Ah, the dreaded leg day. Leg workouts simply have to be brutal – if you can walk up the stairs after your workout you’re probably not doing it right. And every time you’re about to skip leg day, remember that building massive, carved legs is a prize worth slaving for.
There’s no better exercise for massive hypertrophy, strength gain and overall leg development than the mighty squat, which should be the centerpiece of your leg routine. Squats are what made those tree-trunk thighs and thick glutes you see on seasoned lifters, not endless leg presses and leg extensions.
But what if your glutes are thriving but your quads are lacking in progress? This is more common than you think. If your quads seem to be unresponsive, all you need to do is make small twists to your regular squats and direct the benefits of this powerful move to the front of your legs.
To get the most out of it you need to carefully choose your stance. Check out our tips for adjusting your squats to hit your quads more effectively!
The Big Quads Squat
- FRONT SQUAT – This type of squat keep your torso as upright as possible and allow you to squat deeper. What’s even better, by shifting your center of gravity slightly forward, front squats force your quads to work a lot harder.
- NARROW STANCE – This will shift most of the tension to the quads, taking it away from the glutes and hams. In addition, taking a narrow stance should significantly increase the range of motion.
- NO LOCK-OUT – Squat up until you’re 2-3 inches away from fully extending the legs.
- USE A LIGHTER LOAD – This is not a squat for breaking your 1RM – here, it’s all about higher reps and hypertrophy. Leave your ego at the door and use a lighter weight.
- ELEVATE YOUR HEELS – Use a heel lift or place your heels on a couple of weight plates. This will allow for deeper squats, a greater range of motion and much more quad activation.
- FINISH WITH HALF REPS – After doing your working sets with a full range of motion, add extra weight and do half reps over just the top half of the range of motion. This leads to maximum activation of the quads. Use up to 120% of your 1RM for three sets of 6 reps.
This type of squat will exhaust your quads properly and spur massive hypertrophy all throughout the muscles. The rest of your leg muscles get some love, too, don’t worry, it’s a squat after all.
But if monster quads are what floats your boat, perform it like this regularly and just watch them grow!