6 Best Exercises to Strengthen Quad Muscles

If you have weak quad muscles and want to improve your ability to walk, run and climb stairs, you can try some exercises.

The quadriceps are the largest and most powerful muscle group in your body, providing your thighs with strength and power. Although you use these muscles every time you walk, run or climb stairs, many people ignore them during workouts.

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Six Effective Exercises to Target Your Quad Muscles

Here's a look at six exercises to target your quads:

1) Single Leg Squat

Single-leg squats are a great way to tone your legs and quads, strengthen your core muscles and increase flexibility.

Here's how you do it:

• Stand in front of a workout bench or chair, and face away from it.
• Stand on one leg, and squat down onto the bench or chair using your other leg.
• Lower yourself till your rear end touches the bench or chair, and stand back up without touching your other leg to the ground.
• Repeat that ten times on each leg.

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2) Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat

The rear foot elevated split squat or Bulgarian split squat, is a great exercise for building glutes and even hamstrings.

To do this exercise:

• Find a box or bench that's about three feet high.
• Stand facing away from it, and place your back foot on top of it.
• You can either bend your toes down into the surface of the box or bench, or leave them flat against it.
• Your standing foot should be planted firmly on the ground.
• Squat down till your back knee is an inch above the ground, and stand up again.

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3) Step-Up

Step-up is a body resistance exercise that targets the quadriceps, hamstrings and the gluteal muscles in the buttocks. This is a great exercise to target your lower body.

Here's how you do it:

• Place one foot on a box or bench and the other on the same box or bench.
• Stand with your knees slightly bent, and slowly step up onto the box or bench.
• Step down by stepping off the box or bench.
• Repeat 15 times for each leg.

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4) Walking Lunge

Walking lunges can help increase your range of motion and make your hips, hamstrings and leg muscles for more flexibility. That'll improve your posture, balance and overall fitness.

To do this exercise:

• Start with feet together, and step forward with one foot pointing straight ahead.
• Bend both knees so that your front knee is at a 90-degree angle and the back leg is straight.
• Take one step forward with your right leg, and lunge down the hallway.
• Perform this exercise 10-15 times.

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5) Wall Sit

The wall sit exercise is a great leg burner, working the muscles in your thighs. This exercise is generally used for building isometric strength and endurance in your hamstring, glutes and calves.

To do Wall Sits:

• With your back against the wall and feet about two feet from the wall, engage your abdominal muscles, and slowly slide down till your thighs are parallel to the ground.
• Keep your back flat against the wall, knees directly above the ankles and feet flat on floor.
• Hold for 20-60 seconds.
• Slide slowly back up the wall to your standing position; rest 30 seconds, and repeat three times.

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6) Goblet Squat

If your goal is to strengthen your back muscles, traditional back squats may not be the best choice. Instead, try goblet squats. They target the quads and glutes without placing undue strain on your lower back. They’re a good choice for beginners and advanced lifters alike.

To do a Goblet squat:

• Hold a weight at chest height by one end.
• Stand with your feet just wider than hip-width apart, toes facing forward or slightly turned out.
• Keep your chest tall and core tight as you hinge back from your hips and down into a squat, till your upper thighs are parallel with the floor (as low as you can comfortably go down)
• Press through the four corners of your feet to return to standing.

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Why Should You Do These Exercises?

Here's what happens when your muscles don't work well: You lose your stride length, and you get stuck every time you try to take a step. If your quad muscles are weak and tight, that can hurt your knees because you would bend them more than usual when you walk or run.

Quadriceps strengthening exercises are important for increasing stability in the knee and preventing common knee injuries, like anterior cruciate ligament tears and medial collateral ligament tears. They can also make your quadriceps stronger to reduce pain from common knee ailments, such as runner's knee and back pain.

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Takeaway

It takes a lot of strength and power to run up the stairs, squat down or even kick a football into the net.

These types of muscle movements are mainly performed by the quad muscles — the quadriceps. If you don't have the most muscle mass in your thighs, it can be difficult to perform these actions effectively. To strengthen the quad muscle, you need to do suitable exercises, like the aforementioned ones.