The Elite Physique

How to Build Killer Quads

Learn How to Build Killer Quads

killer quads leg training by karen sessions

Nothing beats a great pair of legs, and for you lifters, I’m talking about killer quads. Good legs will set you apart from the rest at the gym, on the beach, and even on the competitive stage. The trick is knowing how to properly train your legs to bring them to a new level.

As popular as leg training is, many lifters are making critical training errors in their workouts. These errors are causing their legs to be under-developed, lack muscle density, and overall quality.  They work harder and harder and just end up overtraining their legs.  When you overtrain your legs they don’t build and grow.  While building killer quads does take hard work, it also takes smart work in proper training, diet, and rest.

Note: This article is not about ripping or cutting your legs. That’s my Shredded Quads Article.  You have to have a foundation built before you can sculpt the muscle. Focus on building mass now and sculpting later.

Overtraining Your Legs

If you want to build killer quads, then you are going to have to chill out on the cardio. I have seen a lot of lifters training in the gym who had awesome potential to build some muscular legs.  However, they were wasting time and energy overtraining them.  An overtrained muscle will never grow.

If you are training for muscle size and development, then you need to limit your cardio to about 3 days a week for 20-30 minutes per session.  Doing too much elliptical work and biking will work against your leg building efforts.  Tom Venuto states, “There’s no doubt that too much cardio added on top of a weight training program has the potential to hold back strength and muscle gains.”  You can’t build good leg muscle density with excessive high-impact cardio workouts. Give your leg muscle some rest time so they can rebuild and grow.

man doing full squat

Simple Tactics for Killer Quads

Killer quads are built through proper form, training intensity, muscle stimulation, and reset for recovery.  Follow the formula.  It’s there in black and white people.  It’s really that simple.  But, most people will overlook these bodybuilding basics and do a leg training marathon, then wonder they have weak chicken legs.  Once you build killer quads you can create your shredded quads by introducing extra cardio and precise dieting practices.

It’s imperative to keep your leg workout limited to once a week for best results.  If you train them more often, that doesn’t mean you’ll get more results faster.  It just means you will be overtraining them and still be at square one.  Muscle growth takes place away from the gym, when you are feeding your muscles and resting for recovery.

In addition, limit your leg training to no more than 60 minutes.  I don’t care how eager and pumped you are.  If you train longer you’ll just continue to have small, weak, little legs and get laughed at.  You can get a more than quality leg workout and build killer quads in an hours’ time in the gym.

Tip on How to Make the Most of Your Training

Make compound exercises a priority if you really want to build killer quads.  Such exercises can include lunges, leg press, stiff-legged deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, and squats.  These are your mass builders.  Once you nail your legs with compound exercises, add a few isolation exercises to finish off your leg training for the day.  Don’t overdo the isolation work because the compound exercises do 90% of the leg work.

While short training sessions are ideal, the foundation to killer quads is training variety using the training principles.  You have the freedom to vary your reps, sets, exercises and even poundage used.  It’s ideal to keep these factors in continual rotation to keep your legs off guard so they do respond and produce results.  However, when you are in the building phase, using progressive overload is a sure-fire tactic for massive growth.

leg extensions on machine

Undertraining Your Legs

While there are a lot of lifters overtraining legs, there’s the other group who undertrain their legs. Let’s face it. Lower body training isn’t easy, and most people just kind of cop out and leave the last few minutes of their workout to a few leg curls and extensions.  Sorry, but leg extensions and leg curls solely won’t build killer quads.

You could be undertraining your legs if you leave your leg training to last and only do a couple of easy exercises for a few reps and sets. We know who you are.  We see you in the gym.  To build killer quads you need to implement a certain amount of effort.  You need to be choosing some compound exercises like squats and deadlifts.

Don’t think you are going to build killer quads by skimping out on leg day or thinking light leg training will work. Leg training requires intense work and training variety. This is why many lifters don’t’ have killer quads.  They don’t put for the needed effort.  Killer quads takes hard work and dedicated focus.

leg adduction machine

Bottom Line on How to Build Killer Quads…

Do you have what it takes?  Can you do it?  If you put forth the effort.  Nothing worth having is easy.  Regardless, I can help you and pave the path.  See below and get my FREE 5 Leg Training Hacks to get you started building great legs and then ripping them to shreds…

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Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT

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My name is Karen Sessions and I am a life-time natural female bodybuilder, multi-certified fitness instructor, author, specialist in performance nutrition, and a success coach. I've been in the fitness industry since 1988! I teach people Just Like You how to transform their bodies, get in shape, build muscle, lose fat and compete in Bodybuilding, Physique, and Figure Competitions. When you have the CORRECT information you can have total confidence and turn your dreams into reality... and I can help transform YOUR body. I have helped THOUSANDS of clients reach their goals and I can help you, too. Be sure to grab my free gift above so you can start moving toward your goal.

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