Building Quads At Home [w/Sissy Squats]

This is a "for everyone" post, but mainly for people without access to gyms, leg extensions or blocks and a rack.

A sissy squat stand is a little known piece of equipment that allows a person with good control of their muscle tension to isolate their quads effectively.

The sissy squat does this by bio-mechanically overloading the prime movers of the knees (extension). The ankles are pressed into the front roller and the tibia sits back into the cushion. The angle of the tibia is really important here. As seen below, it needs to be leaning back so the load of your body acts continuously on the quads. Next is your body position, specifically the position of your spine. Just like the tibia, it needs to be perpendicular to the ground or leaning back to create the extra load. You may find this hard at first so gradually lean back over a couple of sessions.

Here follows two contraction mods to help speed up progress:

Eccentric loading: Here we can use a suspension trainer to slow the lengthening movement down. This is really good for burning out 20-50 reps at the end of a leg session. Keep your hands light, don't overpower the movement with your arms.

Concentric loading: Here we use a bench. This lets us concentrate on the upward movement. Try to make the standing up take at least 3 seconds. Slow and steady for maximum tension.

Equipment is expensive right now, so don't spend more than £100 on one of these sissy squat stations unless it's from a premium gym equipment manufacturer. If there is nothing that works for you price wise out there in internet land, then there are DIY options. I've linked two YouTube videos below as an example. Essentially all you need is a strong cable, or rope and attachment, attached to a soft bar, tube or pipe and then something to attach it to, like a wall hook. Couple that with something to stop your feet moving. Normally the grip of your shoes on a grippy surface will be enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-i4E2zguEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ryq61KYxgg&t=142s

Like always SFitnessPlans is here to help. 50% off online training right now.

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