Conan's Wheel

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the biceps add force at the elbow; the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position.

The forearms, lower back, shoulders and traps take a share of the work as well.

Every exercise for:QuadricepsAbdominalsBicepsCalvesForearms

How this movement works

Several joints move together, so effort spreads across a chain rather than concentrating in one place. Coordination is part of the difficulty: the movement is only as good as its weakest link, and improving it often means fixing a position somewhere other than the muscle you meant to train.

It is filed under strongman, where the load is deliberately awkward rather than balanced. Most of the difficulty goes on holding on and staying braced.

What you need

These train the quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• Double Leg Butt Kickbody only
• Dumbbell Lungesdumbbell
• Elevated Back Lungebarbell
• Elliptical Trainermachine
• Front Squats With Two Kettlebellskettlebell

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 173 quadriceps exercises in this database, 62 are listed at intermediate level.