Deadlifting, quads and leg training

[dovez]

heya there,
i'm new to the forum and have recently been reading around here,
and alredy am impressed by the loads of great info here.
which brings me to my question:

i've been training at my home gym exclusively and i don't have
access to a squat rack of any sort.
so i am unable to squat more than what i can press overhead or clean (front squat).
first off, if you guys have any clever improvisations in the matter, please share, and second of all- is heavy deadlifting enough to stimulate development in the quads?
ive been deadlifting a lot, and i hardly feel it in the quads, pump- wise or DOMS-wise.
my hamstrings feel the work though.

thanks in advance..

[Joker13]

Good job with deadlifting definatly a top 3 exercise. Do you have the room to do walking lunges? Or regular lunges are good

[dovez]

ofcourse i have room to lunge,
but lunges are mainly a hamstring exrecise, and my hamstrings are cooked from the deads anyhow.
did anyone experience growth in the quads from dead-ing?
or does anyone feel the work in the quads during deadlifting sessions?
maybe im doing them wrong?
though i have read every article on proper deadlift form.

[Eric3237]

Well quads are going to get hit somewhat by deads, and if you could do deads at enough volume you'd probably get significant growth but that sort of deadlifting volume is probably prohibitive.

Another thing is you are second guessing lunges before you try them. Lunges are going to be a very hip dominant exercise and so for that reason you get a lot of ham involvement but there is no way they are not going to work the heck out of you quads.

And if you are doing front squats those are heavy on the quads.

The best way to to get more involvement from the quads in you situation is to do single leg variations on the squat like step-ups and Bulgarian split-squats. With step-ups you can emphasize quads by using a platform that has your leading thigh a little below parallel (knee lower but not too low). With the bugarian split squats you can emphasize quads or hams by the distance you lifting leg is from the rear leg which will influence you trunk lean. The reason I mention these excercises is it is obviously lower weight. On either one there is a sweet spot that will give you good strength and development in the entire leg. I would recommend doing that over trying to emphasize quads. Most people are quad dominant anyway and the always discount the importance of hamstring development.

BTW, stride length will control the amount of ham or quad in the lunge too...bascally the further out it is the more hams and glutes and the closer it is the more quads.

[Riddick2112]

you can try barbell hack squats too.

[Eric3237]

Didn't like our answers?