Workouts to Build Muscle- Exercise Routines for Mass Gain

Vastus medialis training entails emphasizing stimulation of the quadricep’s tear drop muscle. The tear drop is another name for the vastus medialis, due to the muscle’s tear drop resemblance. When aspiring to attain optimum muscular symmetry for bodybuilding, emphasizing vastus medialis training into your quadriceps routine may be the missing link if you seem to be lagging in this area. It’s impossible to completely isolate the tear drop. Vastus medialis training will put special emphasis on the medial fibers of the quadriceps. It’s extremely important for bodybuilders to be as symmetrical as they can be. With this being said, a tear drop emphasized vastus medialis program can be the missing link to increase overall quadriceps symmetry.

Anatomy of the Quadriceps

The quadriceps consists of 4 muscles. The vastus lateralis (outer most), vastus intermedialis (superficial middle), rectus femoris (deep middle), and the vastus medialis (inner most). Knowing the anatomy of the quadriceps will allow you to better attack specific areas to attain optimal symmetry of the quads. Though it is not possible to completely each of these muscles, as they all work in conjunction with one another, it is possible to put extra stress on a specific area of fibers. This can be done by different variations of foot placement. This knowledge will greatly help you with your vastus medialis training!

The Importance of foot placement

Foot placement is extremely important for vastus medialis training. To put extra stress on this muscle, you must be conscious of your foot placement. For example, when performing a squat, keeping your feet close together with your toes pointed forward will result in extra stress on the vastus lateralis muscles (outer quad). This can be important if you are wanting to add more sweep and width to your quads. The vastus intermedialis and rectus femoris get ample stimulation on virtually all quad exercises. And as for the vastus medialis, taking a wider than shoulder width stance while pointing the toes outward will result in more inner quad fiber stimulation. Thus, an increase in overall vastus medialis fiber activation.

Vastus medialis training uses this technique to help level out the quadriceps if you happen to be lagging in this area. This technique can be done on a leg press machine, smith machine, hack squat machine, and with virtually any other  or machine. Below I will provide you with a few examples of some upper leg routines emphasizing vastus medialis training.

Vastus Medialis Workouts

Workout #1 of vastus medialis training

Leg extension machine 3 sets 14-16 reps Hack squat (toes pointed out) 4 sets 10-12 reps Leg press (toes pointed out) 3-4 sets 10-12 reps

Workout #2 of vastus medialis training

10 minute treadmill warm up Front squats (toes pointed out) 3-4 sets 10-12 reps Dumbbell Lunges 3-4 sets 16-18 steps Smith machine squats (toes pointed out) 3-4 sets 10-12 reps Adductor machine Superset w/ Abductor machine 3 sets 8-10 reps

Workout #3 of vastus medialis training

Light squats (warm up) 2 sets 15-20 reps Sumo deadlifts 3-4 sets 8-10 reps Free weight squats (toes pointed out) 4 sets 10-12 reps Leg press (toes pointed out)  Drop Set 4 sets 8-10 reps Drop a plate from each side for each drop set

As you can see, foot placement is vital for optimal vastus medialis training. As the toes point more toward the mid-line, the vastus lateralis muscle fibers are being emphasized more. If the toes point outward, the vastus medialis muscle fibers are more active, thus producing greater results in this area. The 3 workouts I created above emphasize vastus medialis training, along with the tear drop’s other neighboring muscles. These exercises should be more than enough to help you to produce amazing results. In conclusion, if you are interested in increasing the size of you tear drop’s to level off your quadriceps proportions, then emphasizing vastus medialis training can be just what you need to achieve increased symmetry.