What Are the Best Squat Alternative Exercises?
Squatting is the indisputable heavyweight champion of exercises for developing strong, muscular legs and glutes. Unfortunately for gym-goers and athletes with pre-existing joint injuries or mobility issues, barbell squats are generally not feasible for a lower body workout.Research (unsurprisingly) shows that shallow or partial squats are less effective than deep squats and compromise the movement’s safety. Thankfully, there are a handful of squat alternatives you can implement into a lower body workout for the time being, or as an adjunct to barbell squats.
The best squat alternatives train the same primary muscle groups as a barbell squat, albeit without the need for as much coordination and technique competence. Essentially, these lower body exercises allow you to “squat without squatting.”
Let’s take a look at four of the best squat alternatives for a lower body workout!
Best Squat Alternatives for Your Lower Body Workouts
The prudent way to learn proper squat form is repetition (read: practice), but it’s also wise to incorporate squat alternatives as part of your lower body workout. Using the squat alternative exercises in this article will help strengthen muscles that might be lagging or hindering your ability to squat with proper form.Another notable benefit of squat alternatives is that they are generally less technical and much safer for novice-to-intermediate lifters. Heck, even highly advanced lifters and bodybuilders should use squat alternatives as assistance exercises and mass builders.
Removing the technical nature of squats from the equation allows you to focus on moving heavier weights without risking injury. Many of the best squat alternatives are also easier on the joints and don’t require the degree of mobility/flexibility necessary for below-parallel barbell squats.
LEG PRESS MACHINE
The primary advantage of using a leg press machine as a squat alternative is that it doesn’t load the spine like barbell squats do. Hence, the leg press is a great way to simulate a squatting motion with much less chance of injury. It’s also a suitable squat alternative for people with mobility issues stemming from the spine.
Yet, the leg press is arguably the most disrespected lower body exercise in fitness subculture, presumably because many bodybuilders and gym-goers perform it as an “ego lift.” After all, you can have toothpicks for legs and still leg press a decent amount of weight.
However, just as with squats, you need to perform the leg press with a full range of motion for maximal effectiveness.
Biomechanically speaking, a proper leg press is very similar to a barbell squat. Imagine where your chest would be relative to the top of your knees if you were to squat to just below parallel? That’s the same depth you should aim for on a leg press, while keeping your hips and glutes firm against the padding throughout the entire range of motion and bracing your spine.
A major misconception with leg press machines is that you’re supposed to lower the weight sled as far as possible. This is actually counterproductive and unsafe since it leads to people lifting their glutes/hips off the machine padding and contorting the spine - a major no-no for staying injury-free. Likewise, loading up 400lbs on the leg press and performing quarter reps isn’t a good idea, either.
How to Perform the Leg Press Properly:
- Sit/lay on a leg press machine, so your back and glutes are flat against the padding. Place your hands on machine handles (usually near the hips).
- Place your feet near the top of the platform (sled) shoulder-width apart. A narrower stance places more emphasis on the quadriceps, while a wider stance engages the glutes and hamstrings to a higher degree.
- Brace your spine, take a deep breath, and lower the sled until your knees reach a 90 - 110-degree angle, then push the platform away from your torso by extending the knees until your legs are near-straight. Keep a very slight bend in the knees at the top and exhale.
- Repeat step 3 for as many reps as necessary.
Interestingly, a 2008 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that high-rep leg presses at 40% of one-rep maximum (1RM) are better for stimulating quadriceps growth, while lower-rep sets at 80% of 1RM are superior for targeting the glutes.
STRAIGHT-LEG DEADLIFTS
The best part about stiff-leg deadlifts is you can use either dumbbells or a barbell to perform them, and they force the hamstrings and glutes to do large amounts of work on both the eccentric (lowering) and concentric (lifting) phases of the movement.
It’s quite common for people to rely on leg curls as their primary form of hamstring training, and this will undoubtedly impact squats in the long run. Leg curls, and most hamstring-isolation exercises, predominantly involve concentric contractions with minimal eccentric tension. Hence, straight-leg deadlifts give you much more “bang for your buck” as a posterior-chain exercise.
Common pitfalls of this exercise are rounding the back too much and locking the knees. Be careful not to develop these habits.
How to Perform the Straight-Leg Deadlift:
- Stand with a shoulder-width or narrower stance so your feet when you look down. If using dumbbells, place one parallel to each foot at the side.
- Bending at the waist and keeping your spine neutral, reach down and grab the barbell/dumbbells with an overhand grip just outside shoulder-width apart (use lifting straps if necessary).
- With your knees slightly bent, lift the weight by extending at hips until standing upright.
- From the starting upright position, lower the bar/dumbbell to the top of your feet by bending at the hips (not your knees). Keep your knees ever-so-slightly bent while lowering the weight; retract your scapula, and brace your core throughout the movement to keep your spine as neutral as possible.
- Lift the weight by extending the hips and standing upright (make sure not to hyperextend your back at the top).
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 for several repetitions to complete a set.
