Problems Feeling Squats in Quads

[Bill Dundee]

I'm feeling squats too much in hams/glutes. I have long legs. Any tips on how to keep the tension on the quads? I've been going below parallel.

[pvit486]

Try usin' the smith machine and keepin' your legs shoulder width apart. Also finish up with some partial reps to burn out your quads.

[DSM4Life]

I'm feeling squats too much in hams/glutes. I have long legs. Any tips on how to keep the tension on the quads? I've been going below parallel.

Don't use the smith. If you go below parallel you are going to be hitting the glute and ham's hard so what you are feeling is normal. If you do parallel only squats , then you are mainly hitting the quads. Most bodybuilders lacks on the hams which makes full squats really hard to complete. Keep up what you are doing but throw some isolated movements in your routine for your hams.

Your full : http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...FullSquat.html

Your Squat: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...s/BBSquat.html

[Bill Dundee]

thanks...i hit them yesterday and did notice by stopping at parallel i kept tension on the quads...otherwise, i was using the power of my hams/glutes to move the weight up..i also feel that using flat sole shoes and keepin the weight on my heels helped...do you guys believe that front squats are legit for quad building? i tried a couple of light set (just experimenting and they felt pretty good)?

Also, what's the best way to hit outer sweep? My teardrop is pretty good from hacks, but out sweep is lagging bad...Thanks

[pvit486]

Front Squats definitely does the leg good, change it up once in a while. The best way to hit the outer sweep is to keep your legs stance closer than you normally would. I got the same problem until I started keepin' my legs shoulder width apart

[Superhuman]

I have long legs and I just got my squat up to 595lbs for 6 reps this week!

I used to do my squats with my feet exactly shoulder width and toes pointed slightly out. I would ALWAYS have knee pain and I would ALWAYS feel it in my glutes the most.

Now, I put my feet about 1.5 X shoulder width and exaggerate my toes pointed out. Not only can I do more weight with the extra balance it gives me, but I also feel it pretty damned near evenly between my glutes and quads.

[DSM4Life]

thanks...i hit them yesterday and did notice by stopping at parallel i kept tension on the quads...otherwise, i was using the power of my hams/glutes to move the weight up..i also feel that using flat sole shoes and keepin the weight on my heels helped...do you guys believe that front squats are legit for quad building? i tried a couple of light set (just experimenting and they felt pretty good)?

Also, what's the best way to hit outer sweep? My teardrop is pretty good from hacks, but out sweep is lagging bad...Thanks

Use both movements for legs. What i do is hit my legs as heavy as possible with parallel squat, then move to front squats which will have you using less weight but still hitting all the leg muscles.