If you want to have a strong body, it's not enough to just train the upper body. You can imagine what it would be like to have a strong upper body with bamboo thighs?
A strong upper body with weak thighs, such a figure cannot be a good figure. When you have strong thighs, it will make your body more robust. Therefore, in fitness, pursue higher The goal is to develop strong thighs.
To say that the most beautiful muscle group in the legs is naturally the quadriceps, and the appearance of the four "knives" separated is not to mention how amazing it is. But to be honest, the quadriceps is a difficult part to train.
Today IFAST will give you a comprehensive introduction to quad exercises in the following aspects：
- Benefits of Quad Exercises
- Quad Muscles
- 6 Best Quad Exercises
Let’s start!
Benefits of Quad Exercises
- Make the figure more well-proportioned and beautiful: exercising the thigh muscles can prevent the legs from being thinner, thereby preventing the upper body from being strong and the lower body from being weak, which makes people feel like a standing hammer that will fall at any time. And strong thigh muscles can make the whole body more symmetrical.
- Promote the secretion of testosterone and promote muscle growth:leg muscles are the largest muscle group in the body with high muscle content. If you want to increase muscle, you cannot ignore leg training. Studies have shown that leg training can effectively promote testosterone in the body The secretion of hormones can increase muscle growth.
- It can increase the metabolic rate and burn more calories:the basal metabolism of the human body is largely determined by the muscles of the body. Thigh muscle training can consume more calories and bring about a long-term post-fat-burning effect; want to To lose weight and want abdominal muscles, you must increase your calorie consumption, so you must increase your thigh muscle content.
- Delay aging: "A person's old legs get old first" shows the importance of the legs, and exercising the legs can significantly reduce the speed of aging.
- Improve sports performance: The strength of the lower limbs is great for the improvement of sports ability. In most sports or competitions (such as basketball, football, running, etc.), the legs are used to make the legs stronger. This Sports training ability will become stronger.
- Reduce the risk of injury:Knee discomfort when running, twisted feet when playing ball, back pain caused by cycling, these pains in daily life or sports may be caused by other body parts caused by insufficient leg muscle strength Compensation or injury; if you strengthen your thighs, you can avoid these injuries, and you will get a lot of benefits in life (such as climbing stairs without sore feet, etc.).
Most living habits do make people tend to pay more attention to the "problem" places such as the buttocks and waist, while ignoring the quadriceps, but we must know that the quadriceps is very important to help us in Maintaining proper posture while standing or sitting is very helpful.
Quad muscles
The quadriceps, the largest muscle in the body, is made up of 4 smaller muscles that join together on the front of the thigh; the quadriceps is a very powerful muscle that allows a person to stand and move because of its primary role is to straighten the knee joint; the quadriceps is important in all sports that involve moving and jumping, it is used in all sports such as long jump, high jump, and in all running sports such as soccer, volleyball, and basketball .
The quadriceps consists of the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis.
Rectus femoris: originates from the anterior inferior iliac spine, and joins the other three muscles in the quadriceps tendon, stretches to the patella, otherwise it is called the patellar tendon, and in turn inserts on the anterior tibial tubercle. The rectus femoris acts to flex the hip and knee.
Vastus intermedius: Deep to the rectus femoris, extends distally on the anterior and lateral surfaces of the femur to the quadriceps tendon and inserts into the tibial tuberosity as the patellar ligament. The quadriceps and other muscles work together to extend the knee joint.
Muscle lateralis: The vastus lateralis originates from the greater trochanter and the lateral lip of the femoral crest and inserts in the proximal third of the femur where it attaches to the quadriceps tendon. The external oblique muscles act to flex and extend the knee.
Vastus medialis: The vastus medialis originates from the axis of the femoral crest and midline of the trochanter, then distally fuses with the quadriceps tendon and inserts into the tibial tuberosity as the patellar ligament; the vastus medialis is the quadriceps muscle in the knee joint The upper extensors, together with the vastus lateralis, are responsible for knee flexion and extension.
6 Best Quad Exercises
30 Minutes to Build Sharp-Line Quadriceps
This quad exercises program takes about 30 minutes in total, and you only need a pair of dumbbells to complete the whole program, so you can do it even at home.
There are 7 exercises in the whole plan, and every 7 actions is a cycle, a total of 4 cycles.
Remember! Resting is only done between 4 cycles to get the maximum workout effect in the shortest possible time.
Goblet squat
10 repetitions
- Hold a hex dumbbell or kettlebells in front of your chest with your hands, open your knees outward when squatting, and keep your elbows in the middle
- The slower you squat, the better. Tighten your core throughout the movement, and get up after squatting to the lowest point
One of the benefits of the goblet squat is that it reduces the stress on the back compared to the traditional barbell squat, and because the center of gravity is in front of the body, the squat can be more comfortable.
Dumbbell side lunge squat
10 repetitions on each side
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand, hanging naturally on either side of the body.
- Take a step to the right while squatting down to the side of the diagonal, keeping the other leg straight
- Push the bent leg up, back to the starting position, and repeat with the other leg
A lot of people neglect to stimulate the quadriceps with lateral movement, and this move can make up for that, plus it improves hip mobility
Lunge
10 repetitions on each side
- Lift the dumbbell with one hand at about shoulder height and step forward
- Then lower your hips and do a squat, making sure your back knee doesn't touch the ground
- Then use the power of the front leg to pull the person back to the original position
The lunge squat has certain requirements for the balance of the body, which naturally strengthens the stimulation of the quadriceps. After all, you still need to grasp the balance
Bulgarian Lunge
10 repetitions on each side
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand and place one foot on a bench
- Squat down while keeping your knees off the ground and support your weight on your front foot
- Keep your torso straight and not leaning forward too much throughout the movement
The Bulgarian lunge is a variant of the lunge. Compared with the traditional lunge, this action squats deeper and naturally stimulates the quadriceps more. However, many people may feel uncomfortable in their knees when doing this exercise. If you have knee problems, I do not recommend trying this exercise.
Step up with weight
- 10 repetitions on each side
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand, step on a stool with one foot (the stool should not be too high or too low), and the torso can be slightly inclined
Push hard with the front foot and lift the other foot onto the stool, then come down, so repeatedly
Dumbbell jumping squat
10 repetitions
- Standing position, hold a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and squat down as far as possible
- Then jump up high, the higher the better, then squat down immediately when you get down, and jump up again, so repeatedly
This is explosive training that stimulates the quadriceps very well. I highly recommend everyone to try it.
So please don't ignore the exercise of the quad.
