rectus femoris? best way to work it?

[grapekrush]

i know everyone is going to say squats but we all know thats not the truth. hack squats are amazing for vastus medialis and leg press i really feel in my vastus lateralis. what exercise can i do for my rectus femoris and/or my upper quads?

plz dont say squat

[MACHINE5150]

lunges work well. Leg extensions isolate it. leg press works too.. what are you specifically looking for do you have an injury or sometihng?

[grapekrush]

no but my lower quads have outpaced my upper quads as far as mass is concerned. so i need some exercises for my upper quads.

[MACHINE5150]

lunges seems to do it for me, holding some DB's

[X83]

Leg Press
Push Press
Front Squats
Jump Squat
Cable Squats
Wide Stance Squats
Leg Extension
Split Lunge on the Ball
Cable Bent-Leg Deadlift

[grapekrush]

nice attempt to increase your post count X83.

[Back In Black]

Is it just your rec fem you want to work on? Are your adductor muscles under developed too?

Foot position is important to isolate the different muscles of the quads and other upper leg muscles. Toes pointing forward will work mor the central part of the thigh. Toes pointing out more the inner thigh muscles and toes pointing in = outer thigh.

Leg press with feet set high on the platform and toes pointing forward will work you rec fem BUT heavy (three quarter) power squats are probably your best bet.

[KeyMastur]

nice attempt to increase your post count X83.

look who's talking....

[baseline_9]

I actually feel it is worked well by fairly close stance, low foot leg presses

Fet about 10 inches apart, toes straight or even slightly turned in

Keep ur feet low and the weight on ur quads


You should also try smith machine squats with a similar foot potition. They have killed my whole quads

[tyciol]

Since nobody's mentioned it: what about knee raises? The rectus femoris is a hip flexor. Just allow the knee to bend, since if you extend it, the rectus femoris will get so short at the top it can't do much force and other hip flexors like the iliacus and psoas would take over.

That's also my concern with seated knee extension machine: wouldn't the RF be way too short at the top of the move due to hip flexion to do much? I could only see it helping at the bottom or if you had one of the ones without a back support that legs you lean back to extend hip joint during the knee extension.

[slfmade]

It's sooo pleasant to see people with knowledge of anatomy. Here I thought I was the only one!

[mirin_serratus]

if you're upper quads are lacking you're probably not going down low enough on squats. Full squats literally work every leg muscle and keeps everything well balanced. No point messing with lunges, leg presses etc