Leg Press vs. Squat: the Final Chapter

[Trevor Lane]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Well, I will admit that if I had a leg press, I would squat and then probably leg press.

I have to admit that if I had my own squat rack, I would do curls in it.

[BendtheBar]

I do curl in my squat rack.

[BigTallOx]

The article talks about "The Tall Guy Conundrum" and how tall guys think they can't squat because of their height. Weird because I've never found a leg press machine that fit me right. The one at the local fitness center that I've tried has two safety levers, one on each side, the highest setting is way below what would be parallel for my legs in a squat, and it hits the top before my legs are anywhere near extended. It seems to me tall people especially should avoid the machines because they aren't designed for tall people. There are relatively few machines at the gym that I can use effectively, and I think that's a good thing.

[big_swede]

Im with you OX, never yet find a pulldown or cable pull down machine which let me fully extend my arms without the stack hitting bottom.

[BendtheBar]

I never liked cables. The motion never feels fluid, and the movements rarely feel natural. One caveat...seated cable rows.

[big_swede]

Me neither, just an observation about machine size. Use the cable pull down on occasion as a finisher though, but i dont enjoy it hehe

[DMedley]

Every good forum needs a whipping boy, so I am about to volunteer.

I use the Leg Press and the Hack Squat machine in my gym!!!

When I finally got back into the gym the first of the year, my back would spasm doing a bar only over head press. I could do a few reps of back squat with only the bar. I started using the hack squat machine and the leg press to work my legs. After a few months of concerted effort, I got to the point I could do back squats. I could not bring myself to trust my back above 165#'s.

With my Current program, I do Hack Squats on Monday - 20 rep back squats on Wednesday and Leg Presses on Friday.

On Tuesday and Thursday I do Farmers Walk!

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by DMedley

With my Current program, I do Hack Squats on Monday - 20 rep back squats on Wednesday and Leg Presses on Friday.

Looks solid to me DM. As I mentioned before, I would use them if I had access to them. The squat and leg press combo always seemed good for my leg development. Squats hit my hamstrings the hardest hard, and if I am training with an eye towards muscle size I need an exercise to tag team with them.

[DMedley]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Looks solid to me DM. As I mentioned before, I would use them if I had access to them. The squat and leg press combo always seemed good for my leg development. Squats hit my hamstrings the hardest hard, and if I am training with an eye towards muscle size I need an exercise to tag team with them.

I probably take one of the most convoluted approaches to my leg workout. LOL, but I enjoy it.

Monday Hack Squat - Wendler 531

Tuesday and Thursday Farmers Walk: I have 2 40# thick handle dumbbells that I carry around the baseball diamond. base to base. I came up with this from Hepburn progression. Laps increase as ...
4444
5444
5544 and so on until I hit 7777
So it would be 4 times without stopping x 4.

Wednesday Back Squat: 20 reps - when I hit 20 without stopping I increase weight 10#'s. This is a slow approach I believe will give my back time to strengthen.

Friday Leg Press: Done at end of workout for Cardio. Done with a Tabata timer - As many reps as possible in 20 seconds - rest 10 seconds holding weight at full extension - repeat for a total of 8 minutes.