This killer quad developing exercise is for my fellow physique artists who have what it takes to dig deep and give every workout absolutely everything that they’ve got. This is not for the faint of heart.
This exercise is to be performed toward or at the end of a leg workout. It’s a finisher. By the time that you get to it, your legs should already be pretty close to toast.
The exercise is… 3/4 Hack Squats, where you go down deep and only come up 3/4’s of the way. This will keep constant tension on your quads. Here’s the video demo…
You will want to place your feet close together, approximately 6 inches apart. They should also be placed lower on the platform than you would typically do for a regular hack squat. Keep your knees in-line with your toes… do not allow them to flare out. The goal is to totally focus on your quads. You are going to set them on FIRE!!! I have found that when you push more with your toes you will feel a greater emphasis on your quads.
Start off by doing 2 sets of 15-20 reps. Take 60-90 seconds rest between the two sets. At this point your quads should be absolutely screaming! Now the fun begins…
You will want to reduce the weight a bit for this last set. You need to give everything that you’ve got to this set. You should hit muscle failure between 15-20 reps… but you’re not done yet…
…rack the weight and rest for no more than 10 seconds. Take a few deep breaths, then crank out as many reps as you can. But you still aren’t done…
…rack the weight, rest for no more than 10 seconds while taking deep breaths… then crank out everything that you’ve got left in you.
This last set is actually 3 sets in 1 as you can see. Aim for 30-35 total reps. In the video you saw that I hit 18-9-8 reps for a total of 35 reps, which means that I’m going to add some weight for the next workout.
If you’re really pushing yourself you’ll probably begin to feel the burn during the 9th rep of that 1st set and you’ll continue to work through that burn. Remember, your quads should be on FIRE! The 2nd and 3rd set the burn will kick in almost immediately.
NOTE: You really should have a spotter for this exercise. My spotter was holding the camera and as you can see on the 2nd and 3rd set I almost got stuck on my last rep. And as I’ve mentioned, you really want to work through the burn and give this exercise absolutely everything that you’ve got!
I first came across this concept several years ago from my buddy Tom Venuto, author of The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program and Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. And, just recently when he abused me in the gym, he applied this 3/4 rep with the pause strategy to the end of our Front Squat routine. That was killer!
After revisiting the 3/4 rep strategy using the Front Squats with Tom last month, I decided to incorporate it into my most recent Metabolic Masterpiece Body Sculpting Program using the Hack Squat. It’s punishing to say the least 😉 That was not a dramatization at the end of the video. I was fried and had to stay down for a minute or two. My legs felt like buckling when I stood up. That’s a sure sign that I gave this everything that I had.
If you are brave enough to give this a try, I would love to hear about your experience with it. Be sure to share it with us in the comment box below.
Before I go… my apologies for a bit of cursing and for the background music. I had no idea of what kind of music they were playing at the time 🙂 I was way too focused.
Enjoy the burn!!!
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
Scott Tousignant, BHK, is a Certified Fitness Consultant with a passion for transforming fitness enthusiasts into physique artists. His most recent program, Metabolic Masterpiece guides you through the process of sculpting your body into a work of art, by applying what Scott has coined, “The A.T.T.R.A.C.T. Formula. His detailed approach and variety of workouts makes fitness challenging, fun and effective!
