Do This Every Leg Workout For Big Quads!

Today’s article is going to be about leg training, but more specifically, how to get more growth out of that inner quad, also known as the vastus medialis. 

The reason why this topic came up is because quite a few people have come up to me in my own gym, asking me how to see more quad growth. When I ask them what their workouts consist of, I get a lot of the same answers. They start off doing 3 sets of squats, then they go over and do 3 sets of leg extensions, then 3 sets of a leg curl, and then maybe some walking lunges, that was the typical pattern. While some of that workout is good, if you want to see some serious growth, that whole routine needs some major changes.

Always Squat!

You should still definitely start off your workout by doing a squat. A squat is a compound movement, and compound movements give you the most bang for your buck, and will always help you see the most growth. But, you shouldn’t be giving a compound movement, that’s going to give you the maximum amount of growth, the same amount of attention as every other exercise that you’re doing. Those compound movements, you should be giving AT LEAST 8 – 10 sets of your time to before you leave. Why? Because your compound movements are where you will always see the most growth.

From now on, if you’ve been doing just 3 sets of squats, you’re now going to do 8 – 10 sets, doing 6 – 8 repetitions and going as heavy as you possibly can for all of those sets. Once you’re done, and those legs are pre-exhausted, now you’re primed and ready to target those inner quads.

No Leg Extensions!

But you’re not going to go over to the leg extension machine. You’re going to take a detour, and you’re going to go to the leg press. The reason you’re going to the leg press is because the leg press is going to allow you to sit down, and vary your foot position safely, without having to fatigue any other parts of your body. What I mean by that is, I know that some of you are probably thinking ‘why can’t I just stay at the squat rack and vary my foot position there?’ Well, you can, but if you do that, you still have to rely on balance and other muscles getting engaged in order to do the repetitions. Instead, I want you to solely focus on those quads, because you’re going to be doing a lot of reps and a lot of sets!

You’re going to sit down on the leg press, and you’re going to use a WIDE STANCE with your feet. It’s just like when you train your biceps – if you want to target the inner part of your biceps, you do a wide-grip. If you want to target the outside head, you use a close-grip. The same method applies to your quads – if you want to target the outside (vastus lateralis), you use a close stance, and if you want to target the inside (vastus medialis), you do a wide stance.

How To: Leg Press

Once you’re in position, I want you to do a few practice reps first, before you even start loading it up with weight. The reason being is because if you’re not able to bring the weight all the way down, you’re doing something wrong. As you bring the weight down, you should be pushing your knees out, so that your knees go on the outside of your body, and you can bring that weight down as far as you possibly can, before pushing back to the starting position.

To get to the top of the movement, you don’t necessarily have to forcefully lock your knees out, but you should be extending them as much as you possibly can. As long as you’re in control, it’s a perfectly safe movement to do, and I always fully extend my legs on this exercise. If you don’t feel comfortable doing a full extension, it’s OK to stop a tiny bit before full extension. Don’t leave a huge bend if your knee or anything like that though, that’s just a garbage way of training.

Why Focus On These Two Movements?

So you’re going to finish your squats, come over to the leg press, and you’re going to hammer those inner quads by doing at least 150 – 200 repetitions. We’ve talked about this a lot – you’re taking advantage of mechanical tension and muscle damage with a really heavy squat, and now you’re going to focus on metabolic stress by hammering those quads to force as much muscle breakdown as possible. You’re going to get a huge pump, force blood in there, get even more rips and tears and expanding happening in those quads, and you will see growth, especially if you’ve never trained like this before, with this kind of volume, both on the compound movement (squats) and this movement here.

The way I want you to do it, is I want you doing at least 20 – 30 repetitions per set, in as many sets as you have to do until you hit at least 150 – 200 repetitions total. If you’ve never trained this high before, try to hit 150 reps as your goal, then after a few weeks try to hit 200 reps.

Conclusion

I guarantee you, if you apply this to your leg training right now, you will start to see growth relatively quickly. And yes, if you want to target the outside of your quads, you can apply the same concept with your feet close together. Try this as your next leg workout, hopefully starting today! Remember, friends don’t let friends skip leg day!