Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Friends don’t let friends skip leg day, or so the popular meme says. And yet, many people neglect their leg workouts and, instead, focus on muscles that are less taxing to train, like the pecs and biceps.

Leg training IS hard – or it is if it’s effective. The legs make up, on average, 40% of your total body mass, and training them requires lots of energy. They also demand loads of oxygen, which is why training your legs can leave your heart pounding and lungs heaving.

But, the good news is that your hard work WILL pay off, and very few body parts are as impressive as well-developed legs. Those of us who are in the know appreciate how much effort goes into building a good pair of wheels!

However, there is more to building great legs than pure muscle mass. You want shape and good proportions too. For some, that may mean placing some extra emphasis on one part of the legs to improve aesthetics.

In this article, we reveal the 11 best strengthening and stretching exercises for the vastus lateralis muscle, which is one of the quadriceps.

Great-looking legs start with well-developed quads. Sure, the hamstrings and glutes are important, and so too are the calves, but it’s those beefy quads that really stand out. The quadriceps are so called because they’re made up of four muscles. Each has a unique origin point and then comes together at a shared insertion point just above your patella or knee cap.

Rectus femoris – the rectus femoris is the longest of the quadriceps muscles. It’s also biaxial, meaning it crosses two joints. As such, the rectus femoris has two primary functions: knee extension and hip flexion.  

Vastus medialis – where rectus femoris is the longest quadriceps muscle, vastus medialis is the shortest. This muscle is just above your knee and shaped like a teardrop. It’s responsible for straightening the knee and is most active in the last few degrees of extension. The vastus medialis plays a role in knee stability and helps prevent unwanted lateral movements.

Vastus intermedius – located between vastus medialis and vastus lateralis, this long muscle really stands out at the front of your thighs. It’s a very powerful knee extensor and makes up a lot of the bulk of your anterior thighs.

Vastus lateralis – the vastus lateralis is the largest, strongest muscle in the quadriceps group. It’s located on the side of your thigh and gives your quads their width. Well-developed vastus lateralis gives your thighs a pleasing shape, which is often called the quad sweep.

As well as being a knee extensor, the vastus lateralis also plays a vital role in knee joint stability, especially during walking, running, and other unilateral or single-legged exercises.

It’s important to understand that the quadriceps always work together, and it is impossible to isolate any of the four muscles. That said, it IS possible to emphasize each one by using specific movements. However, all four quads will be involved in whatever exercises you do for your anterior thighs.

Whether you want to build more muscular thighs, run faster, jump higher, or improve knee mobility and stability, these are the best strengthening and stretching exercises to do it!

Despite the discouraging name, sissy squats are anything but easy. In fact, even if you just use your body weight, this exercise will hammer your quads, especially that all-important vastus lateralis.

Do this exercise at the start of your leg workouts to pre-fatigue your quads or at the end to finish them off. Think of it as an all-natural leg extension movement.

While most lifters tend to favor back squats, front squats are more quads dominant and also tend to stress the vastus lateralis more. Front squats require better mobility in the upper and lower body, but that’s part of what makes them such an effective exercise. So, make the switch from back squats to front squats, and your quads will explode!

Read also: Front squat hypertrophy guide

If balance is an issue during front squats, you can make things easier by doing narrow stance leg presses. Using a close, i.e., hip width or less, stance increases vastus lateralis engagement. As an added benefit, you can train to failure without worrying about getting crushed under a heavy weight. That’s something you can do with front squats.

Read more about leg presses here.

Narrow stance goblet squats are a useful alternative to front squats. Holding a single weight in front of your chest makes balancing much easier and requires far less upper body mobility than using a barbell.

The hack squat machine provides a very targeted workout for your quads. With plenty of back support, you are free to focus on pushing your quads to their limit in relative safety. Using a narrow stance increases vastus lateralis activation. However, all four quads will be working hard during this exercise.

Lunges are an excellent exercise for your entire lower body. However, because most of your weight is on your front leg, you’ll have to work extra hard to stop your knees from falling inward or outward, which increases vastus lateralis engagement.

You can do lunges with an external load or just your body weight for resistance. Forward, backward, and walking lunges are all great vastus lateralis exercises. You can also make them more challenging by raising your front foot which increases the range of motion. These are called deficit lunges.

Read all about lunges in our detailed guide.

Bulgarian split squats are an advanced variation of lunges. Like lunges, you’ll need to use your vastus lateralis to stabilize your front knee. Bulgarian split squats make balancing a little harder and also put more weight on your front leg, making them even more effective for vastus lateralis development. Do them with or without weight as required.

Tight quads can affect your knees and are more prone to injury than flexible quads. Maintain or improve your quadriceps flexibility with these stretches, all of which involve your vastus lateralis.

This is arguably the most relaxing way to stretch your quads. As an added advantage, lying on your front ensures that you keep your thighs together and cannot over-extend your hips. As such, this is a very joint-friendly way to stretch those hard-worked quads, especially the three vastus muscles.

This exercise is ideal for those times when you don’t want to spend a long time stretching. It’s performed standing, so you can do it almost anywhere and anytime. As such, this exercise is perfect for warm-ups, cool-downs, and doing between sets of strength training.

The kneeling quads stretch puts your hip into extension, which lengthens the rectus femoris muscle. Like all the hip flexors, the rectus femoris is often tight, which may make this exercise harder than the other quads stretches in this article. Still, if you find this stretch difficult, that’s a good sign you need to do it more often!

Your muscles are surrounded by a thin layer of fibrous tissue called fascia. Fascia separates and connects each muscle from its neighbor. This fascia can become “gummed up,” leading to tight, painful muscles. This can cause trigger points, poor blood flow, and reduced function.

Foam rolling is a form of self-massage called self-myofascial release that can help free up your fascia and restore normal movement and function. Foam rolling your quads will enhance knee and hip joint mobility and performance.

Note: Foam rolling can be painful. But, as the adhesions start to dissolve, subsequent foam rolling sessions should be less uncomfortable. Increase the pressure gradually to avoid unnecessary pain.

Training the quads is almost always hard and usually painful. They’re big muscles that demand a lot of energy, and virtually any quad exercise you do will leave you feeling out of breath and your muscles burning.

However, leg training is also very satisfying, and you’ll leave the gym knowing you’ve just done something that a lot of lifters are not prepared to do. That’s why some people are reticent about wearing shorts – they’re embarrassed of their skinny legs!

So, no more skipping leg day. Use these exercises to strengthen and stretch that all-important vastus lateralis muscle for a more impressive quad sweep.

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

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