January 26, 2018

X3 FAQ: What about highly specific exercises, like Quadriceps Extensions?

Full Transcript

Okay, question we’ve been getting is: What about direct work to a muscle like on a machine, like a quadriceps extension? In fact, that’s usually the question we get.

Quad extension is where you’re sitting your seat, and there’s a pad right here on your shin, and you extend your legs. I can’t extend both of them ‘cause I’d have to levitate for that.

So you extend your leg and just focus the contraction on your quadriceps. Now, when you do that, you can see the quadriceps engagement is actually more than when you sit and do a squat.

Now, why is it that you won’t find quad extension in an NFL training room? Or, proper football training room, typically?

Are Quad Isolation Exercises Effective?

The reasons are two-fold. One is, there is an incredible amount of force that just goes right through the patellar tendon, which that tendon is not made to handle because your body doesn’t really do this and contract the quadriceps in isolation.

It does this. So, notice it when we run the wrong way, joints are working together, the hip joint is working with the knee joint, and that’s when it senses the nervous system really understands so, just isolating the quadriceps is like trying to get a tan with candles. It’s not gonna work.

Now, what bodybuilders have done, bodybuilders have really gravitated towards this quadriceps extension, and grown the size of quadriceps to be very disproportionate to the rest of the body. There’s a lot of tissue here in the quadriceps, therefore, there’s a lot of room for growth, and yes, you can have really distended quadriceps that are the same size as your waist or even bigger.

Believe it of not, there are people who’d do that. I guess they think it’s attractive, however, all sculptors from ancient Greece would disagree with that.

Healthy Quadriceps

So, I think healthy athletic quadriceps are great. If somebody really is focused on the size of quadriceps—you have to keep in mind, if there’s ever a muscle group that you may wanna do two sets with, as opposed to one that’s recommended for a quadriceps program—maybe even more than that if you wanna venture into unchartered territory—going to fatigue with the quadriceps extension, this is a vast amount of tissue with a huge range of motion.

So, it would be possible to use multiple sets to form yourself concepts and get as much growth as possible there. Not necessarily recommended by me, something I won’t be doing because I like the proportions of the athletic physique.

But, I hope that answers the question and make sure to leave them on Facebook so we can answer them there, and everybody can see the answers to those questions. Thanks.

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