The Best Exercises to Strengthen your Quads at Home

Table of Content

• How to Work Quads Without Weights
• Get Fitness and Diet Tips in Your Inbox
• Vitamin K Is Important For Optimal Health
• Lateral lunge (side lunge)
• The Benefits of Strong Quads
• What Your Bowel Movements Says About Your Health

Lie on the floor — on a yoga mat if you have one, or anything soft, really, even just a bath towel — with your legs out and your arms at your sides. Lift a perfectly straight leg up at the hip and then gently lower it. Do it over and over and you will start to feel the burn in your quads. Stand tall with right foot forward and left back , hands on hips. Keep both legs straight and lift up onto ball of back foot.

Also, you can lean back only halfway to prevent too much stress on the knees. You may have to experiment a little with this movement to get it just right. Don’t have a leg extension machine? That’s not a problem for most people.

How to Work Quads Without Weights

This variation involves using your upper body as the resistance while your thighs work to extend. This exercise is not for everyone due to the stress at the knee and you might want to use it sparingly either way. You can work the quad muscles at home on your own by using a chair. Sitting down on a chair and standing up from the chair will work your quad muscles just like squatting, but with less strain compared to squats.

Known as the body’s “natural knee brace,” the quadriceps are not the only muscles that support the knee and allow for proper function. The back of the thigh, known as your hamstrings, and the glutes in your buttocks are also important. Along with the quads, they help you rise from a seated position and support day-to-day activities like climbing stairs, lifting, and getting in and out of your car.

Get Fitness and Diet Tips in Your Inbox

You should never have to "lunge" up. If you feel the need to, the step is too high and should be lowered. You can make the TKE more challenging by placing a small foam pad underneath your stance foot. You can also make this a balance exercise by doing it while standing only on one foot.

If you're not very flexible, you might not be able to reach parallel depth on your squat. That's fine, just go as far down as you can without injuring yourself. For an added challenge, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Press through all four corners of your feet to stand back up. Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart and turned out slightly to the sides. Press through your heels to stand back up and lower your hands by your sides.

Vitamin K Is Important For Optimal Health

With your core tight and torso straight, lift the non-working leg and squat down until you’re seated. Place your arms out in front of you for optimal balance and assistance. We do a lot of exercises that work on the anterior and posterior of the body. But if you’re not doing a type of lateral movement then you’re not training to be well-rounded and developed. Imbalances lead to energy leaks and we’re not able to execute certain movements at the highest possible level. Push up through the heel of the front leg back into the starting position and repeat with the other leg.

Perfect the jump before taking bigger leaps for the safety of your knees and ankles. Step up onto the end of the platform and use your quads to drive your foot through and lift your body up. Make sure your knee doesn’t move far forward over your foot. With feet together, step one leg back behind your body and bend the front leg at a 90-degree angle or slightly lower. Keep your shin vertical. Stand back up and repeat for reps then switch to the other leg, alternating for sets.

Lateral lunge (side lunge)

Balance yourself on one leg and squat down using the other leg until you're sitting on the bench or chair. As you get stronger, you can increase the height of the platform and/or hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand. Step up with the right foot, pressing through the heel to straighten your right leg. When performing the TKE exercise, be sure to move in a slow and steady way. Be sure your knee stays directly over your toes; it should not shift forward so that it juts out over your toes.

Try to keep your knee aligned with, but not past, your toes.

You can also make this exercise more challenging by adding a small 2- or ​3-pound cuff weight to your ankle. Tighten your quad muscle with your toes pointed toward the ceiling. Hold it tight for 5 seconds. Whether you love or hate it, your leg workout is an important part of your training week.

So, any exercise that is difficult for you and when performed in a proper manner is going to be the most effective. There are so many great variations of the lunge and this is the most basic. Squat down to parallel or just above while bringing your arms down by your sides. Squat down until your upper leg is parallel or slightly below and then drive back up through your heel. You can either cross your arms in front of your chest.

MINUTE LOWER ABS WORKOUT

Hold a dumbbell with both hands at the center of your chest. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your hands by your sides. "After a month of consistently hitting them, you should certainly feel the difference," he says.