Quad isolation exercise options at home

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hey, Dr Jordan!

My next program calls for some isolation quad work, and I would like to ask your advice on doing it at home. I have a couple of pulleys that I can strap to my squat rack to get a high or low pulley point, but nothing in between. So far I have thought of these options:

  1. Cable from high pulley attached to ankle cuffs (standing) - I have tried them in the past, but if I’m to use a challenging weight (<=30 reps), I find it’s more difficult to hold position than to actually work the quads.

  2. Cable from low pulley attached to ankle cuffs (seated) - Bench not high enough, so feet drag on the ground, and the cable grazes against parts of the bench.

  3. Nordic leg extension - Seems trainable if I start with some assistance at first, though it doesn’t seem like a version of the typical leg extension.

So yeah, would like to know what you have to say. I’m looking at the Hypertrophy I program BTW.

2

I would probably favor doing unilateral variants such as split squat, step ups, reverse lunge, lunges, and more orcannonball/Platz squats, sissy squats, or similar over cable-based quadriceps exercises. I think those are likely to work better for your application.

Leg extensions are okay, but not a deal breaker if you can’t do them! A dumbbell attachment may be useful (e.g. monkey feet).

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