Looking to add a few inches of mass to your quadriceps? Tired of doing the same old thing with the same old results? Your workout might be fine. What you may need are just a few minor tweaks to help surprise your legs into a bit of new growth. Here are a few tips for taking them to the next level!

Cover up your upper body

A great deal of heat and energy can escape from the upper body when you are training legs. Not only that, but drawing so much blood to your legs means your upper body can appear flat and scrawny. This can mess with your mind and certainly bring down your spirits when you need your energy levels at their highest. Avoid this problem by wearing a nice XXL sweatshirt when training thighs. Additionally, since you’ll be climbing under barbells for squats and sharp machines for calf raises, a sweatshirt can add an extra layer of protection from damage to the sensitive, thin skin of the trap area.

Various angles on leg press

When you’re training the upper legs, you usually have to options for the mass movements. You either have a weight on your back (and you’re squatting), or you are seated and your legs are pressing the weight away. The leg press machine is second only to squats in terms of adding lean mass to the upper legs, and is a very popular movement because of this. However, all leg press machines were not built the same. Some have different angles while can affect just how effective they are for boosting leg growth. Experiment with different angles no the leg press to see which one suits you best. Once you find one, be sure to use others from time to time, to keep the muscle group confused – and growing.

Leg extension notice

If you’ve seen any of Ronnie Coleman’s DVDs, you’ll notice that he blazes through 30 reps at a time for the seated leg extension to start his workout. His rep speed is very fast, and his range of motion is very short and brief. His goal is to draw a great deal of blood into the upper legs so that they are prepared for his brutal 800-pound squats which invariably follow. This is a popular use of this exercise, but might not be the best one.

Many years ago, a man named Tom Platz had the best thighs in the world for almost 15 years. They were large, thick, and completely diced. He was a walking anatomy chart from the waist down. Platz believed that leg extensions were one of the primary keys to his success. He would move through them methodically, with very slow pace and very high range of motion. The weight would start completely back, and he would pause when it reached the completely flexed/locked point. He would use the same number of repetitions as Ronnie Coleman – 30 or more – but he would take much longer to complete them. When his thighs failed him on full reps, he would reduce the weight and keep training. When he was down to 30 pounds on the machine and his legs couldn’t move another repetition, he would complete a dozen or more ‘partials’ where the weight would only be moved an inch, or even a fraction of an inch.

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