Thread: leg presses

Due to rolling of the back I have seen two people in the last year blow there back out doing leg press so it's not completely safe


- SHREK

When doing presses I force my back against the seat so that it is flat

Why don't you take the time to strengthen your back up again and then return to squatting?

I can try that but I still want to work out my legs

Originally Posted by dirtwarrior

I have a very bad back and can not put any weight on it at all, so squats are out of the question for legs. I used to love squats for raw mass and leg development.
Can someone help me with a leg routine to get size and mass with the leg press? Is hack squats better than leg press?

Belt Squats

One of the best leg movement is Belt Squats.

It places the work load on the legs not the lower back.

You need a loading pin, dip belt and some chain. That's it.

Kenny Croxdale

i think hack squat is better than leg press. esp for quad development. wish my gym had one. i do like doing single-leg-presses tho. that way you can realy overload your leg while keeping your back very safe.

there are so many varieties of leg machines out there, some are definitely better than others. the mechanics of the leg press is not even close to the same as that used for the back squat but you can surely get a decent leg workout using them. everybody's body is not designed the same (length of bones, tendons, attachment points, etc.)so there are some whose body's lack the proper mechanics to be highly efficient at certain exercises even with years and years of training.

Originally Posted by tinyshrek

Due to rolling of the back I have seen two people in the last year blow there back out doing leg press so it's not completely safe

Lost focus or wasn't paying attention recently during leg presses and my butt came out of the seat -- dropped the platform, caught it, but definitely injured my back. Was trying 750 which is a lot for this Chihuahua.

Better times with 720.

Originally Posted by dirtwarrior

I can try that but I still want to work out my legs

Have you heard of Serge Nubret's free standing squats? No weights, just squatting, Nubret would do half squats (the bottom half from ATTG to midway), more half squats (the upper half from midway to fully standing) and then full squats in a giant set.

Originally Posted by dirtwarrior

i have a very bad back and can not put any weight on it at all, so squats are out of the question for legs. I used to love squats for raw mass and leg development.
Can someone help me with a leg routine to get size and mass with the leg press? Is hack squats better than leg press?

since i have seen recent pics of you i think you should do what curt says...no weight...weeks later add bar...weeks later add weight


you are starting from scratch so start from scratch...you need to get in there before you start limiting yourself


leg press can cause injury just like any other exercise

You can do these -

Split squats

Bulgarian split squats with one leg elevated on a bench. Start off with no load and work your way up to heavy dumbbells.


Also Lumberjack Squat or Corner press squats

Going to go with the no weight thing and work up from there. The back injury took the wind out of my sails for a while but time to do it again

Lotta good suggestions above but first priority is rehabbing the back (develop a plan to address and strengthen the lower back). This also means strengthening your abs and obliques (pilates or other core strength program). Body weight squats should be done every workout, with a slow progression in weight as the back becomes stronger. Leg press and hack squat will both contribute to your leg development, but you have to be careful with rolling the back (restrict range of motion to what you can do without rolling your back). Focus first on range of motion and foot placement to ensure that you can perform the motion without rolling the back and then progress the weight. Just my 2 cents....

I do a lot of core exercises abs etc.

For leg work for now I love weighted stair climb. I can hit the entire leg even calves depending on foot placement.

I get a great pump in legs without putting a lot of strain on lower back

Originally Posted by tinyshrek

Due to rolling of the back I have seen two people in the last year blow there back out doing leg press so it's not completely safe


- SHREK

the #1 cause of injury from resistance training is due to muscle imbalances. in terms of the back it's caused by severe imbalances between the abs and low back. so many people over-train their abs but neglect direct training to the lower back.

when weight is substituted for form is typically when these injury's occur. the only bad exercise is the one performed improperly.

personally I have complete disc herniation's at S1-S2/L4-L5. going against the advice of my orthopedic surgeon after injury I continued to train legs heavy but started all over again from jump street with the bar and no belt and keeping my back/abs in balance by training them equally. that injury occured in the late 90's and I have had no back problems since then, and very little sciatica.

just a thought...

I haven't tried them yet but you may want to look into "Goblet" squats

Originally Posted by dirtwarrior

I do a lot of core exercises abs etc.

For leg work for now I love weighted stair climb. I can hit the entire leg even calves depending on foot placement.

I get a great pump in legs without putting a lot of strain on lower back

Ive been training for years and I have made friends with trainers, athletic trainers, and PTs. I excelled at specific exercises and one of them was an standing overhead barbell press. I dont remember what happened, but I got hurt and I was bummed. I asked my PT friend what I could do. His best question Ive ever been asked was "what are you training for?" You can plug in any answer you want, but for that specific press, he had me at a loss. I wasnt going to join a strength contest, so there went that excuse. For development of the shoulder heads, I can do other movements, so out went that excuse. All that was left was pure enjoyment. Thats not the ONLY exercise I liked, so it wasnt an extreme loss that I backed off of it.

With legs, I feel his question would work wonders. Functionally, when will you ever need to squat a heavy weight in real life? Life is one step at a time, so lunges, step ups, bulgarians, is more functional. Plus, you can still develop size or burn calories, depending on the present goal.

Deadlifting is actually pretty functional, so ditching that would suck.

Originally Posted by LAM

the #1 cause of injury from resistance training is due to muscle imbalances. in terms of the back it's caused by severe imbalances between the abs and low back. so many people over-train their abs but neglect direct training to the lower back.

when weight is substituted for form is typically when these injury's occur. the only bad exercise is the one performed improperly.

personally I have complete disc herniation's at S1-S2/L4-L5. going against the advice of my orthopedic surgeon after injury I continued to train legs heavy but started all over again from jump street with the bar and no belt and keeping my back/abs in balance by training them equally. that injury occured in the late 90's and I have had no back problems since then, and very little sciatica.

just a thought...

This

about 3 years ago now i suffered an injury that left me with herniations and ruptures from L1 through S1. I just started squatting again about 6 months ago and I started with 35 pounds. I've been adding about 3-5 pounds per workout since. Just started dead lifting 3 months ago, same story same strategy. Yeah, I'm that somewhat big guy in the corner dead lifting the bar.