Quad exercises for the gym and home

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These are the 16 quad exercises in our library. Each one includes the correct technique, the muscles it works and alternatives if you lack the equipment. You can generate a free routine that includes them based on your level and goal.

Muscles you work when training your quads

The quadriceps extends the knee and is made up of four heads; one of them, the rectus femoris, also crosses the hip and flexes the thigh. Movements with deep knee flexion and an upright torso (front squat, leg press, Bulgarian split squat) emphasise it more than hip-dominant ones. The isolated leg extension is the exercise that works it most in a shortened position.

How to train your quads: sets, reps and frequency

For muscle growth, the meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger (2017), covering 15 studies, found a dose-response relationship: more weekly sets per muscle lead to more hypertrophy, and the practical benchmark usually drawn from it is around 10 or more sets a week. Splitting them over two sessions works better than doing them in one (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2016), and light or heavy loads give similar hypertrophy when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2017).

Squats, leg presses and lunges are the base; the leg extension is the exercise that best trains the rectus femoris with the hip extended. Single-leg variations, like the Bulgarian split squat, load each side evenly. If you are starting out, stay at the low end of the sets and build up gradually. We explain it in how many sets per muscle you need.

Full or half squat: what grows with each

Kubo and colleagues (2019) trained 17 men for 10 weeks with either full squats or half squats and measured each muscle with MRI. The quadriceps grew similarly with both depths, but the full squat grew the adductors and gluteus maximus considerably more.

And neither grew the rectus femoris to any relevant degree, the part of the quadriceps that also crosses the hip. That is why complete quad training adds leg extensions to the squat or leg press.

Blog guides: Quads

• Barbell squat technique and its most common errors — Barbell squat technique: a full step-by-step guide (stance, depth, knees, back) and the common errors that stall your progress or get you injured.
• Bulgarian split squat: variations and programming — Bulgarian split squat guide: muscles worked, how to bias glutes or quads, variations, common mistakes and how to program it against the back squat.
• Best leg exercises for the gym and at home — The best leg exercises according to science: squats, seated leg curls, stretched calf raises, how many sets to do and a routine for the gym and home.

The 16 quad exercises

Compound exercises (14)

Isolation exercises (2)

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