I used to do regular, heavy barbell squats and they were always brilliant workouts for the quads, they’d be sore for days afterwards. But I decided I don’t like the idea of regularly loading up my shoulders with 300lb and asking my spine to support it.
Is there any way to bulk up quads without a bar across the shoulders? Any examples of good quad exercises? I find that holding dumbbells instead limits the amount of weight you can load up and bodyweight isn’t heavy enough. But I’m open to suggestions.
I’ve already had a look through ExRx and similar sites - I’m kind of hoping for a personal recommendation about which exercises feel effective for you guys and which don’t, rather than just a website listing exercises.
Thanks.
I’m also concerned about my back, so I use the incline and rotary leg press machines. Probably not as effective as a squat, but much easier on my back.
Leg presses
Hack squats
Deadlifts
Front squats are supposed to really work the quads and wouldn’t be real heavy weights. I have only tried them a couple times but could never get comfortable doing them. I was always afraid I would lose the bar. Maybe done in a Smith machine, it would be easier.
Another approach may be to do lighter squats for higher reps and then leg press heavy.
Why? Unless you’re specifically injury prone, there’s not a lot of evidence that this is unsafe.
Edit: Some kind of squat variation is going to be the way to go here. Look up hack squats for a nice idea.