Thread: Quads growing but want more vastus lateralis - which exercises?

I don't think you can directly target an area like that... wide stance squats/leg presses might recruit more of that portion of the legs, but people grow in different places quicker.
I'd say your best bet would to be just keep lifting hard, and focus on vascularity when you cut.

Originally Posted by slip

Hey guys, on a bulk currently. Vastus medialis (teardrop) and rectus femoris are coming up but vastus lateralis (the outer part of the quad) is pretty flat, want to induce more width and roundness. Any ideas on exercise selection? Currently squatting deep with a bit of leg press about to start a push/pull split.

For me I have been doing atg squats with a narrow stance and leg extentions with toes pointed a little in and trying to hold for a sec before lowering has helped a lot in that area. I do leg press also with toes pointed in just a bit.

Work on the compounds and on building mass on your entire leg.

thanks billie.

witchblade - how very helpfull....thats what im already doing. you dont think a change in stance, and different exercise, variation of foot angles etc could load up the lateralis more?....... read my post, the others are growing, the lateralis seems to be lagging, asked for help with this, not "do compound" - i specified I squat and leg press in my post - they are compound. Brilliant work.

Originally Posted by slip

thanks billie.

witchblade - how very helpfull....thats what im already doing. you dont think a change in stance, and different exercise, variation of foot angles etc could load up the lateralis more?....... read my post, the others are growing, the lateralis seems to be lagging, asked for help with this, not "do compound" - i specified I squat and leg press in my post - they are compound. Brilliant work.

No need to be a jackass is there?

Personally i agree with him. Any change in stance or exercise may make a difference to the stress on your leg, but any difference from those things would be pretty slight.

Your best bet IS to keep working out hard on the big compound movements for the entire range of leg muscles. Hams + glutes too.

Do you do any uni-lateral work?

Front squats

gaz - no unilateral work, but lunges start next week. as for being a jackass - I don't see 'do compound' as a productive or helpful post. If any change is going to cause a slight increase in stress on lateralis, and that results in a slight increase in size - then perfect! That's what im after. Im a PT, I know to do compound, I said I do compound. But thats just how I see it.

I know there are bodybuilders on here, and a lot in this world is opinion and anecdotal. If someone thinks they got more lateralis from a certain exercise/change, then I'd love to know.

fUnc17 - any particular foot positioning/angle/stance width?

Anecdotally, BB'ers say that doing things in a close stance will illicit a greater activation of the lateralis (the sweep). I don't know that that has ever been proven. The quadriceps are innervated by the same nerves, so I don't believe you can fire one more than the other.

If you haven't been using single leg exercises, I would start with that. The increased stability of the single leg exercises may help you increase some more activation.

Slip - I think foot position would have a negligable effect. There are other, much more influential variables to be concerned about. Do the front squats however you feel comfortable squatting