If that is the only exercise you are doing, then this sort of quick and one time progress will stop at some point. You need new training routines to keep the momentum. Muscle building is related to your hormonal reactions. Weightlifting ( Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting ) can certainly do the job.
So you want huge legs. Get ready to lift some serious freaking weights. i warn you. Hard work is ahead. Are you ready for the journey? Are you sure?
You start slow, very slow with back squats and master this lift. That is a great starter program. Add “front squats” to hit your quadriceps harder. Master this one too. Give it time.
Then add (deadlift” varieties. To get thicker legs you need to get stronger. To get stronger you need to force the issue. Deadlifts, combined with squats will deliver the needed punch. Sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts ( hamstrings) , wide grip deadlifts, will help a lot.
Next, you add “Power Cleans” and Olympic lifts to add even more effects. Clean and jerk training will hit your entire body to include thickening of your legs. Squat snatch training is very effective.
Don't stop there. Mix all this with farmers walks, tire flipping, climbing to get even better results.
For the recent study, published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 10 male subjects performed squats and leg presses; in both instances, they did six sets of 10 reps at 80 percent of their one-rep maximum. After squatting, the guys had 200% more GH in their systems than when they did the leg press. Even one hour later, the squatter’s GH levels were still elevated 100% more, demonstrating a lasting effect that would translate to more muscle building over time.
Because the squat involves more overall muscle, including stabilizers that are not needed on a leg-press machine, it is a much more efficient exercise, putting your muscle fibers under loading that’s impossible to replicate with the press. Essentially, if you could only do one leg exercise and you really crave results, you'd better choose the squat.
That said, an even better solution is to use both in your leg routine, along with an array of ancillary exercises that bolster your gains from all angles, from the quadriceps to the hamstrings through the glutes. The following workout — which can be done once a week (or once every 4–5 days on a more aggressive bodybuilding split) — puts the squat and leg press into action as the one-two punch at the top of your workout.
