Has anyone tried building their quads using leg extensions without doing squats or leg presses etc or atleast the majority of the volume being leg extensions ? I personally love squats but when it comes to hypertrophy, I don't rate them all that much.

When it comes to extensions, a lot of people hate the pain they cause but honestly, I have yet to experience this. Maybe they go too heavy and sacrifice tension on the muscle and instead have tension on the joint instead..

When it comes to leg extensions, I get the best pumps, can go to failure, can do single leg, can do slow eccentric etc and not to mention, can train them alot more frequently

With squats, either my lungs gas out or my lower back gives up before my quads ever do.

I still squat, but I want to get back into bodybuilding after my strongman comp and I have limited equipment in my home gym.

I'm no expert but to work the quads, all you have to do is extend the knee...

An example I was thinking:

4 sets of 8 on SSB squat with a rep or two in the tank
6 sets of 12 to 15 on leg extensions with 1 rep left in the tank or even failure on the last two sets

Thoughts ?

lol at biggest guy on misc asking misc for advice on lifting

I am 100% on board with you saying back squats are a pretty poor choice for some in terms of quad development depending on structure. But you can't look to a leg extension as a replacement. You're getting a ton of pumpy feel because it's training a near fully shortened quad, which is good to do a some point in workout, but force production is the lowest in that ROM. You're not getting anywhere near the same mechanical tension which is pretty well established to be the main driver of hypertrophy

For the SSB, try some heel elevation (plates under heels, wedges) to allow you to stay a bit more upright to maximize knee flexion while limiting hip flexion.

Other things to look at are a good hack squat or pendulum if your gym has one. An actual hack, not the ****ty hammer strength one with a dumb angled half lumbar pad. These machines allow a ton more output without the issue of losing bracing/ stability. Banded hack squats have grown my quads more than anything but heel elevated SSB is a close second. The hammer strength V squat machine is a good option done facing the machine. Don't let someone tell you front squats are a good option, they're even more limiting than back squats: quads will never be the failure point

If you see me back squatting, it's because i'm in the mood to have fun and move some weight on back squats

Quads for validity of info
https://i.imgur.com/uRk2osA.jpg

Edit: fuk, glad I typed all that and missed the "limited equipment at home" part. Fml. Still, try heel elevated SSB

Leg press and squats are the best things for quad growth. I’m stuck with my home gym atm and can’t do any real squats other than dumbells squats and I feel like my quads are getting smaller just doing those and leg extensions.

Lol this I'm what I call a recreational bodybuilder (Haven't competed yet) but to answer OPs question I don't think squats are necessary to build the legs.

Thanks for the replies guys. Really appreciate it. Keep'em coming