It's funny to see an athlete on the beach with a perfectly developed torso on thin, physically undeveloped legs. This is a problem for most novice athletes who, aiming for large volumes of arms, chest and back, avoid leg exercises. Many people do not like to develop leg muscles because of the complexity of the exercises, which cause discomfort and constant pain after a workout. And it seems to some that the time spent on exercises for the leg muscles is wasted, as there are no results for a long period of time. It remains to be seen how important the musculature of the legs is, and how to pump the quadriceps of the thigh so that, along with high efficiency, the athlete does not have an aversion to performing exercises.
Just one muscle
Quadriceps, and in science - the quadriceps femoris, is the most powerful in the human body. As the name implies, it consists of four heads: direct, internal, external and medium. Let it not bother them that they are located on the hip far from each other, all the heads below the hip converge into one common tendon.
All exercises for the quadriceps of the hips come down to the uniform development of four heads, from this it follows that withdrawal from the complex of unloved exercises will not only spoil the beauty of the leg muscles, but also due to the underdevelopment of one or more heads, can lead to injury when working with large weights. When developing quadriceps, one must not forget about other muscles of the legs, such as the biceps of the thigh and lower leg. Naturally, you need to pump them evenly.
Antagonist Muscles
Hip biceps and quadriceps are antagonists, that is, they have opposite functions. Biceps acts as a flexor of the leg in the knee joint, and quadriceps acts as an extensor. Working through the antagonists in one training session, the novice athlete gets the same discomfort and terrible pain in his legs, because of which the desire to develop leg muscles disappears. We are not talking about the need to completely exclude the development of biceps or quadriceps from leg training. Many professional athletes recommend using the 80 + 20 pattern through training.
- In one training session, 80% of the exercises are dedicated to quadriceps, and 20% are for the biceps of the thigh - one, maximum two exercises.
- In the second leg training, on the contrary, 80% of the exercises are given to the biceps of the thigh, and 20% remains for the quadriceps.
Thus, pain in the days following a workout will be significantly less.
Proper warm-up eliminates injuries
It is regrettable that in many gyms there is no proper control over the conduct of lectures for beginners on safety measures. Because of this, annually hundreds of inexperienced athletes receive serious sprains and injuries of the muscles and joints on their legs. A five-minute educational program for any coach about a warm-up before training could save many novice athletes from injuries. If for a torso training it is enough to perform a five-minute complex of warm-up swings with your hands and turns the body, then for the quadriceps of the hips completely different exercises are needed.
- If you have a treadmill, it’s enough to run a five-minute run to warm up your leg muscles well.
- Jogging can be replaced by jumping rope and free squats.
- Well proven walking in the hall in geese.
Basic exercises for the development of quadriceps
There is a large selection of exercises for the quadriceps of the hips. These are exercises with dumbbells, barbell and in special simulators.
- Basic squat with a barbell on the shoulders. The most effective exercise for quadriceps. Putting the barbell on the trapezoid and putting your feet shoulder-width apart, you must complete a squat. The main thing in squatting with a barbell is to control your back - it should be even. Buttocks need to be taken back and controlled so that the knees do not go beyond the location of the socks. At the lowest point of the squat, the buttocks should be parallel to the floor.
- Squat with a barbell on the chest. This exercise maximizes the load on the quadriceps and allows you to control the position of the back at the initial stages, preventing it from being hunched over.
- Leg extension in the simulator sitting. They must be performed at the beginning of the leg workout, as they very well warm the leg muscles.
- Leg press in the simulator. With this exercise, you can replace the squat with a barbell for those who have some kind of back problems or cannot learn to squat correctly.
Background exercises
For some reason, it is believed that forward attacks with dumbbells should be performed only by girls who want to increase their buttocks. This exercise, with an incomplete amplitude of lowering the knee down and a slight inclination of the body forward, very effectively develops the hip quadriceps in girls and guys. By incorporating this exercise into each leg workout, a couple of months of intense workout can produce a beautiful quadriceps relief.
Squats in the hack simulator proved to be good. With a minimum load on the lower back, good results can be achieved in the development of the quadriceps of the hips. Unlike a squat with a barbell and leg press lying in this simulator, it is very convenient to change the setting of the legs, changing the load on different heads of the quadriceps muscle.
About the technique
Hip quadriceps exercises require a specific technique. First of all, you can not fully extend the legs in the knee joint, otherwise injuries can not be avoided even when working with low weight. You should also forget about jerks during the exercise. Heavy? Need to reduce weight. During the exercise, be sure to breathe correctly. Inhalation is on flexion, exhalation is on extension.
Quadriceps femoris is a very large muscle that, during exercise, significantly affects blood pressure, pumping huge amounts of blood in the body, which can lead to an increase in heart rate. Therefore, between the approaches you need to take a break of the order of two minutes to restore pressure. If dizziness is noticed after doing the exercise, rest should be extended. During training, water consumption is mandatory, otherwise a banal dehydration will lead to a breakdown.