When aspiring bodybuilders think of ways to build bigger quads, they often skip straight to obvious exercises like the leg press or squat variations but a recent Instagram post by IFBB Pro and 2025 EVLS Prague Pro winner Martin Fitzwater has shed light on his approach to making massive quad gains.
“Wanna know a secret?” teased the man they call “The Martian,” in a post for his 328K IG followers. “Adductors aren’t just for girls, if you want big legs, you’re gonna have to swallow the ego and the not so fun exercise.”
Giving your adductors some love is important. These are the muscles on the inner thigh that help bring your legs together. For clarity, adduction is the leg-closing movement, while abduction is the opposing motion. One of the easiest ways to perform this exercise is to use the seated adductor machine, where you’ll squeeze your thighs and bring two opposing pads together, then slowly return them to the open position, before repeating.
How Adductor Training Improves Muscular Leg Growth
Martin Fitzwater is on a tremendous run as of late. He came fifth in the 2025 Mr. Olympia final and has won the EVLS Prague Pro back-to-back. To impress the judges, The Martian has concentrated on both muscle fullness and symmetry, with his legs being a standout feature.
“Welcome to leg day, we start with adductors,” explained Fitzwater of his tried and tested strategy. “Nothing special here, nothing crazy, just really focusing on getting the adductor warm here, getting blood (circulating) throughout the whole leg.”
While adductors are awesome for warming up, that’s not the only reason to execute this exercise. “And then the adductor is a big stabilizer of the knee, so as we work quads today, we really wanna make sure the knee is stable, so that we don’t have any injuries. So, this is kind of injury prevention, slash warmup, slash pre-exhaustion if you will. So, a little bit of everything here but this is what we like to start legs with, a kind of staple for us, and it seems to be working. Our legs are pretty decent.”
Now that you know Fitzwater’s secret, why not start your next leg day with his winning strategy?
To follow Martin Fitzwater on Instagram, click here.