Some leg questions...

[CanadianIron]

So I had a good leg day today, I thought my squat was pretty deep, to the average guy it is.. I usually go 1-2" past parallel but I was watching a couple guys go to a new level of deep today...

Heres the thing though, how can you possibly go that deep without your knees getting ahead of your toes? If you put almost all your weight on your heels and get your COG (center of gravity) as far back as possible, you can't go much past 90 without your knees going way forward... what is your guys take? I suppose you could just bend way more at the hips but isnt that bad?

2nd question, what can you do to widen the upper leg? I assume width will come with mass, but is there an exercise that hits the outer head of the quad better than a decent squat or leg press?

Thanks homies. :bch

[CanadianIron]

I find extensions hit my quad right down by the knee on the inside of my leg though..? I find lunges to hit my glutes more than anything.

[O-Train]

I find extensions hit my quad right down by the knee on the inside of my leg though..? I find lunges to hit my glutes more than anything.

You can do lunges a couple different ways. When I was doing them for quads I used a barbell and shifted all the weight onto my front leg. The back leg is basically just for stability. Go down slow till your back knee touches the ground then drive up trying to only use the front leg. It's a hard exercise, works your core quite a bit also.

As for the initial question, I'm not entirely sure. You're talking about the vastus lateralis. Heavy hack squats would be a good place to start. Although you're still really looking at overall quad development.

[O-Train]

You probably need to spend more time stretching your hamstrings and start working with a box or something to sit back on when you squat. If you go real deep your knees will travel foreward but you can limit this with proper technique and good flexibility. Plus...you don't really need to squat till you're sitting on your calves, unless you're an olympic lifter. Going deeper with your hips will be bad if your butt tucks under because your hamstrings are tight. If you watch squatting videos you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It loads up the lower back and can cause injuries.

[JonnyO]

For outer quads place feet in a narrow stance. A good one is on the leg press, feet closer together with heavy weight and higher reps, not as heavy as you can go but a weight you can get 12 good reps with. Experiment with reps too, try some warmups of 25reps before adding weight.

Also Widow Makers are great for legs. Near the end of your workout, say after your heaviest set of squats or hacks, go right into the leg press with a moderate weight and bang out 30+ reps, stop if you have to but dont get out of the machine until you hit 30 reps. Also slow negatives (TUT) work well.

[JacktheThriller]

well if wide squats activate the inner parts of your legs, taking a narrow stance on something like the leg press should activate the outer legs. this will activate your glute ham tie ins and give u a massive burn. enjoy

[warlock]

Leg extensions **** up your knees.

Ass to grass squats are fine if you have enough hip mobility

There is no problem on your knees passing your toes.

Any Olympic lifter has to be able to do a ATG squat wih a shitload of weight inthe bar in order to do a proper snatch.

[Yazz]

I've been having lower back pain for quite a while and I must say that I miss the ATG squats, so I started Hack squatting which is killing my knee joints.
I have been improving in muscle size in the thighs though by incorporating lunges and smith squats with a box. I guess the inner part comes along with overall mass.

[CanadianIron]

I said widen, but I meant the outside of the quad, not so much the inside. I just find my legs are getting taller but not so wide.

[devo09]

Close stance presses/squats
Also the initial 1/2 ROM on leg extensions has been shown to involve more vastus lateralis


Leg extensions **** up your knees.

Ass to grass squats are fine if you have enough hip mobility

There is no problem on your knees passing your toes.

Any Olympic lifter has to be able to do a ATG squat wih a shitload of weight inthe bar in order to do a proper snatch.
Knees passing toes = increased torque on knee joint, this has been shown through studies

And olympic lifters have a TON of knee injuries. THe ones you see on TV setting records are the ones that have the knee durability to survive