Not all parts of your thigh and calf muscles grow the same way — some parts grow better with certain exercises, so doing different types of lifts can help you build muscle more evenly.

The type of leg exercise you do — whether it’s a leg press, leg extension, or calf raise — can change which part of your leg muscles grow bigger, and you can see the difference in just 8 weeks.

If you're a young adult who hasn't trained much before, doing squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds) for 7 weeks will make your front thigh muscle grow more than doing it quickly (1 second).

If you're new to lifting and do squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds instead of 1), your front thigh muscle gets bigger faster after 7 weeks.

If you want to grow the outer part of your thigh (vastus lateralis), leg presses might be more effective than leg extensions.

If you want to grow the front part of your thigh muscle (rectus femoris), doing leg extensions might work better than doing leg presses.