Calisthenics Quad Exercises: Top Tips for Muscle Growth and Strength

The quadriceps, or quads, comprise four muscles on your thigh’s front. 

The muscles that make up your quads are the following:

1. Rectus femoris
2. Vastus lateralis
3. Vastus medialis
4. Vastus intermedius (1). 

The Rectus Femoris is a superficial muscle key to strength, while the Vastus Intermedius lies deeper and contributes to stability. The Vastus Lateralis is associated with overall quadriceps strength due to its muscle fiber length. 

Calisthenics exercises use your body weight for resistance (2). Movements like squats, lunges, and step-ups are great examples that engage all four quadriceps muscles while improving strength and endurance. To effectively elicit results, applying progressive overload is crucial. 

Progressive overload is the primary principle of resistance training involving gradually increasing stress on the muscles to facilitate growth and strength. Progress your muscles by increasing the weight load or increasing the number of repetitions (3).

What Are the Best Calisthenics Quad Exercises?

The amount of calisthenic exercises that you can do at home is endless!

What’s even better is that you can easily target your quads through a multitude of exercises. You can even read the squats workout plan for more ideas. 

Regardless of your current level, there is an exercise that you can customize to fit your abilities. Below are a few exercises that can help strengthen your quads and calisthenics hamstring exercises (4).

• Seated Leg Extension: Sit on a chair, extend one leg straight, squeeze the quads, then lower slowly; repeat and switch legs.

• Box Squat: A variation of the traditional squat where you sit back on a box or bench, emphasizing proper squat mechanics. This exercise targets the quadriceps and glutes while reinforcing form.

• Bodyweight Squat: A basic squat using just your body weight. This movement targets the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings; you can do it anywhere. It’s a fundamental exercise for building lower body strength.

• Bulgarian Split Squat: A single-leg squat where the rear leg is elevated on a bench or surface, placing more load on the front leg’s quadriceps. This exercise is excellent for balance, stability, and quadriceps development.

• Lunges with Rotation: A forward lunge with a twist, where you rotate your torso toward the leading leg while holding a weight (like a medicine ball). This movement adds a rotational core challenge while targeting the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings.

• Forward Jump: A plyometric movement where you jump forward from standing. It targets the quadriceps, calves, and glutes and helps improve explosive power and coordination.

• Isometric Split Squats: Holding a split squat position without movement, engaging the quadriceps for stability.

• Elevated Split Squats: A split squat variation where the rear leg is elevated on a surface, further increasing the load on the front quadriceps.

• Pistol Squats: A one-legged squat performed while extending the other leg forward, focusing on strength, balance, and flexibility in the quadriceps.

• Wall Sit: Sitting against a wall in a static position with knees bent at 90 degrees, targeting the quadriceps through an isometric contraction.

• Single Leg Wall Sit: A more advanced version of the wall sit where only one leg bears the load, further increasing quadriceps activation.

• Cossack Squat: A deep side squat that targets the quadriceps and inner thigh (adductors) while improving mobility and flexibility.

• Lateral Lunge: A side lunge that activates the quadriceps, glutes, and inner thighs by stepping out to the side and squatting down on one leg.
• Forward Lunge: A forward step into a lunge position, targeting the quadriceps and glutes while improving balance and stability.

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• Step-ups: Stepping up onto an elevated surface using one leg at a time, which engages the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings.

• Sissy Squats: A more advanced squat variation where you lift your heels, and your body leans back to isolate the quadriceps.

• Jump Squats: An explosive squat where you jump at the top of the movement, activating the quadriceps with a focus on power and endurance.

• Skater Squats: A single-leg squat variation where the non-working leg hovers or lightly taps the floor behind you, emphasizing balance and quadriceps strength.

• Reverse Nordic Curls: Kneeling and leaning back while keeping the body straight, targeting the quadriceps in an eccentric motion.

• Heel-Elevated Squats: Performing squats with the heels elevated (using a surface like a small plate), shifting the emphasis to the quadriceps.

• Shrimp Squats: A deep single-leg squat where the non-working leg’s knee touches the ground, challenging balance and quadriceps strength.

Read more: 90 Day Calisthenics Workout for Beginners (Exercise Steps Included)

Is It Hard to Grow Quads?

Increasing muscle mass and growing any muscle will require a combination of adequate training and nutrition considerations. You must consider these key points when looking to increase muscle mass (5):

1. Progressive Overload (6): Continuously increasing the resistance or volume of your workouts is essential to stimulate muscle growth. You can achieve progressive muscle growth through increasing weight, repetitions, sets, duration, or the intensity of bodyweight exercises.

2. Adequate Protein and Energy Intake (5): Sufficient protein supports muscle repair and growth. Consuming 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is generally recommended for optimal muscle development. Consuming enough calories is also paramount to fuel your muscles for growth.

3. Consistent Training: Regularly working the quadriceps with exercises such as squats, lunges, and step-ups will help maximize muscle growth. Consistency over time is vital to seeing results.

4. Rest and Recovery: Muscles need time to recover and grow, and when we train them, they become stressed. Ensuring enough sleep and ample rest allows the muscles to repair and adapt, leading to increases in strength and size.

Regarding growing your quads, a study (7) compared low-load (weight) and high-load (weight) resistance training to determine which method is best for muscle growth and strength. While the high load showed better strength gains, both methods produced similar results for muscle growth.

Can You Grow Quads With Calisthenics?

You can grow your quads with calisthenics exercises. There are many calisthenic exercises explicitly targeting your quads that you can do at home, as well as calisthenics quad exercises for beginners. To set yourself up for the best chance of success and optimize your results, focusing on these aspects will be crucial (5):

• Proper Technique: Maintaining good form during squats, lunges, and step-ups helps fully engage the quads and prevent injury.
• Full Range of Motion: Moving through the entire range of motion activates more muscle fibers and leads to better muscle growth.
• Consistency: Stick to a regular workout routine that targets your quads multiple times weekly.
• Rest and Recovery: Allow enough time between workouts for your muscles to recover and grow.
• Progressive Overload: Gradually increase the intensity of your workouts by adding reps, sets, or difficulty over time to keep challenging your muscles.
• Nutrition: Eat a balanced diet that supports muscle growth, including adequate protein, carbohydrates, and overall energy intake to fuel physical activity and recovery.

How to Train Quads With Bodyweight?

Training your quads using bodyweight exercises can effectively promote muscle growth and strength. There are some concepts to remember to make the most of your time. 

You can enhance your calisthenics quad exercises at home through various concentric, eccentric, and combined training methods. You can read about high-intensity leg workouts here to go a step further.

But first, let’s break down the concepts mentioned above.

• Concentric Muscle Contractions: The muscle shortens as it contracts, like when you push up from a squat.
• Eccentric Muscle Contractions: The muscle lengthens while under tension, such as when you lower into a squat.
• Isotonic Muscle Contractions: The muscle changes length under constant tension, as in a full squat movement.
• Isometric Muscle Contractions: The muscle stays the same length while holding a position, like during a wall sit.

One study (8) found that concentric and eccentric muscle contractions lead to significant quadriceps growth when applied with bodyweight exercises. However, eccentric-focused exercises, like slow descents in squats, produced the most substantial gains in muscle size. Over six weeks, all training methods showed muscle growth, but the eccentric training methods were the most effective for hypertrophy. 

Another study (9) compared exercises using elastic bands, body weight, and gym machines for individuals recovering from knee injuries. The researchers noted that single-leg squats produced higher quadriceps and hamstring muscle activation than machine-based exercises like leg presses. 

Isotonic exercises like squats were more effective than isometric exercises like straight leg raises.

These results show that bodyweight exercises can be as practical as gym machines for building strength and muscle in the quadriceps.

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What Exercises Hit All 4 Quad Muscles?

Exercises that hit all 4 quadriceps muscles (Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Medialis, and Vastus Intermedius) include:

• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Bodyweight Squats
• Cossack Squats
• Box Squats
• Step-ups
• Lunges

Read more: Beginner Calisthenics Strength Training: Exercises, Tips, and FAQ

Can You Hit Quads Everyday?

While you can technically ‘hit’ quads daily, most fitness experts do not recommend that you specifically train them daily. Rest is a crucial element when it comes to increasing strength and hypertrophy. 

Therefore, if you want to optimize your results, allowing yourself adequate rest to recover fully would be prudent. These resting periods ensure your muscles can recover and adapt to the stimulus, resulting in muscle growth and increased strength (6). Consider incorporating stretching into your routine on alternate days, too. Read how to stretch quads for more.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why are my quads so weak?

Your quads may be weak if you don’t train consistently or with enough intensity. The good news is that you can increase your strength even if you have never trained them.

• Do squats hit all quads?

Yes, squats target all the muscles in the quadriceps group.

• Can I squat every day?

While you could squat every day, most fitness experts wouldn’t recommend it if your ultimate goal is to build strength and muscle mass.

• Does running build quads?

Running alone does not build your quads, but some aspects could make running more guided to building your quads. For example, running on an incline, such as up a hill, would increase the resistance and provide a more challenging stimulus. Working against resistance is crucial for building strength and muscle. Therefore, this could be an effective way to complement your typical strength training routine incorporating cardio.

The Bottom Line

Calisthenics is a simple, accessible, low-cost exercise method you can do anywhere with minimal space. These exercises open up many opportunities to achieve your fitness goals without added barriers. 

Further, the number of bodyweight exercises you can do, mainly to target your quads, is limitless. You could be surprised by how many variations are possible and how challenging some movements can still be. Rather than dragging yourself to the gym, start on calisthenics exercises at home to build strong and resilient quads!