Quad Exercises
Build those quads!

I am listing all quad exercises that I have done. I will let you know what I think of each and give you some tips along the way. I will include an explanation of how to do each exercise. Pics will show starting and ending positions. Each exercise will include a video showing the exercise in motion. This should be enough to get you going in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Also be sure to check the star rating for each quad exercise. This rating is around the title of each exercise. For example, Barbell Squats receives a 5 star rating out of 5 stars because it is the best quad exercise you could possibly do.

This exercise is the king of all exercises and not only quad exercises. Deadlifts are very close, but squats will work the quads much better than deadlifts. I love squats and attribute most of the muscle I have gained to squats and deadlifts.

A squat is a tough exercise to learn and beginners should start out with very light weights and make sure they have the movement down before adding any weight. Start out with an empty bar if you are a beginner. Try to add a little weight at a time once you have the movement down. Don't worry! The weight will come. Enjoy it while it's easy!

There are different stances one can use and different bar placements along the upper back area. I have always used the powerlifter style squat because it feels much better to perform for me. I believe it places more emphasis on the hamstrings and glutes than the olympic style squat. I have pretty wide shoulders so I like to use about a shoulder width stance with feet pointed out around 30 degrees or so. I place the bar pretty low on my back with my grip out fairly wide on the barbell. I keep my lower back tight at all times and keep my head looking forward (not up) throughout the entire movement.

I suggest you always do your squats in a power rack. I used to only use a free standing squat rack with saftey spotters, but ever since I started using a power rack I will never switch back. When the weights get heavy, I always feel safer and contained in the power rack. I always work out alone so I always had a slight negative feeling when doing squats because I didn't want to lose my balance and hurt myself badly. When using a power rack, I feel so much safer and do not worry about injury.

Always go past parallel when doing squats. Going past parallel ensures that there is less stress on your knees. Believe me. You can easily feel the difference in stress on your knees when stopping above parallel compared to going past parallel. I like to go as far down as possible. The difference in quad development is night and day when you go down as far as possible. Think about it...you get much more stretch in your quads the further you go down. More stretch under such a load leads to greater development of your quads.

Unless you are unable to do Squats, I want you to include them in your program! Olympic style squats or powerlifter style squats are perfect quad exercises. I am using a Manta Ray on the bar to perform my squats. I use this piece of equipment on many of the quad exercises I do.

You need to have the bar set just below shoulder height in your power or squat rack. Walk up to the bar and place your hands at a comfortable position. I like a wider grip. You need to keep your elbows tight, so use the narrowest grip position you can that is comfortable. I've got a pretty thick back that gets in the way, so I use a wider grip.




You unrack the bar by bending your knees and lifting the bar off the rack. You take a step back while being careful to balance the bar. You position your feet in the most comfortable position for you. You need to experiment with this. I like my feet to be a little greater than shoulder width apart and slightly pointed outwards.




You slowly lower the weight by first moving your hips back and down. You keep your lower back tight all the way down and balance the weight. I like to keep the weight on my heels so that I sit back into the squat position. You do not want the weight on your toes. Go deep and then explode upwards by pushing thru your heels. That's it! One rep completed. Repeat.

Many people probably haven't heard of Hip Belt Squats. Hip Belt squats are a great quad exercise. I love hip belt squats because they seem to put a little more stress on the lower quad muscles without any load on the lower back. The only thing I do not like about Hip Belt Squats is the set up, but with some practice I've made my own style of hip belt squats.

I like to use a triceps bar and load it up with 25 pound weights so you have a little more range of motion. I make sure the hip belt is very tight so I don't get any slipping from the belt. The triceps bar ensures that the hip belt straps do not move. I sit the loaded triceps bar on a flat bench, stand over it, strap the hip belt to the bar, slightly lift the weight, walk forward into the power rack, hold onto the sides of the power rack for support, and perform squats.

I make sure to put the weight on my heels as I push up. With hip belt squats, it is easy to put the weight towards your toes. You will need something to hold onto that is stable. You do not want to fall even though hip belt squats are very safe because the weight is below you.

If you have lower back problems and have trouble doing back squats, you must try hip belt squats. They are one of my favorite exercises now! You should give them a try especially if you need a good quad exercise that seems to develop the lower quads more than other quad exercises. Also, have a look at the TK Waist Band for help alleviating back problems.

Get your loaded triceps bar sitting on the flat bench. Get your hip belt strapped on and ready to go. Make sure it is tight so it does not slip down on you during this exercise.









Strap on to the triceps bar. Lift with both arms and walk forward into your power rack. Get your feet position correct. I like around shoulder width and feet pointing slightly outwards. Hold onto the power rack for balance only. Use your legs to lift the weight not your upper body.






Lower the weight by initiating movement in your hips back and down. Keep the weight on your heels and go as deep as possible. I like to use the smaller weights so I can go deeper without having to use a platform to stand on.

I've got to tell you that I've never got into Front Squats. I could never get comfortable with heavy weights on Front Squats. If you like Front Squats, then by all means choose them as one of your quad exercises. They are a very good exercise and place more stress directly on your quads than a regular back squat. I've always had good quads and slightly lagging hamstrings and glutes, so I never put much effort into learning how to get comfortable with heavy front squats.

There are two methods of doing front squats that I know of. You've got to have very flexible wrists that can handle some weight to do front squats as done in the first method. I don't have flexible wrists and have had problems with my wrists so my form for the first style is not great.





The second style is the bodybuilding type front squat. You place the bar on your upper arms by crossing your arms and holding on to the barbell. I don't like this way and think it's the easy way out for learning the correct form on the front squat. This style puts a lot of weight on your upper arm area. I think it's even more awkward than the first style.

I love Barbell Hack Squats. This exercise fits me very well, and I feel my entire quads so much in this exercise! I can actually do more weight with Barbell Hack Squats than regular barbell squats. I've gotten very good quad development from Barbell Hack Squats. As you can see, this is one of my favorite quad exercises.

Barbell Hack Squats are like deadlifts, but the barbell is placed behind your legs instead of in front of your legs. I can keep the weight on my heels very well in this exercise and use only legs to lift the weight upwards.

Make sure you get this movement down before adding a whole lot of weight. If you've never done them, you should definitely try them as you will eventually be able to lift heavy weights. I like this exercise so much because I've been able to lift heavier than barbell squats and my quads seem to like them very much.

You need to have you a loaded barbell placed on the floor and ready for action. Take a standing position in front of the barbell and position your feet as if you were doing squats. I like to position my feet around shoulder width apart and slightly pointing outwards. The barbell is behind your body and will remain there throughout the exercise.



From that position, you will need to squat down and place your hands on the bar. Your hands will be wider than shoulder width because you need to give clearance from your arms when lifting the bar. Make sure to keep the weight on your heels. Keep your lower back tight and your head facing forward.




Explode up from the bottom position to the top by pushing thru your heels. By focusing on pushing thru your heels, you will develop better form on this exercise. You are in a full upright position when you get to the top. Slowly lower back to the starting position.

I've done dumbell squats before, but I've never liked them at all. It's hard for me to sit back when I squat with dumbells. I always feel more stress on my knees when doing dumbell squats. If you can do them while being able to sit back into the squat position without leaning forward too much, then I believe they will be a great exercise. You will eventually need access to some big dumbells, though. So if you don't have access to large dumbells, then I wouldn't bother with dumbell squats.

You should get your dumbells ready by placing them on the floor with enough distance between them that you can step between them. This is the spot you will be doing your dumbell squats.







From there, you will squat down and get a good grip on the dumbells. Keep your weight on your heels and keep your head facing forward. Concentrate because it is easy to round your back in this position.







Explode out of the bottom position by pushing through your heels. The finishing position is a full upright stance. When you lower back down, ensure that you keep your lower back tight and your head facing forward. Go all the way down back to your starting position.

I love Barbell Lunges. As you've heard me say before, I've always had good quad development but lagging hamstrings. Well, Barbell Lunges are a great exercise to use if you have this problem. Many people will say that you just can't use as much weight with barbell lunges as you can with squats. I beg to differ! With barbell lunges, you will be using less weight but all of the weight goes onto one leg at a time! So, of course you will be using less weight. But your muscles may be getting more weight, one leg at a time, than squats! Barbell Lunges have always helped my leg development and I highly recommend them if you are in the same situation that I am.

If you choose to do Barbell Lunges and have never done them before, make sure that you get the movement down. You can lose your balance easily and must concentrate throughout the movement. You do not want to reach total failure on this exercise or you'll have to dump the weight on the floor and hope the weight doesn't smash your legs on the way down! So be careful when performing this exercise.

I consider this to be a quad exercise even though you get very good hamstring development from this exercise too. I think this is one of the better quad exercises you can do that gives you total leg development also! Many people may disagree with me about barbell lunges, but I think they fit very well into weight lifting programs.

Dumbell Lunges are also a good exercise, but I've always hated trying to hold onto the dumbells for so long. You're essentially working one leg at a time, so the set can last twice as long as a normal set. I end up having to use straps to hold onto the heavy dumbells long enough to get some good leg work in. I would rather do barbell lunges because of these reasons. There are better quad exercises out there to choose from.

I see no use at all in doing leg extensions. I think this exercise is an easy way out for many people. Leg extensions are not a substitute for squats! If you do substitute them for squats, you are severely limiting your gains. I think Leg Extensions are useless for muscle gain. They may be a good rehabilitation exercise, but I don't know much about that area. But I do know they have proven useless to me in the area of muscle gain. Pick yourself another quad exercise!

I started to not even mention these in the quad exercises section, but I wanted to give you my opinion on this exercise. I hope you don't take my opinion too personal.

I have never used the Leg Press all that much. I have always seen it more as a machine that locks you into a specific plane of movement. I would much rather do free weight squats than the Leg Press. I've never given it much of a chance, so I can't say how good this exercise is. If you've proven to yourself that Leg Press gives you good development, then go ahead and trust yourself. I would much rather you do free weight squats of some type for your quad exercise.

I have also never used the Hack Squat machine much. I would rather do free weight squats or other quad exercises. I would rather you choose some type of free weight squat over the hack squat machine. I would even choose barbell lunges over the hack squat machine. I am just biased toward free weights. If you think this exercise fits you well and you've gotten good quad development out of it before, then you may want to choose it as one of your quad exercises.

The list of quad exercises on this page is plenty to get you any kind of legs you want. Stick with Squats unless you just can't for some reason. It's got to be a good reason, though. And it can't be because they are too hard. They are a tough exercise, but they're very rewarding.

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