Fitness coach Jeff Cavaliere believes you can build developed quads with only two exercises. On Sept. 21, 2025, he walked through the pair of movements he credits for helping anyone achieve bigger legs with an impressive quad sweep.
“When it comes to developing the quads, it’s not just the exercise, but most importantly, how you position your body during the exercise.”
Cavaliere employs science-based principles to bring his workout demonstrations to life. With over 14.1 million YouTube subscribers, he’s one of the most trusted and reputable fitness resources online. He practices what he preaches; Cavaliere’s sported a shredded physique for three decades. Between diet, supplementation, and training, he’s committed to providing game-changing advice to help fitness enthusiasts.
Jeff Cavaliere’s Essential Pair of Quad Exercises
Find his breakdown from the video below:
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
- Front Squat
- Bulgarian Split Squat
“What would you say if I told you there were only 2 quad exercises you need to do in order to get bigger legs with a full quad sweep?”
Front Squat
Cavaliere highlights that maintaining balance is crucial for an effective front squat. He recommends a slight forward lean of the torso so that the bar is hovering over the center of your foot.
“So if you take a traditional squat, in this low bar position, you can see that the bar is behind your midfoot.”
If you want to maintain your balance and support during the exercise, you’re going to have to lean your torso forward in order to put that bar directly over the center of your foot.”
While he said cross-arm grip variations work for some, he stressed that they can put undue stress on the shoulders
“What you want to do is position your torso upright; the position makes a huge difference,” said Cavaliere. “You can do the cross-arm grip like this, and a lot of people will prefer this.
But I’ll tell you, if you have any shoulder discomfort, raising your arms up into this externally rotated position could cause some of that discomfort to come back on an exercise you don’t need it on.”
Bulgarian Split Squat
Again, body positioning plays a huge role in muscle activation, explained Cavaliere. For boosting quad stimulus, he said the torso needs to be extremely upright.
“The position of your body determines what’s doing the work. So if you wanted to hammer those quads just like in the front squat, that torso has to be extremely upright. The knee, when the torso goes upright, goes forward. That forward displacement of the knee is going to make those quads work even harder.”
Throughout Bulgarian split squats, Cavaliere pointed out that a high chest keeps the tension on the quads; otherwise, the posterior chain is heavily recruited.
“Your only focus should be on keeping your chest as high as possible. Up and down, the chest stays out. Even as you start to fatigue, the dumbbell weight might want to cause you to round out.
Every little bit that you round forward is going to take away the work from the quads and shift it to the posterior chain to the point where if I was already leaned this way, what has it done? It’s taken away so much of the knee flexion angle.”
To make the exercise even more challenging, he said to extend your time in the bottom position of the movement.
“If you want to make this even harder, you can prolong your time in the bottom position. We call this the one-and-a-half Bulgarian split squat.”
Cavaliere’s only-two-exercise series has been a hit for the bodybuilding community. He recently shared that the reverse corkscrew and upper circle crunch provide the perfect setup to achieve a chiseled midsection. For intermediate and advanced lifters, he offered options to increase intensity.
With proper body positioning and intent, Cavaliere believes anyone can grow bigger quads and sweeps with these two exercises. For optimal results, he said to keep an upright torso throughout both movements.
RELATED: Jeff Cavaliere Shares His 6 Most Overlooked Exercises for a ‘Higher Quality of Life’
Watch the full video from the ATHLEAN-X YouTube channel below:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
