How To Get A Bigger Thighs - PHD Training

Build a bigger set of wheels with our definitive guide to training legs. Friends don’t let friends skip leg day, right? And nor will we. If your goal is turning your skinny legs into a powerful set of sweeping quads, keep reading to learn how to get bigger thighs.

What are the major muscles of the legs?

The legs are a major body part with dozens of big and small muscles, but the ones you need to know about for bigger thighs are the hamstrings, quadriceps, and adductors. The hamstrings make up the back of your upper legs and work to bend the leg at the knee, and quads muscles are at the front and function to straighten the leg out.

How do the quadriceps and hamstrings build bigger thighs?

The main muscles in the quadriceps are the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. And the main muscles of the hamstrings are the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus. When you train these big muscles correctly, you’ll build more muscle mass and fill out your legs so they get bigger and take on shape. This is what will give your lower body that unmistakable strong, powerful look of someone who trains legs.

How to build bigger thighs

You need to train your legs properly if you want to build bigger thighs. This means doing the best leg day exercises regularly so you stimulate muscle growth and develop shapely legs. The leg muscles are major muscle groups and can take a lot of work, so be sure to train your legs hard and heavy. But it’s not all about training. You also need to pay attention to your diet, recovery, and supplements to build bigger thighs.

Don’t skip leg day

The first rule of building bigger legs is to never skip leg day! After all, you can’t expect to build muscles in your quads and hamstrings without training them. Remember that your lower body comprises half of your body shape, so make sure you train your legs frequently enough. Once every 10 days or so just won’t cut it.

 Leg day exercises

What exercises should you do to build bigger thighs? Remember that the leg muscles include the quads (the front of the leg) and the hamstrings (the back of the thigh). The easiest way to choose exercises is to remember what those muscles do: the quadriceps extend and straighten the leg at the knee, and the hamstrings bend the knee. This is why it’s so important to remember leg day training cues like making sure your thighs are parallel and returning to the starting position whilst squeezing the muscles.

Most of your leg day exercises should be compound, multi-joint movements that allow you to build lots of muscle by lifting heavy. You should also include some smaller, lighter exercises that target some of the smaller thigh muscles.

Best exercises for quadriceps

Barbell back squat – any squat will work the front of the thighs, but traditional barbell back squats allow you to add weight to the bar

Barbell front squat – front squats place even more emphasis on the front of the thigh to really build shape and volume in the thigh muscles

Bulgarian split squat – this single-leg squat variation (with the back foot elevated on a bench) focuses the work on the front thigh

Leg press – leg press exercises should be a key part of your leg day workouts, experiment with a narrow and wide stance

Hack squat – if your gym has a hack squat machine, use it to build serious muscle in your quadriceps

Leg extension – the leg extension machine is a great way to bring tempo work and single leg work into your leg day workouts

Best exercises for hamstrings

Deadlifts – traditional deadlifts are a fantastic compound exercise that will work your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings

Romanian deadlifts – barbell or dumbbell RDLs are a hip hinge exercise that allows you to feel the work specifically through your hamstrings

Good mornings – another great hip hinge exercise that works your hamstrings from a slightly different angle to build muscle

Standing or lying hamstring curls – there are lots of different hamstring curl machines, use whatever your gym has to do tempo work, partial reps, and single-leg work

Wide stance Smith machine squat – adopting a wide stance for Smith machine squats allows you to get right into your hamstrings

Best isolation exercises for thicker thighs

Sissy squat – keep it light and use sissy squats as a finisher on leg day

Walking lunges – any lunge variation will build the thigh muscles but walking lunges are a great finisher (weighted or bodyweight)

Single-leg ball or slider curl – any exercise that curls one foot in towards your butt is a great hamstring isolation exercise

Kettlebell swings – don’t forget more dynamic exercises like kettlebell swings which are very effective for working your hamstrings

Nutrition tips for leg gains

If you want to get bigger legs, you need to get serious about your nutrition plan. You’re going to train hard and heavy, so your body will need plenty of energy and the right balance of macronutrients. Eating for muscle gain is different to dieting for weight loss.

Make sure you’re eating enough. This means figuring out your maintenance calories and eating in a slight surplus so your body has the energy to grow new muscle. Not sure what a calorie surplus would be for you? Use an online calculator like https://tdeecalculator.net/ to see how many calories you need for gaining weight.

Get a good balance of macronutrients. Your body will need plenty of protein to build new muscle tissue, so aim for at least 2g/per 1kg body weight. But it’s not all about protein. Make sure you are also getting plenty of healthy carbohydrates, the macronutrient that will power up your body with energy to train hard. And don’t skimp on dietary fats, these are essential for health and recovery.

Don’t stress about meal frequency, just make sure you’re eating regularly so you don’t get too hungry. 3-5 meals a day is about right for training and recovery. Make sure you’re eating protein with every meal or snack, and use the 80/20 approach to eat healthy with a few treats.

Best supplements for muscle growth

Are you taking creatine? It’s the simplest and best-researched natural supplement for building muscle. PhD Creatine is pure, micronized grade so its easy to take and absorbs into your body quickly. Creatine can help improve strength, increase muscle mass, and even help you recover more quickly during training. It’s a no-brainer for strength training.

It’s also a good idea to take a daily micronutrient supplement like PhD Prime Men or Prime Women. A quality multivitamin supplement like this covers all the bases and ensures your body has every nutrient it needs to recover, repair, and build lean muscle.

And be sure to stock up on at least one protein powder when you’re in a muscle gain phase. A quality protein powder makes easy (and tasty!) work of meeting your daily protein target and means you don’t always have to cook chicken or open a tin of tuna. Try PhD 100% Whey or 100% Plant for a convenient, delicious way to hit your protein numbers any time of the day.

How many times a week should you train thighs?

Leg day is a bit of a misnomer because you definitely need more than one leg-training day every week. Research tells us that total training volume is key for muscle gain, and muscles grow best when we work them every 72 hours. (1)

So if total training volume is important, why not just do one absolutely killer leg day every week? The reason most people train legs twice a week is because there are just too many exercises to fit into one workout. One huge leg workout would take a long time to complete, and even longer to recover from. When you remember that the leg muscles include all those muscles at the front of the thigh (the quads) and the huge muscles of the back of the thigh (the hamstrings), you can see why it’s best to split leg training into two sessions.

This might look like two separate leg workouts per week, one focusing on squat exercises and quads, and one for hip hinge exercises and hamstrings. Or you could do one main leg session per week, and then add some hamstring exercises onto your back workout.

It all depends on how often you train and what workout split you prefer. But if you want to build bigger thighs, you’ve got to train legs heavy, hard, and often!

1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30558493/

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Written by Nicola Joyce

Nicola is a specialist freelance copywriter for the fitness industry @thefitwriter