If you want to build rock-solid, muscular legs… then here’s an old-school way to get results fast.
You see, if you ask any modern day personal trainer how to build up your quadriceps muscles (the muscles on the front of your thigh), he or she will probably tell you to do leg extensions or leg presses.
To that I say…. pfffffth.
Steve Reeves knew how to build massive quads
Take a look at Steve Reeves, winner of the Mr. America contest in 1948.
Way before steroids, creatine or fancy leg machines, Reeves built powerful legs with one little-known exercise.
The front squat.
It’s unlikely you’ll ever see the front squat in commercial gyms. Last time I did front squats in a commercial gym, some guy asked me what the hell I was doing.
Turns out he’d never seen anyone do a front squat before.
Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me.
The front squat is hard.
It’s a true “gut buster.”
But it works.
Don’t take my word for it.
Front squats work wonders for Olympic lifters
So if you want bigger quads, follow the lead of the Olympic weightlifters and Steve Reeves and start to incorporate front squats into your workouts.
Here’s how it’s done.
With the bar in the rack, approach the bar and make sure you’re resting the bar on the front of your shoulders. Use your fingers to keep the bar in place, but the weight should be on your shoulders.
Front Squat - start
Bend your knees and squat down — all the way down — until your hips are lower than your knees. For many people, the back of the hamstrings will actually touch the back of the calves at the bottom of the front squat.
Then, simply stand up with weight — keeping your back straight and your head up.
Front squat - bottom
When doing low reps (5 or under) use the “clean grip.” Most people complain that this grip hurts their wrists. Well, it hurts everyone’s wrists at first. Try it for a month and then see if it still hurts. Most people just try it once and give up. But really — it hurts everyone for about a month until you get used to it.
If you’re going to train front squats with higher reps (which is a GREAT way to make your quads get bigger faster), use the bodybuilding or California grip as demonstrated here by Dave Draper.
Front squat with bodybuilding/california grip
This is a little more comfortable for longer sets.
There you have it — a tried & true way to build bigger quads and more powerful legs.
For more “old-school” training tips, check out The Book.
Also, check out one of my older blog posts about Steve Reeve’s workout drink.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The front squat is a great exercise! Be prepared to use much less weight than a normal squat. The front squat is a great way to work your core hard and give your back and spine a rest from regular squats. One of my favorite move is to perform a power clean to a front squat to a overhead press. Give it a try sometime
I’ve incorporated front squats as an assistance exercise right after Dead Lifts.
A few months ago I tore my right thigh muscle on the 15th rep of front squats.
I’ve healed from this and wrap the thigh when doing the final set that is all out.
This is a great exercise with the other compound exercises.
Great article, thanks!
Yech. Thanks to the magic of youtube, I’ve seen plenty of quad tears and they ain’t pretty.
But let’s not scare off the rookies, ok Rog?
For those of you who are new to the game, injuries are just a fact of life. They happen. Sure, you can take steps to minimize your odds of getting injured like making sure you’re properly warmed up and not making stupid decisions (like benching without a spotter).
But no matter what, if you’re in this game long enough, you will get injured. It’s a fact of life and if that bothers you, then you should take up a different hobby.
Front squats are IMO better than the revered back squat.