Quad focused workout routine non really satisfied about my progress. What could I change about it?

Question

I was wandering if someone could help me figure out if I'm training legs the right way because lately I'm not seeing much progress on this department.

I train 4 times per week, I have a quad focused day and a hamstring/glutes focus day.

On quad day I'm doing:

1. 4 sets by 10 reps of bulgarian squats
2. 4 sets by 10 - 12 reps of leg extension
3. 4 sets by 12 - 16 reps of leg press

Regarding point 3: I used to do 4 sets by 10 - 12 of single leg leg press, but my knee started hurting on this, so I changed it.

I try to go to failure or close to on every exercise but I can't really do it on bulgarian squats because I always run out of breath.

At the end of the workout I feel exhausted, but the day after my legs don't really hurt like they used to.

For the last 2 - 3 months my legs haven't been growing much if not at all.

Is it not enough? Should I add an exercise? Or am I just not eating enough and the workout is fine?

I've always been "skinny muscular" and I'm really insecure about my legs.

Thank you so much in advance for the responses!

Answer 1

“2-3 months” is basically no time at all.

In 8-12 week hypertrophy studies, outcomes are measured with MRI and ultrasound. I’m not surprised you haven’t seen any progress, a hyper responder to resistance training taking anabolics likely wouldn’t be able to see growth after only 2-3 months. It took me about 18 months before I looked at my quads and was able to observe appreciable changes in size.

Answer 2

make sure you're getting enough fuel through your diet and consider mixing up your exercises a bit. Sometimes our muscles need some variety to keep growing. Don't forget to give yourself proper rest too

Answer 3

There may be better exercises for growing quads but that's likely not the issue.

The most likely problem is not enough recovery time or insufficient diet:

• Recovery time between traing sessions of the same muscle group should be at least 72 hours but my routine is a 4 day cycle and so gives me 96 hours between muscle groups, which is plenty

• Secondly, for gaining muscle you need plenty of protein and overall calories. There's a broad range of opinions on how much protein you need ranging from 1.6 to 2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight. Personally I go for the higher end about 2g but it all depends on how hard and how often you train. Then there's overall calorie intake, if like you said you fairly skinny and you want to gain wait you should be in a calorie surplus.