Quadriceps Development for Rookies
Quadriceps Development for RookiesZach BashoreJanuary
23, 2006Let`s face it, a body with chicken legs
looks awful and is the cornerstone of all bodybuilding
jokes. There is nothing worse than going to the
gym and seeing a bodybuilder with a huge upper
body and legs that look as if they`ve never been
trained before. Prior knowledge dramatically influences
a person`s decision to train legs and if they
don`t know how to properly train them, then what
is the use of doing it? This article is intended
for readers who are interested in improving their
knowledge of the quadriceps muscle and learn proper
exercises to make them bigger and more toned.The
quadriceps muscle consists of many different sections.
The psaos major and minor allows for flexion
and lateral rotation. The iliacus also allows
flexion and lateral rotation, while the rectus
femoris allows for flexion and extension. When
your hip is flexed, the vastus medialis, intermedius,
and lateralis all allow for extension. The adductor
magnus helps the quad rotate laterally and allows
for adduction. Finally, the adductor brevis and
lognus both allow for adduction, medial rotation,
and flexion.
These sections may be hard to understand
but it`s important information if you`re looking
to build great quads.Now that you`ve learnt the
different sections of the quadriceps muscle, it`s
time to learn some of the exercises used to make
them stand out. Two good bodyweight exercise are
the freehand jump squat and an exercise commonly
referred to as the wall sit where you sit on a
wall like there is a chair underneath you and
stay in that position until you are fatigued.
My favorite exercises with a dumbbell are the
dumbbell squat, dumbbell lunges, dumbbell step
ups, iron cross, plie dumbbell squat, and dumbbell
squat to a bench.If you have access to machines,
leg training is so much easier. Some of the best
exercise that you can do on a machine are the
leg press, leg extension, lying machine squat,
hack squat, smith machine squats, thigh abductor
and thigh adductor. Make sure that you use proper
form on all of these exercises.
Unproper form
can prevent you from reaching your maximum potential
and can also lead to injury.Alternate your leg
workout every week. Change around the number of
reps and sets, do different exercises, change
the amount of rest between sets. Always open up
your mind into trying something new. Training
legs is painful and very few people can bare the
thought of training them. This is where dedication
comes in handy.
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