Explore the top 11 quad exercises to tone and strengthen your legs at home with minimal equipment. Build muscle, burn fat, and enhance leg strength without neglecting your glutes and hamstrings.
Whether you’re looking to add bulk or simply strengthen your legs, quad exercises are essential.
Show your quads some love with these 11 quad exercises, all of which can be performed at home with minimalequipment. After all,glutesandhammiescan’t have all the fun!
Best quad exercises
Your quads, the muscles in the front of your thighs, don’t get as much love or attention as yourglutesorhamstrings— but they definitely deserve it. Collectively, they’re known as thequadriceps femoris— but they’re actually five different muscles:
“The quads are one of the largest muscle groups in your body,” saysSydney Yeomans, CPT, personal trainer and Director of Fitness at BODY20. “Making them strong will take more pressure off of your knees and ankles.”
Building muscleis great for fat loss too, because it accelerates your metabolism. The end result? More calories burned, even at rest.
“As we build muscle, we are building a foundation for strong bones, tendons, and ligaments around theleg muscles,” Yeomans says.
Ready to get your quad game on? Here are the 11 best exercises for your quads:
Bodyweight squat
Althoughsquatsare often associated with yourglutes, they’regreat for your quadstoo.
Here’show to perform one, according toDonna Cennamano, NASM CPT, personal trainer and Manager of Training for CycleBar:
Cennamano recommends starting out with two or three sets of eight to ten reps per set forthis move, and any of the moves below.
“Just two or three times per week for a 15 or 30-minute session will yieldnoticeable resultsin your legs, and especially the quads,” she says.
Weighted squat
This move has all of the same mechanics as the bodyweight squat, except you’ll also hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest foradded resistance.
Pro tip:“Keep your weight heavy in your heels and chest up,” says Yeomans, “then sit back like you are sitting in a chair. Eyes should stay forward as you sink into the squat.”
Elevated heel squat
For this move, you’ll need something under your heels — like a heavy hardcover book, or two rolled towels — to elevate them off the ground.
Here’s how Yeomans says to perform it:
Pro tip:“Take a three second count down and a three second count up,” she adds. “The more time under tension for the muscle, the more the muscle will grow.”
Sissy squat
The sissy squat is quite deceptively named. It’s tough, but you will definitely feel your quads getting stronger with this move.
To perform it:
Cyclist squat
The cyclist squat is avariationon the elevated heel squat that mimics the stance of a cyclist on their bike. With this squat, you’ll keep your legs close together.
Pro tip:you may keep your arms straight in front of you to assist with balance. However, many people also perform this squat with weights.
Split squat
The split squat is asquatthat isolates each leg, which can be helpful if you tend to favor one side or if you want to help balance out your strength in each leg.
For the split squat:
For this move, all you need is a wall. “Find an open wall,sink downinto a squat,” says Yeomans.
To perform it: She recommends trying to sit with your thighs parallel to the floor, and forming a 90-degree angle with your lower legs.
Pro tip:“You want to keep your chest up,” Yeomans says. “Think about pressing your shoulder blades into the wall, and keep your eyes forward.”
Cennamano says, “Lungesalso target the quads, and they’re a greatfunctional movement exercisefor strength building — especially in the muscles around the knees — and balance.”
Toperform a lunge, she says:
Pro tip:Cennamano says that focusing on going down instead of going forward can help you improve your form.
Reverse lunge
The reverse lunge, also recommended by Cennamano, is very similar to the lunge except your leg moves behind you instead of in front of you. Here are the steps:
Walking lunge
A final lunge variation that can really work your quads is thewalking lunge. This one is exactly what it sounds like. Here’s how to do it:
Pro tip:Make sure you have plenty of space to perform this move. Indoors, a hallway may be best. Outdoors, performing some walking lunges is a great way to add some variety (and a little extra pump) to your walks.
Quad stretch
If you’re pretty active, the odds are great that you’ve already performed this stretch before or that you do it fairly regularly. This is a great stretch to close out your quad workouts.
Thunder thighs ain’t so bad when you’ve got quads like Zeus. These moves will help you grow them, so you’re able to reap the benefits of stronger quads — which will actually make all of your lifts (and any movement you do regularly) easier. When in doubt, squat it out!
