The Best Workout to Get Quads Like a Pro
Do you want to achieve the perfect muscular quads you have always dreamed of? Look no further – this article provides the best workouts to get quads like a pro. With our step-by-step guide, you can finally transform your body and reach your fitness goals.
Quick facts: Best Workout For Quads
Warm Up
Warming up is essential before any workout, especially when targeting those big muscles in your quads. Warming up helps to increase blood flow to the targeted muscles, prepare your body for the upcoming intense workout, and reduce risk of injury.
In this article, we’ll talk about the best warm-up exercises to help you get quads like a pro.
Dynamic stretching
Dynamic stretching involves using momentum to move muscles and joints through a full range of motion. This type of stretching is often used as part of a warm-up routine prior to physical activity. Unlike traditional static stretching, dynamic stretching involves active movement rather than just extending the muscle and holding it in that position.
Examples include:
- Deep lunges
- High knees
- Arm swings
- Torso rotations
As you move through the dynamic stretches, focus on maintaining correct form and gradually increase intensity with each repetition. By doing so, you’ll improve flexibility as well as activate your muscles for a more efficient workout.
Light cardio
Light cardio, also known as warm up, is a great way to prepare your body before beginning any physical exercise. Light cardio helps check your body’s limitations, increase blood flow and raise your heart rate and breathing rate slightly which may act as a precursor to more intense workouts later on.
Examples of light cardio exercises include walking, jogging, cycling or using an elliptical machine. During the light cardio phase you should focus on working at low intensities (60-65% of maximum heart rate) for approximately 10-15 minutes. This way you can get the most out of your subsequent workouts by preventing injury and ensuring you are properly warmed up before starting more intense exercises such as sprints or weight lifting that require increased intensity levels.
Squats
Squats are one of the best exercises you can do to target your quads and build strength in your lower body. Not only do they work your quads, but also your glutes, hamstrings, and core muscles, making them a great full-body workout. Additionally, squats are a compound exercise, which means they can be completed with weights and are more effective than isolation exercises.
Let’s take a closer look at squats and how they can help you get quads like a pro.
Barbell back squats
Barbell back squats are considered to be one of the best exercises for building muscle in the quads (quadriceps). They are a compound exercise, meaning that they work multiple muscles throughout the body and can help to significantly increase strength and muscle size.
The exercise begins with a barbell placed across your upper back, with the weight evenly distributed throughout the bar. Standing with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, you then push your hips back as you sit into a squat position, maintaining an upright torso throughout. Finally, use your quads to drive up through your feet to a standing position and repeat for multiple reps.
Barbell back squats target all four quadricep muscles—the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris—as well as engaging other accessory muscles such as the hamstrings and glutes. They help to create an anabolic environment in the body by increasing testosterone levels, which can help with muscle growth over time.
Sumo squats
Sumo squats are a type of squat that focuses on activating the glutes and inner thighs. They are perfect for those looking to build strength in their lower body and increase back strength, stability, and balance.
To perform a sumo squat, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with your toes turned out to either side. Keeping your chest up and your weight in your heels, bend at the knees and hips as far as you can before returning to the starting position. Maintaining proper form is essential for getting the most out of Sumo squats. To avoid knee pain, make sure to keep your knees directly behind your toes rather than allowing them to drift inward or outward throughout the motion.
Sumo squats can also be performed with weights held in either hand or alternatively with a barbell across the shoulders behind the head. Making sure you have proper form is key when adding extra weight; always start light and build up gradually!
Goblet squats
Goblet Squats are an incredibly effective lower body exercise that focuses on the quads, glutes, and core. This squat variation is performed holding a single weight (known as the ‘goblet’) at chest level with both hands. The goblet squat is great for building strength in the legs and activating the muscles in the core as they work stabilizer muscle. This can also be done with dumbbells or kettlebells.
It’s important to focus on form when doing any type of squat to ensure maximum benefit and prevent injury. When performing a goblet squat, keep your feet shoulder width apart and drive your knees out while keeping your chest up throughout the movement – this will help to engage the core and protect your lower back. Ensure that you sit back into a full deep squat, keeping your heels flat against the floor, before driving up through your heels to return to standing position.
Lunges
Lunges are one of the best exercises to help build and strengthen your quadriceps muscles. By incorporating lunges into your workout routine, you can isolate your quads and work them more intensely than other exercises. Furthermore, lunges help with functional movements, can be modified for various levels of difficulty, and can be done with either free weights or bodyweight.
Let’s look at the different variations of lunges and how to perform them properly:
Alternating reverse lunges
Alternating reverse lunges are a great way to really target your quads and build your leg strength. To perform this exercise, you can start standing with feet hip-width apart. Step back with one foot and lower down into a lunge, then press through the front heel to come back up. As you come up, shift your weight onto the back leg and repeat on the other side. Make sure to keep your chest upright throughout the exercise and squeeze those glutes tight!
This exercise is a great way to tone those quads while also improving balance and coordination. It’s also relatively low impact compared to other types of lunges, so it’s perfect for people who may have knee issues or are new to exercising. Additionally, alternating reverse lunges can be made more challenging by:
- Increasing the depth of each lunge
- Adding weights like dumbbells or kettlebells once you become comfortable with the motion.
Walking lunges
Walking lunges are a popular exercise that allows you to target all the muscles of your lower body while also providing a great cardiovascular workout. They’re one of the best exercises to build strong legs and an excellent tool for fat loss as well. As you perform this exercise, you engage your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core.
When performing walking lunges, it’s important to keep your chest up and back straight. With each step forward taken with either leg, ensure that your knee stays above the ankle line by slightly hinging at the hip before descending. Make sure that your stride is long enough so that you don’t stumble forward but not too far so as to prevent injury or excessive strain on the body. Keep your feet around shoulder-width apart; the farther apart you move them, the more challenging this exercise becomes. As always, focus on quality movement over quantity.
Bulgarian split squats
Bulgarian split squats are a type of lunge workout that focuses on engaging the glutes and quads, especially when you find the right form. During this workout, you place one leg behind you and lunge forward before standing up, with your arms outstretched in front of you for balance.
To make sure your form is correct, make sure your feet are shoulder-width apart with your feet pointing forward and your chest is lifted. The goal is to keep your weight centered over the midline of each foot as you do each rep.
For added intensity and difficulty, use free weights or a weighted bar while doing this exercise. Bulgarian split squats can help you effectively target the quads while also engaging all of the necessary muscles to sculpt them into a pro athlete’s physique.
Leg Press
Leg Press is an excellent exercise to build strength and size in your quads. It can help you increase your overall leg strength and power while also improving your running speed and power. Additionally, the leg press engages the whole lower body and can even help reduce the risk of injury.
Let us explore the benefits of leg press and how to do it right:
Single-leg press
The Single-leg press is an effective exercise to work on both the quads and glutes while also building muscle and strength. It works both legs individually, so it’s great for targeting those hard-to-reach muscles that are easier to miss when doing regular squats or leg presses. Through this movement, each leg can be isolated and can help you achieve better balance throughout your body as a whole.
The Single-leg press offers great range of motion at the hip, as well as allowing you to move through multiple angles that would otherwise be limited in a traditional squat or leg press machine. Additionally, single-leg presses allow for quick loading benefits which can help you lift heavier weights over time.
Seated leg press
The seated leg press is one of the most effective exercises for building quads like a pro. During this exercise, the quads are worked in their most natural range of motion. As a result, it allows the lifter to move heavier weights and build more muscle than other leg exercises. This exercise can be done with either a machine or by using free weights on a seated bench press.
When performing this exercise, it is important to ensure proper form and technique are maintained throughout the press. It is best to keep your feet flat on the platform and make sure they remain there throughout the entire movement. Additionally, focus on pushing your legs from your heels instead of from your toes as this will help activate even more of your quads during each rep.
Decline leg press
The decline leg press is an excellent exercise choice to target the quadriceps muscle group. It is one of several variations of a leg press exercise and is often used by bodybuilders and strength athletes. The decline leg press focuses on the lower part of the quadriceps and can be performed for higher reps for muscular endurance or with heavy weights for strength gains.
The exercise is performed on a standard decline leg press machine, which consists of counter-weighted cushioned plates connected to four vertical columns with slanted foot placement platforms. To perform the decline leg press, you first adjust the angle of decline from anywhere from -5 to -25 degrees. Once set, you then sit on the bench, place your feet shoulder width apart on the platform in front of you, and push up against the weight. You drive through your heels while keeping your back flat against the seat cushion throughout the entire movement. You then slowly lower the weight until your thighs are parallel with floor before returning to your starting position.
Core Exercises
Core exercises are essential for any workout routine if you want to build strong quads like a pro. Core exercises target your abdominal muscles, as well as your back, glutes, and hip flexors. They’re also effective for improving posture and balance, in addition to strengthening quads.
Let’s take a look at some core exercises that can help you get the results you want:
Plank
The plank is one of the most simple and effective core exercises for strengthening the stabilizing muscles of the core. It involves maintaining a position similar to a push-up, with your forearms and toes on the floor, while tightening your midsection, glutes and hamstrings. This position should be maintained for a predetermined amount of time, usually between 20-60 seconds.
Benefits of doing regular planks include:
- Increased stability through the lower back muscles
- Improved posture
- An increase in strength throughout the entire upper body
Planks also help develop core strength that can be useful in many other sports or activities such as running, cycling and skiing/snowboarding. Because it requires minimal equipment and no gym membership, it makes a great exercise for any fitness enthusiast.
Reverse crunch
The reverse crunch is an exercise used to target the lower abdominal muscles, or quads. This exercise can be performed in both a seated and standing position to work out different muscle groups.
To perform the reverse crunch, start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Then curl up into a seated position and round your lower back, pulling your knees toward your chest and bringing yourself closer to the ground. Finally, slowly bring yourself back to starting position using abdominal strength while maintaining a neutral spine.
The reverse crunch can be done in order to increase total muscle strength in the quads (lower abdominals) while also helping improve core stability. Reverse crunches are a great addition to any workout plan as they are effective at targeting specific muscle groups without putting too much stress on other parts of the body.
Side plank
Side Plank is a great exercise to help you tone your core, as well as your glutes, quads and hamstrings.
To perform the side plank exercise, lie down on one side with your forearm directly beneath your shoulder. Position yourself onto the elbow so that it is straight and perpendicular with the floor. Keeping your torso straight, extend one leg out away from you and raise the other upwards (to mimic a plank position). Keep this hold for about 30-60 seconds without allowing your hips to sag towards the floor. Make sure to remain in control of the movement throughout and repeat on the other side.
Side Plank is an effective exercise to strengthen not only your core but also all of the muscles in your lower body, which will make them harder and more defined over time.
Cool Down
Cooling down after a workout is an important part of your workout routine. It helps your body to slowly transition from an active state to a relaxed state. A proper cool down can help to prevent muscle soreness and reduce the risk of injury.
Let’s look at some of the best cool down exercises to help you get quads like a pro:
Static stretching
Static stretching is a critical component of any cool down routine, as it helps to reduce muscular tension and prevents injury. Static stretching involves holding a stretch for around 30–60 seconds. The stretch should be held to just below the point of discomfort and be comfortable enough to hold without shaking. While in the stretched position, use slow and controlled breathing to relax deeper into the stretch and target muscles without overexerting.
Examples of static stretches include calf stretches, quadriceps stretches, hamstring stretches, chest openers, side bends and triceps stretches. Static stretching can also be done on a foam roller or stability ball—simply hold your position while placing pressure on the targeted muscle group with your bodyweight.
Foam rolling
Foam rolling is a form of self-massage that helps to reduce tension, decrease recovery time, and improve performance. By applying pressure to tight muscles and fascia, foam rolling can help increase flexibility and range of motion. This type of massage also stimulates the production of endorphins, which can help reduce pain and improve overall relaxation.
To do a foam roll exercise effectively, it’s important to find the proper pressure points. Start by finding knots and stiff areas in the quadriceps muscle group—especially along the sides. Then use slow, short strokes to apply steady pressure while gently rolling back and forth over the area. Be sure to keep your core engaged while foam rolling as well as breathe deeply throughout the exercise. Spend more time on any particularly tight spots until you feel some relief in your quads.
FAQs about: Best Workout For Quads
Q1: What is the best workout for quads?
A1: Squats are one of the best exercises for building strong quads. Other effective exercises include leg press, lunges, and leg extensions.
Q2: How often should I work out my quads?
A2: For best results, you should aim to work out your quads at least twice a week. Make sure to give yourself rest days in between workouts to allow your muscles to recover.
Q3: What muscles do squats target?
A3: Squats primarily target the quadriceps, or quads, but they also work other muscles in the legs, glutes, and core.
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