Quad exercises

How to train your quads

The quadriceps are four muscles on the front of your thigh. All four straighten the knee; one of them, the rectus femoris, also lifts the thigh at the hip. They do most of the work whenever you stand up from a deep bend.

A squat pattern comes first in every leg session. The barbell back squat is the standard in the gym, the front squat keeps your torso more upright and puts even more load on the quads. The leg press and the hack squat train the same muscles on a guided path: Muscla gives beginners the leg press and uses the hack squat as the second variation. At home the goblet squat with one dumbbell does the job.

Single-leg work comes next. Lunges and the Bulgarian split squat train each leg on its own and challenge your balance. The leg extension is the one exercise that trains only the quads; it fits at the end of a session.

Let your knees travel forward over your toes as far as is comfortable: that is normal in a deep squat. Muscla counts a squat as a full set for the quads and half a set for the glutes.