EstimatedEst. Read Time: 4 minutes
Can’t Get Big Quads? Just Do THIS!!

If you have skinny legs and can’t seem to get them to grow, I have good news for you. In this video, I am going to give you a simple tip that you can implement into your leg training immediately that will help to finally grow those chicken legs. I’m bringing Jesse in to show how incorporating this change to his squat has helped him to get bigger legs.

 

First off, if you want to build big legs, you need to be squatting. It’s called the king of leg exercises for a reason! One major problem that many people have during the squat, however, is that they fail to actually load the quads. It’s been repeated ad nauseam that you need to break parallel when you hit the hit the bottom of the squat. Why? Because the femur are perpendicular to the force of gravity, the quads are receiving maximum tension. By stopping the rep short of parallel, you are sacrificing the potential to overload the muscles, which is necessary if you want you’re quads to grow. Remember, if you want to build big legs, you need to be squatting to the proper depth!

 

Continuing with the idea of loading the quads…for a number of reasons, people often believe that you should be squatting with an extra wide stance. The problem with this method is that with the knees so far out, the adductors are doing the most work instead of the quads. As I mentioned previously, to get bigger legs, you need to load the quads with maximum tension. Jesse shows the difference between an extra wide stance versus a stance that is just outside shoulder width. With that wide stance, Jesse, like many others, felt a great amount of strain on his adductors when coming out of the hole on the squat. When he narrowed his stance, he noticed an immediate difference in the amount of tension placed in his quads as compared to the adductors. Narrow up your stance and load those quads if you plan on building bigger legs.

 

Next, introducing a box can make all the difference in the world when it comes to squatting. You will want to make sure that you find a box that is the right height for you to be reaching parallel when you hit the bottom of the squat. Don’t worry if the box is too short, you can add a plate on top of it to make sure you are hitting a comfortable depth at or below parallel. This will not only give you a good target of how deep you need to squat, but it also provides a sort of safety net. If there is fear of not being able to get up out of the hole, the box allows for a reassurance that you will not come crashing down to the ground.

 

Lastly, when you squat down, don’t sit on the box. You want to just barely reach the surface, almost “kissing” the box with your butt. The rep doesn’t stop there, though. I have talked about the importance of pause squats before when it comes to building strength and size of the legs and it doesn’t change here. Once you reach that target, hold the rep (with maximum tension on the quads) for 2-3 seconds before ascending. By pausing the rep, you are trying to “convince your quads” to do the work necessary to get you up and complete the repetition.

 

By utilizing these simple steps the next time you squat, you will be on your way to growing bigger legs. If Jesse could grow his quads in a relatively short amount of time by doing making these changes, then you can build big legs by doing the same. Remember, it’s not just what exercises we do, but it’s how we do them that matters. If you want to build bigger legs along with the rest of your body, be sure to click the link below and use the program selector to help you find the program that matches your current training goals. By putting the science back in strength, I’m going to help you achieve your best results ever over the next 90 days.

 

For more videos that breakdown popular exercises in order to give you the most information to make the most growth, check out our channel here on YouTube by clicking the link below. Don’t forget to click subscribe and turn on your notifications so that you never miss a new video when it’s published.

 

Build More Muscle in 90 Days — http://athleanx.com/x/my-workouts

Subscribe to This Channel Here — http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Jeff Cavaliere Headshot

Jeff Cavaliere M.S.P.T, CSCS

Jeff Cavaliere is a Physical Therapist, Strength Coach and creator of the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs and ATHLEAN-Rx Supplements. He has a Masters in Physical Therapy (MSPT) and has worked as Head Physical Therapist for the New York Mets, as well as training many elite professional athletes in Major League Baseball, NFL, MMA and professional wrestling. His programs produce “next level” achievements in muscle size, strength and performance for professional athletes and anyone looking to build a muscular athletic physique.

Read more about Jeff Cavaliere by clicking here

Popular & Trending
stop doing face pulls like this facepull mistake
1
How To Do Face Pulls
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
September 9th, 2019
Face pulls are one of the best corrective exercises to help offset poor posture and shoulder dysfunction.  They help strengthen the chronically weak...
Body Fat Percentage Men
2
Body Fat Percentage Men
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
July 11th, 2023
There are many ways to measure body fat percentage; some wildly expensive and most inaccurate. It's time to give you an alternative method that...
2 reasons your biceps aren't growing and 3 ways to fix it
3
Why Your Biceps Aren’t Growing
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
August 22nd, 2019
Have you ever felt that no matter how much you trained your biceps you’re left saying… “My Biceps STILL Aren’t Growing?” I believe I know...
The Perfect Abs Workout
4
The Perfect Abs Workout
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
July 31st, 2019
We’ll be following my ‘Six Pack Progression’ sequence as we choose each of the beginner and advanced ab exercises for each abdominal movement...
incline bench press avoid mistakes for upper chest
5
How To Incline Bench Press Correctly
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
January 16th, 2024
The Incline Bench Press is one of the best upper chest exercises there is, but there's one major problem preventing us from getting the maximum...
best dumbbell exercises for chest
6
The Best Dumbbell Exercises for Chest
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
November 6th, 2023
Today I’m going to share my favorite chest exercises… but there’s a catch. We can only use dumbbells! I’ll show you what to do whether you...
long head triceps exercises
7
Long Head Tricep Exercises
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
December 19th, 2023
The triceps make up two-thirds of the size of your arm so the bigger your triceps, the bigger your arm muscles. But not all muscle heads of the...
cable chest workout
8
Cable Chest Workout
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
November 2nd, 2023
Today, we're diving deep into the most underrated piece of equipment in your workout arsenal for chest workouts – the cable machine. The constant...
Cable Back Workouts
9
Cable Back Workouts
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
December 12th, 2023
If you want a versatile back workout that hits every angle, challenges muscle recruitment patterns, and provides consistent tension, then you can’t...
cable shoulder exerciees
10
Cable Shoulder Exercises
By Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS
November 30th, 2023
Unlike barbell or dumbbell shoulder workouts, cables offer consistent tension throughout the exercise, a key factor that can lead to better...
Watch the YouTube version of this article