Want Bigger Quads? Pull out your Weightlifting Shoes.

 Want bigger quads? Try wearing your lifters! I recently did the 92 of the thrusters for the Mayhem on the Mountain's Butterfly Effect WOD in lifters and found myself very sore the next day.
 
The raised heel of a weightlifting shoe allows you to go deeper into your squat and requires you to bend your knee more to get down to parallel. More joint motion means more tissue stretch around the joint. Your quads then have to contract farther and harder to get you back up. This increased quad work can show up as bigger gains at the weight bar and in your quads. The Journal of Sport Science and the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that lifters who were able to exploit this phenomena for more upright torsos, increased quad activation, and heavier lifts.
Who doesn’t want heavier lifts?
 
 If you do not know what the hype about weightlifting shoes is:
Running shoes are not optimal for squatting in the gym. They compress to allow for shock absorption and lack the firm foundation needed to stabilize you with heavy loads. Weight lifting shoes can help you feel more balanced and stable with heavy lifts. They provide a solid foundation for a good return on the forces you create. But, they may also give you another benefit – a quad pump.