No discussion has been more contentious then the one on the squat vs. The leg press. Every time you enter a gym, there’s someone talking about this issue. One camp sing praises to the king of exercises.
The other camp favors the machine. It allow you to lift the most weight while minimizing your risks. It sounds like an argument over old school versus new age strength, but the reality isn’t always that black-and-white.
These two exercise create strong legs. That’s not up for debate. But they develops that strength differently.
One require technical accuracy, core control and balance. The other is mechanistically supported and isolates glutes and quads. So again, it depend on what your objective is.
Do you desire raw muscle growth? Then there is one answer. Are you seeking more speed (running) and vertical (jumping)?
Then there is another answer. First, you has to understand how it works. A barbell squat is a full body move that look like a leg exercise.
Squats Versus Leg Press For Leg Strength
Squat Mechanics and Functional Strength
It require balancing the bar over midfoot, engaging your core, and stabilizing your spine. That engage stabilizer muscles which the leg press neglect. The upside?
Functional strength carry over into day-to-day life and sport. The drawback? There’s a learning curve.
And poor form can puts strain on your lower back fast. That’s where the leg press gets rid of that instability. A bar tracks along fixed path within the machine.
Leg Press Benefits and Risks
All you do is push. And because of this, you can concentrates fully on pushing as hard as possible with your legs. In fact, you can often take much heavier loads in a leg-press compared to a squat performed using free weights.
More volume = great for muscle growth. But it doesn’t train your core so much. And if you lock your knees out at the end of the movement, you’re creating knee shear force, not good.
It’s a tradeoff. You gain power and you sacrifice stabilizer training. Ego lifters don’t matter as much than range of motion.
A lot of folks try to impress onlookers by loading up the leg press with large plates. Then they’ll perform small half-reps in which they only minimally stretch their muscles. It is a waste of a awesome machine.
Go deep and make it count. If possible, get your hips below your knees. If it’s uncomfortabley to reach that low, maybe the leg press isn’t for you.
Injury Prevention and Joint Safety
Squats naturaly force you into this position. You can’t fake a quality squat repetition without going down. And sometimes there is injury.
If someone has bad knees or a bad back they may find that breaking down their form in the squat puts extra stress on their joints, so this can also make the squat scary for newbies. Conversely, the leg press supports the back (keeping it neutral) but can be more difficult on the knees if form isn’t controlled enough and you try pushing too hard. Pay attention to your body.
If the squat hurt your back, perhaps the press is a better bridge. If the knee clicks when loaded, then perhaps scale back the volume. The majority, however, don’t have to make this choice.
Combining Exercises for Best Results
Both are components in the best program. Build a strong foundation with squats to stabilize yourself. Add volume to your muscles without overloading your central nervous system by using the leg press.
These two combine to hit the muscles at multiple angles. Using both gives you the capacity for overload offered by machines and the stability provided by free weights. This combination is better than isolation.
First priority is to use your main exercise as your first move. This means if your main lift is a squat, perform it while fresh. Then, hit the quad burning leg press.
Why? Because this will increase performance and allow you to get benefits of both exercises. Press builds muscle.
Squat builds the athlete. Which identity do you care about most right now? The poundage on the bar doesn’t mean much.
Poundage means something when it applys to your life. If you need to pick up a heavy box, squatting will help. If you need to run from danger, squatting will help.
If you want some nice, big legs for the beach, pressing will help. None of them wins out. They all depend on which one is the best tool for what you are trying to do.
Don’t stress over what’s “best” workout. Don’t worry about it at all. Either way, you’ll get strong.
Do neither and you’ll remain weak. Choose whichever seems best for your body today. Learn how to do it well.
Add in the other. Your legs will appreciate the change of pace. There are many ways to the road of power, more than you realize.
