Best Exercises for Perfect Quadriceps Muscles

When you look at a perfectly shaped body, the first things that your eyes glue at are the biceps and the shoulders. On a general level the upper body is judged more by a person appreciating someone who built his muscles but within seconds the view of appreciation turns into mockery or awkwardness when the lower body is not as built as the upper body.

This is one of the major cases among people who hit the gym. Most of them focus on the upper body especially the chest, biceps and traps but what they do not realise is that without an equally built lower body, the overall look will turn out to be disproportionate and weird. Imagine a person with a huge chest and biceps but with skinny and weak legs. The reaction can be related closely to mockery at par.

Is it only for the looks?

No, the built of the lower body as in the legs, ankles, buttocks and hamstrings is as necessary as the focus we give to the upper body muscles. If you try to understand the anatomy of the body you might get a better understanding of the whole reason.

Our body’s lower part is built for locomotion, balance and to hold the structure without falling. And if the upper body is heavily built and enhanced without a well built lower body, then the weight distribution gets disturbed leading to weakness in the legs and hips majorly.

One of the core muscles which form the pillar for our body structure to hold up are the quadriceps muscles. They are strong, flexible and look really great worked upon.

What are quadriceps muscles?

Rectus Femoris

Originating from the ilium, the rectus femoris occupies the middle of the thigh covering most of the other three quadriceps muscles.

Vastus Lateralis

Originating from the femur, the vastus lateralis extends down the lateral side (outer area) of the thigh and inserts into the patella.

Vastus Medialis

Also originating from the femur, the vastus medialis extends down the medial side (inner area) of the thigh and inserts into the patella. This muscle makes up the much sought-after “tear drop” look.

Vastus Intermedius

This muscle lies between the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis on the front of the femur inserting into the patella.

When built properly, they look somewhat like this.

How to Get the Best Quadriceps Muscles?

There are many exercises for getting your quadriceps turn into huge tree trunks but below are the best and most effective exercises out of all.

1. Deep Barbell Back Squats

The deep barbell back squats are the primary quad enhancers. More popular as The Grand Daddy Of Leg Movements, this exercise focuses on the vastus medialis muscles which are the inner quads.
Follow the instructions as shown in the video below:

Note: For a better and quicker improvement in the levels of this exercise try increasing your width between the legs and make the toes slightly pointed out.

2. Front Barbell Squats

The front barbell squats help in increasing the size and strength better than the back squats but are a little risky for beginners and at times for professionals too. The positioning of the barbell is a little complicated as well as the trainers tend to fall forward because of the loss of stability in this exercise often.

So, start with a 5 kilo barbell weight and try to balance yourself with the right position before you start the exercise. Place your feet as wide as possible to increase the difficulty and effects of the exercise as well as learn more about balancing.

3. Leg Press

The traditional leg exercises are actually one of the best but at ties machines do help in getting bigger and better muscles without losing balance or stability of the lower body. The leg press exercise focuses on all four of the quadriceps muscles keeping the upper body at rest upside down.

Increasing your weight increases the strength of the core muscles but try to take this exercise on a slower tone as a drastic change in the weight may lead to muscle sprain as there is not much escape possible as in other barbell exercises.

4. Lunges

Lunges are the best exercises to concentrate your energy on one leg at a time. They help in increasing the balance of the body and maintain stability throughout other exercises too. Lunges focus on the back part of the quadriceps muscles to the extension of knees giving a better sync between origin and insertion process.

You can perform lunges either with dumbbells or barbells as both have almost the same effects. But, barbells give you more challenge than dumbbells being a little less free in movement.

5. Leg extensions

Leg extensions machines are rare to be found in the gyms but if you have one, you ought to work on them for best results. They are as wide ranged in enhancing the quad muscles overall as none would ever be. The instructions are pretty simple and so is the process. Just try to increase weight quickly as it may feel lazy after a bit of time.

Conclusion

Just as a building requires a strong lower base structure, our body requires a well built lower body to be able to take the upper body to next levels of exercises. Quadriceps muscles are one of the most useful muscles for both strength and curving. The more you focus on them, the better your leg shape and strength will be.