# FITNESS and NUTRITION FORUM > WORKOUT AND TRAINING >  Other ways to build quads

## bass

I was wondering what other ways you can build quads. been having lots of pain on my knees and barley do 45 degree squats, hack squats and leg press, I still put allot of weight just so I can feel something but I am afraid I hit bottom with this method. the funny thing is when I ride my bicycle (and I ride it hard) no pain on the knees but the next day my quads are sore as hell, great feeling knowing I hit those muscle good enough to get sore.

my question is can bicycling help build quads? not looking for Mr. O quads size here, just enough to match my upper body. in other words I don't want to have puny legs with large upper body. I've seen some pro cyclists and their legs are insane! also read some women complaining about legs getting too big from cycling! what is your take on this?

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## Audiofreak37

Lunges are always awesome.
Leg Extensions hit the quads directly.

I'd work on fixing your squat form though- you're missing out on the best exercise of all  :Smilie:  Unless you actually have an injury, your knees hurt because of 3 possible reasons.
A) You're weight is way too far forward, knees are way past your toes.
B) Your knees are pointing either inward, or straight forward, when you have to be pushing them out to the side and in line with your toes.
C) You're starting the movement by bending at the knees and not the hips.
Coupled with the fact that you're not breaking parallel and you're going to put considerable strain on the knee. I've had to reconfigure my squat from the ground up numerous times...it's probably what you're going to have to do. I'd highly recommend getting yourself some of knee sleeves (not wraps). The original Rehband blue sleeves are awesome, and quite possibly the best $60 or so I've spent in the gym.

As far as cycling goes... If you look at different cyclists, their leg size can vary greatly. Armstrong had skinny legs because of the long distance, but a track racer's legs can be huge. Think Robert Förstemann. 

Massive quads. I'm sure if you adopted a HIIT training type routine, and worked with in very high gear you could get some solid results.

Hope this helps

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## bass

unfortunately its a left knee injury, no way around it. I've seen that pic and the guys has massive quads, he even got a nickname Quadzilla! you can see that he does not work his upper body, maybe minimal, he is all legs! yes of course I am thinking of intense training once a week and still do extension and curls which I seem to do okay with them. thanks for the input!

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## Audiofreak37

> unfortunately its a left knee injury, no way around it. I've seen that pic and the guys has massive quads, he even got a nickname Quadzilla! you can see that he does not work his upper body, maybe minimal, he is all legs! yes of course I am thinking of intense training once a week and still do extension and curls which I seem to do okay with them. thanks for the input!


Injury sucks  :Frown:  Gotta make do with what ya got, right?

You're welcome, mate. Have you ever watched the track racers? A track bike is always a single speed and they start in a gear much higher than the max gear on your 10 speed. Although it takes them a little time to get up to top speed, they are hammering away to get there are fast as possible. The more I think about it I'm going to try incorporating this... lol

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## bass

well I got my self a recumbent trike, kind of like a BMW bike, top of the line and cost me almost $6k! easy on the crotch and back, mostly got it for cardio purposes, can't walk for too long and just got sick of stationary bike facing a wall. so got me this toy...

HP Velotechnik - Products - Scorpion fs 26, the full suspension speed-trike

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## Audiofreak37

That looks pretty bad ass! They are illegal in the tour de france etc because they are faster than a regular bike, or so I hear.

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