“How to get bigger legs?” is a common question I get. See, most people fail to understand that developing an impressive set of legs isn’t just about working hard. There are 5 mistakes people make during their quads workout that severely limit their leg growth. Today I’ll explain what those quad workout mistakes are, go through how to fix them, and then show how to implement this into your quad focused leg day so you can start growing monster quads fast.
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The quadriceps are a group of 4 muscles located in the front of your legs. Meaning? You need to program your quad workout carefully. And while some people can simply squat and see great quad development, others aren’t so lucky. Why? Let’s dive into the first training mistake and find out.
Barbell squats are often recommended as the best exercise to grow bigger legs but they demand a lot from your core and lower back muscles to help stabilize the weight. Now this isn’t a bad thing, but if your main goal is to grow your legs then it can be an issue. And this is where machines can come in handy. Exercises like the hack squat, with the use of the back support, help minimize the stability demands of the exercise. As a result, you’ll be able to truly push your quads close to their limits without worrying about other muscles fatiguing first. Don’t have access to a hack squat machine? Another option is to use a smith machine squat during your quad focused leg day.
The next mistake preventing you from growing monster quads has to do with your exercise execution. It’s been shown that the more forward your shin angle is, the greater the knee movement and the more the quads will be involved compared to the glutes and lower back muscles. But what if you have limited ankle mobility? One option is to invest in a pair of lifting shoes for a slight heel lift. Or use a couple weight plates to elevate your heels onto as you squat. This tip doesn’t just apply to squats. A low foot placement on the leg press could also increase quads activation. And lastly, you can also apply this concept to lunges and Bulgarian split squats.
Applying the previous tips to your quads workout will reduce the tension placed on other muscles and move it to the quads. As a result, you’re not going to be able to lift nearly as heavy as you used to. So it’s absolutely crucial that you don’t let your ego get the best of you and let your body “cheat” to get the other muscles to help out. Control the weight and spend about 2-3 seconds on the way down of each rep, and you’ll experience far more growth in your quads despite using lighter weight.
The next mistake has to do with your workout programming. Remember how your quads are made up of four muscles? Well one of them is “special”. It’s called the rectus femoris. It attaches at the pelvis and travels down the middle of your thigh. Because of its unique anatomy, during classic leg exercises like squats and leg presses, the rectus femoris doesn’t get very well activated. It is instead best activated in exercises like the leg extension or sissy squat where only your knees extend and your hips remain locked in place.
The last mistake has to do with effort. We know that to maximize growth, you need to push yourself hard enough during your sets to reach at least within 3 reps of failure. So when it comes to your leg days, be honest with yourself, are you truly pushing yourself hard enough? Or do you stop your sets when you just start to feel the burn, and in reality could have done 5 or even 10 more reps? Given the sheer size of the quad muscles and the blood flow it receives, this is not going to feel comfortable. But the willingness to push through this discomfort is often what separates those who have an impressive set of legs from those who don’t. Consider using a pre-workout supplement to help with this.
Alright let’s quickly cover how to apply it to your routine to get bigger legs. First, if you’re doing regular barbell squats and not feeling it much in your quads, try temporarily switching that for a heel elevated squat or a machine like a hack squat or smith machine squat. And for your leg presses and split squats, consider using the quad focused form to further emphasize the quads. Second, throw in a leg extension and/or sissy squat at the end of your workouts to emphasize the rectus femoris. Lastly, lighten the weight to force your quads to do the work but push yourself hard to reach close enough to failure.
Chris Wright
Hope you enjoyed this one! What muscle group would you like to see me cover next? Comment below! Also, see below for all the studies referenced in this video. Cheers!
BACK SQUAT MUSCLE ACTIVATION
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23466524_A_Biomechanical_Comparison_of_Back_and_Front_Squats_in_Healthy_Trained_Individuals
SMITH MACHINE SQUAT REDUCES DEMANDS ON LOWER BACK MUSCLES
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25434609/
MACHINES VS FREE WEIGHTS
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34609100/
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHIN ANGLE AND QUADS ACTIVATION
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18591759/
FOOT PLACEMENT ON LEG PRESS AND QUADS ACTIVATION
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18545207/
RECTUS FEMORIS ACTIVATION ON SQUATS
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27032805/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31230110/
RECTUS FEMORIS ACTIVATION ON SQUAT VS LEG EXTENSION
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34743671/
EFFORT NEEDED TO MAXIMIZE GROWTH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7725035/
PREWORKOUTS MORE BENEFICIAL FOR LOWER BODY STRENGTH
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29065278/
The lats. I have a hard time with those. I never feel them activate in my workouts. Especially the the lat pull-downs.
Hi . I like The white long sleeve ! Could you tell us where to buy it ?
@Old Man Extermination Hey. I am a type 1 diabetic and im 24 years. I workout 6 times a week. I do take carbs but dont over consume them. I don’t think you need to cut off carbs completely cos they’re important for energy. Ever since I started working out, I have never went into a Hyperglycaemia. I do sometimes get into Hypoglycaemia post workout but, i adjust me insulin dossage accordingly.
I would suggest you to regularly check your levels and adjust insulin accordingly for e.g: during gym days I sometimes inject like 4 to 6 units of rapid acting insulin (Novorapid) and during non workout days I inject 10 Units. Youd learn to adjust with time. It’ll take patience and regular monitoring. I wish you a good workout session and great sugar levels.
Would like to see a video on hamstrings too buddy
Once again thank you jeremy ethier for making me more batter by every video ❤
Even though the statements made are true, I disagree on the use of artificial means to create a mechanical advantage. Your body was meant to function the way it does. Altering that will cause an imbalance elsewhere. But hey if you want big quads, just use a machine. It’s safer.
Really good video, thanks. A follow-up on the hamstring muscles would be great.
I think he already has one! I know the glutes video he did talks a lot about hamstring and glute development.
I’m not used to commenting videos but I was watching lots of videos about this topic, squats and all that stuff and this one here is fck amazing. Thank you man for all the things I know understood
Please do a video on how to keep your knees healthy, free of pain or injuries. Thanks!
Knees over toes guy has tons
@Mahalo still, he is not Jeremy
@Tobias Ferreira He trains professional athletes, i would trust him
@HarkMollis I’m not doubting him. I’m just expressing that I want to see Jeremy, in specific, talking about this.
I’m very happy that I find out your channel, it has been a great help in the last weeks for me, understanding the right forms of exercises, specially the one about gluteus. Honestly, I don’t do pre-workouts because I didn’t have a good experience in the past. Since I only can work out in the afternoon, the effect of them keep me awake all night and on top of that this itching feeling really drives my nuts after I drink it.
That’s the right call, it’s much more important to get good sleep.
Keep in mind that genetics & age also play a role in muscle growth & wether or not your male or female. Females only have one tenth the testosterone a male does
Once I lowered the weight, worked with 2-3 second negative, at 15 reps my legs went next level. Especially hamstrings where I needed it. I found that it’s better to increase reps than increase weights.
Great content as always brother. Love the animations and graphics.
Any thoughts or opinions on rep ranges for these movements to maximize growth? I often see people approaching squats with a “powerlifting” approach of lower reps, and I’ve found that higher rep work has helped tremendously in my leg development. Interested to hear your thoughts on this part of it as well.
Dumbbell squats have been very effective for me. Also, standing on a wedge or even a flattened, folded-over cardboard box (better than weight plates). Both strategies make me more tired in the quads and less tired in the hips and back. My gym has no hack squat. My ankle mobility is fine, by the way. I hate to hear influencers constantly harp on that because it is a red herring. ‘Nonsense’ would be another appropriate term for it. Many of us simply have skeletal structures that make sitting straight and deep in the squat undoable. This is why even the most elite – and flexible! – athletes use shoes with the wedge built in. Go tell them they need to work on their “ankle mobility”! They will laugh you out of the gym.
The thing about training your legs to failure is that you’ll reach the pain threshold long before you reach actual muscular failure. In order to grow your legs you need to push through the pain.
I find that barbell squats tax my nervous system before my legs are truly close to failure. So I “fail” on the barbell squat because my entire body/CNS is gassed before my legs are properly fatigued.
This is where hack squats, leg presses and smith machine squats can really pick up the slack. You can go much closer to true muscular failure before your CNS or other muscles starts to fade out.
Thanks for the video. Can one build quads without access to gym equipment ? I’ve been doing Bulgarian split squats but lately experienced some pain in my knew…resting the knee for now. Is there any other way to build the quads? I really would appreciate your feedback. Thanks again.