Knee bend not improving - why?

[sampaguita]

My quads are getting stronger, and so are my glutes. The quads strengthening routine has improved my extension, BUT I STILL CAN'T DO A DEEP KNEE BEND ON ICE. My lower leg routine is as follows:

bridge (both regular and single-leg versions)
leg lifts (for gluteus maximus)
quadruped (for gluteus minimus)
side leg raises (?? the one for the adductors)
leg straightening isometric (vastus medialis and vastus lateralis)
wall squat, 90 deg
calf tiptoe exercise (forgot the name, sorry)

All exercises are isometric.

Is there any muscle that I'm missing here? Why doesn't an improvement in squat time correspond to better knee bend? I've increased my wall squat time from 30 to 120 seconds, but the knee bend is still the same.

Thanks in advance!

[rsk8d]

These are basic exercises that won't improve quad functional strength (except wall sits).  What improves quad and glute strength in deep knee bends are lunges, squats etc.  You need to mimic the action of the muscle to get it stronger in that movement.  I think you said before that lunges fatigued you.  Keep working on the basics, then progress to more functional exercises.

[Doubletoe]

The wall squats are probably helping, but those don't put your body in the same position as deep knee bends on the ice because your torso is too far back.  Regular squats are better because they put your body in the same position as knee bends on the ice:  chest over knees over toes.  When you do squats, you can reduce pressure on your knees and better simulate the skating position by wearing shoes with 2" heels or standing with your heels on a slightly raised surface.

[sampaguita]

Thanks rsk8d and Doubletoe! Now I understand. That's also why my extension has been improving, because the leg straightening exercise IS extension! I think that the regular squats I can do now (since my wall squats have improved). For the lunges, I'll have to do some more preparation, lol!

Speaking of mimicking the muscle movement, do I have to the squats on one leg as well to mimic an actual stroking position? Or will a regular squat on two legs give the same muscle movement? Thanks a lot!

[Doubletoe]

You don't need to do one-legged squats for your stroking, but eventually you may want to practice a one-legged deep knee bend (with raised heel or wearing a shoe with a heel) in order to master the sit spin position.

[sampaguita]

You don't need to do one-legged squats for your stroking, but eventually you may want to practice a one-legged deep knee bend (with raised heel or wearing a shoe with a heel) in order to master the sit spin position.

Oh that won't be for a long time then, haha! I'm still working on two-foot spins. So it's two-foot squats then. Thanks Doubletoe!