I get the question often about what types of exercises and what set and rep range is best for quads. When it comes to building beautiful quads, you need a combination of big, compound movements, and isolation movements. The compound movements will typically be heavier and performed with lower reps, and this can help train fast-twitch muscles and can help add size to the quads/legs. The isolation movements will typically be lighter and performed with higher reps. These “icing on the cake” exercises can help to add shape to the quads. They’ll also allow to really hone in on a specific area of the quad, so you can preferentially grow that area.
Some other factors to think about are body position and weight distribution. When working the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, lower back), pushing your weight through your heels can aid in activation of these muscles. The opposite is true: by actively pushing your weight through the ball of the foot, or even through the toes, you’ll probably feel the quads activate more. Experiment with upper body positioning. Sometimes you’ll feel your quads fire more when your upper body is a bit more upright.
In today’s video, we’ll go through my favorite quad-building exercises. I’ve out them into a workout for you, which can be found below:
Quad Sweep Workout
- Front squat
- Heel-elevated hack
- Landmine hack
- Leg extension
- Reverse Nordic curl
If there’s something specific that you’d like to see in upcoming videos, please let me know! Thanks for watching and train hard, y’all!
