top of a lackluster lower body, give these 4 quad exercises a try to break new ground with your new-found growth.
Front Squats
The king of all leg exercises has always been considered to be the squat. The back squat allows for you to handle tremendous loads which lead to unmatched gains in size and strength. These gains, however, are not limited to only your quads, and the stress of a back squat will be shared with your hamstrings and glutes as well.
To help shift the focus of the training stress associated with squatting try utilizing the front squat instead. The shift in load placement (the bar rests in front of your shoulders and just under your chin) will drive the bar down and in front of your body which forces the quadriceps to take the brunt of the load versus sharing it with the glutes and hamstrings. With more stress being concentrated on the quads your chances for expedited gains in that area become much more viable.
Sissy Squats
There’s nothing sissy about sissy squats, and I can tell you that for certain! Whether you perform this exercise with body weight only as your resistance or you, add weight by holding onto plates or a dumbbell, the sissy squat will emphasize quad work and development perhaps better than any other exercise. If you are lucky enough to have a sissy squat station in your gym make your way over to it, lock your lower legs into the pad and start squatting with a slight lean either forward or backward depending on how you want to hit the quads.
If you don’t have this station at your gym then no problem, simply align yourself up next to a bench or dumbbell rack, hold onto it with one hand for assistance and stability and then squat down leading with your knees and allowing for you heels to rise off the floor.
Alternatively, if you have a training partner, you can lean backward and have your partner hold you up on an angle and staying on your heels perform your squats while your partner keeps you from falling backward. Either version is extremely effective.
Unilateral Lunges with Rear Leg Elevated
I have always utilized lunges during my leg training and attribute much of the sweep I have in my quads to this exercise. I enjoy the freedom within a lunge to adjust as you progress through your set so that you can feel the movement exactly where you want to be feeling it.
As with the back squat, the lunge can also attack the glutes and hamstrings so to shift the focus as much as possible to the quads try performing unilateral lunges with your rear leg elevated on a bench or plyometric box. This isolating tactic for quad specific training has yielded tremendous results for those who have tried, and the key with this exercise is to worry less about the actual weight you are using (the strength will come over time) and more about feeling the muscle work. The extra quad stretch you will experience in the bottom of the movement will really make you feel like what you’re doing is giving you immediate results.
Leg Press with Low Foot Placement
The leg press is a favorite for many as it allows you to pile up a ton of weight on the machine and bang it out hard and heavy with the iron. For quad specific training while using this machine, it’s very important that you are cognizant of your foot placement.
To isolate the quads as much as possible on this movement you use a lower than normal foot placement on the carriage platform. This is going to do two things; it’s going to place more stress on your knee joints due to the shift in resistance from your quads, hams, and glutes to mainly your quads. Secondly, it’s going to force your heels to travel up and off the platform forcing you to push the weight with the balls of your feet which we know is not ideal for power but is ok for isolating the quads.
So my suggestion while doing this exercise is to listen to your body, pay attention to how your knees are handling the added stress, use a weight appropriate for your current strength levels and work on feeling this movement solely in your quadriceps.
I truly believe that quad work gives way to the development of other muscle groups on your body and without a set day to attack your quads, you’re missing out on the whole for supreme physique development. Stay true to the principles of Max-OT training, give it all that you’ve got for those two working sets of 4-6 repetitions and watch as the quad craze finds its way into your regular training split.
