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1. PLAY NICE - Staying loose is super important in training quads. That means elongating the muscles first by stretching. You don't often see a lot of huge guys stretching, but pros like Mike Matarazzo and Flex Wheeler made stretching a part of the beginning of each leg routine. Not only does it elongate, it engorges muscles with blood. The more you stretch, the more blood goes in. Start with quads and then move to hamstrings.

2. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY - Play nice by preparing muscles and then get in there hard and heavy. Heavy strict sets are the way to add to quad girth. Whether you're going for more size or you're going for sweep and overall muscle density, full range of motion hack squats hit the outer sweep of the quad. Always incorporate hacks into workouts

3. PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT - Eight reps is essential for growth. Always go heavy enough that you can try to exceed eight reps (but no more than 15 reps total) and don't go so heavy that you can't achieve eight reps. People who say they are done in three reps are just cheating themselves, and those that pound past 15 will never grow. So whether super slow, HIIT or otherwise, you can't grow outside of the acceptable range of 8 to 15.

4. SET IT UP RIGHT - Don't think that you can go into the gym and train legs for 25 minutes, and 4 to 5 sets total and gain mass. Legs require an almost overtraining mentality. The first few sets should be warm up strictly, so they don't count. Do at least four movements for the legs and do four to five sets per exercise. Precontest, do at least five or six sets per exercise and add an exercise as well as a superset.

5. KEEP THE HEAT ON - That means intensity! Try allowing yourself shorter and shorter rest times, utilizing the same weight. The legs should not recover in between sets in order to spur growth. They'll have lots of time to recover and rest in between leg training sessions (and that should be between 3 to 5 days. Use rest times to just shake the blood out of the muscle. If you're a beginner, don't rest more than 90 seconds. If you are a seasoned pro in the gym, you should take around 30 seconds, because you're likely going for density and additional shape and sweep.

6. SEPARATION AGREEMENT - To maximize muscle separation in quads, the most important thing is to always use a full range of motion. You can certainly do this with squats and hack squats, but leg press and leg extensions really count too. And when trying to achieve more separation, use a slower pace and try to squeeze and hold the weight as long as you can. In extensions, try to lift the weight in the lower portion of the exercise with your hip flexors - it pulls out separation like crazy!

7. KEEP IT SIMPLE - Effective leg workouts are more about technique than they are about the exercises themselves. Sure, you have to choose exercises that address the quad from its most basic anatomy, but apart from that, using sound training principles is key. That means keeping it simple. Jury-rigging equipment just isn't necessary. Squats, leg press, hack squats, front squats and leg extensions are what to focus on. Following workouts, if your legs are rubbery, sore or weak, walk it off for 10 or 15 minutes. Your recovery will be much shorter when you do this.

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.

Home Multi Gym

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The days of many years ago when fridays meant it was gym day. Not that health learning stuff, which we apparently needed but as a fifth grader I could care less about. No it was a day for kickball and tag and many other games that we never thought were actually helping our lives.

However a recent study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has shown that increasing amounts of exercise directly correlated to higher test scores in the classroom. The study also showed that students who participated in the study had a higher amount of classroom concentration and participation.

Five thousand students were surveyed in the study from kindergarten to fifth grade. Girls were found to have the most significant changes. The study showed that girls who got 70 to 300 minutes of physical education per week actually scored higher than those that did not.

Test results did not show any significant changes in boys as it was noted that may be due to the fact that boys are more likely to participate in activities after school. And as reported by the CDC, "boys are often more physically fit than girls, meaning gym-class dodge ball might not be enough to give them the same beneficial physiological effects."

So why is this important? According to Time Magazine, "Many school districts are slashing PE to meet budgets; math and reading are what count on standardized tests--and in assessing schools' performance under No Child Left Behind. As a result, most kids have gym class only once or twice a week. That lack of physical exercise could be adversely affecting girls' academic development."

No one knows for certain if gym class will be eliminated at all, but as the study shows, just cutting it down to a day or two per week could have a significant affect on classroom behaviors.

About the Author
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