Can you replace Squats with Legpress?

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Well, my form isnt too great in squats... I'm not doing nearly as well as I could. If I were to legpress, then, I could do much more weight and put much less strain on my back. Though I'm not sure of how the results will vary, and which would be better. But technically they work the same muscle (quad?) right? And if I was working the same muscle, the other lift should be getting stronger too right?

What should I do for rep/sets if I were to use the legpress?
 
You cannot replace squats but the leg press is a great quad exercise as is the leg extention.
If you are having a lot of trouble with your squats than lighten the load. Try them with no weight for a while and use the smith machine for as long as you need to. I know that it has a bad rap but if it is good enough for Lee preist than I suppose it's still good enough for you and me. I always aim for twenty reps. I hear from a wide range of athletes that that is the magical number when it comes to squats to build explosiveness, size and sheer lifting power.

The leg press is good too. I start and finish with 2 or 3 sets of leg extentions to really cook the quads. Do not give up on squats unless you really think there is no hope of ever getting anything out of them but injury. They are the ultimate mass builder for the whole body and the ultimate strength builder for the legs. they are magical and yes, painful. But there is no replacement.

Try also sumo squats and front squats. They may lighten the load and feel more natural. When I had a hard time getting into them I just did two sets of 12- 20 every time I went into the gym with super light weight. No one will look at what you are lifting and if they do they will probably just assume that it is a part of a bigger program. do what you need to do to make squats a part of your routine whatever your goals.
 
Couple of things-
The leg press can be damaging to the knees if done with the "knees to face/chest" range of motion.

The leg extension is horrible on the knees because of sheering forces when using the full range of motion. Physical therapists will often use a coffee can under the knees to limit part of the motion.

You're better off not worrying about the weight and practicing your form. don't get me wrong, you need weight on the squats, but hell I've had clients walk away painfully sore for three days with just the bar when the squats are done correctly. You might try using a box and sitting back on it at about 3 inches above parallel and then slowly working your way down to parallel and then below parallel.

The same scientist who advocated squats are bad for your knees said the only thing worse was the leg extension machine when done with full range of motion and smith machine squats.

I think the front squats, overhead squats, and hack squats (free weight) can be used for a majority of your training while working on your squat form.

The 20-rep-squat is a good one but the typically athlete cannot use tehm on a regular basis because of the horrendous soreness that would hurt their performance on the field. The 20-rep-squat will not build explosive power. The 20-rep-squat is built around your 10RM and the last 10 reps are all done 1 rep at a time. If you're simply doing squat at 20 reps, then you're working on your slow-twitch fibers and hitting up endurance and not strength.

You might go read up on the articles at about squatting to get some ideas.
 
I totally agree w/ evolution on this one... plus w/ leg extensions your VMO only activates in the last 10 degrees of leg extension, and a majority of people don't do it properly because they're trying to lift heavy, so they miss activating it...

Not to mention that the quads have been found to have a lot of TYPE II muscle fibers, so fairly high intensity is needed...

I would break it down even further if you you are having problems and go to a stability ball squat if still having problems w/ the smith machine...
 
DeX said:
Not to mention that the quads have been found to have a lot of TYPE II muscle fibers, so fairly high intensity is needed...
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I'd be interested to see a study or reference on this one.

Otherwise, very good advice already.

Apart from reading on elitefts, here's the basics on squat for noobs:

Get some light free squat form work as a first thing (after warm-up, of course). With 4x6 or, say, 3x5 or 5x5, and about 1-2 min. rest, without going anywhere near to failure, you can't go wrong.

Squat form: about a shoulder width stance, lower back and glutes arched maximally. Get the bar up to your neck, with a narrow grip, elbows to the front. Try to split the floor to your sides with your legs. Try to get your glutes between your legs when you dive. In the consentric portion of the lift, i.e. when you come up, arch your upper body also. Get your chest up high, straighten your neck, brace your shoulder blades together and down, and get your elbows to sides of your torso. Try to fire with your glutes. I assure you they won't grow too big and you'll end up not getting knee and low back problems as easily as a usual gym rat training with machines. When you're getting down, i.e. in the eccentric portion of the lift, don't arch your upper body. Look a bit down. And remember: before the rep, get your belly totally full of air and flex your abs as if you were getting ready to receive a punch.

Consentrate on as many points as you can at a time without going nuts.
 
MIR said:
I'd be interested to see a study or reference on this one.
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You don't need a study. I'm sure if you googled either fiber types and quads you'd come up with something or just head over to teh library and look at an anatomy book.

The quads are built for speed and are therefore type II and the hamstrings are built for power and are therefore primarily type I. It has a lot to do with form and function-this will determine the shape and whatnot of a muscle--look at the lines (or fibers) and you'll see if they run straight up and down like the quads-that's built for speed, the hamstrings spread out and are built for power.
 
Bryn said:
What would be more effective, doing squats with 60 kgs or leg presses on machines with 150 kg?
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It depends-
If person A can only do 62 kgs, then they are working hard.
If person B can do 300 kgs on the leg press, then they're hardly working.

The thing is, it's just hard to replace free weights because of the three dimensional plane that is effected instead of a linear plane that machines work in. I think the leg press is decent for some uni-lateral leg work after squats.
 
When doing squats if you don't feel safe with the barbell, you can start of using dumbells. That way you can get comfortable with doing the exercise. Once you get your routine down and form. Switch to the barbell only. Remember the barbell does have weight to it. Then get comfortable, switch to light weight, then so on and so forth. It you are like most people, weight triaining is a long term committment, so no need to rush and worry about how much weight you can do now. Strength will come in time. Good form is a must. Squats are a must for the legs just like bench press is a must for chest.
 
Quads have a HUGE proportion of Type IIB fibers, specifically Rectus Femoris.
Evo-the hamstrings important for power which would certainly not make them high in Type I fibers, but type II fibers as well. Perhaps that was a typo on your part.

Everyone is failing to mention the fact that the leg press does nothing to help strengthen your core as the squat does. If you can lift 1000 on the leg press 12 times, thats not going to do you any good when you have to push a car, and your abs and back are so weak that you fold in half!! If your core isn't strong, what good is the strength you have in a muscle group if you can't transfer it to the real world?

Why are we all training like body builders; training muscle groups instead of training movements? Unless you are training to be a body builder, why do isolation exercises? it's a waste of time! A squat is very functional. It works movement patterns that we all use on a daily basis.

And the leg extension machine is great! If you're a placekicker for a football team, maybe!

Sorry for the rant, guys!

Wes
 
gymcoch said:
Evo-the hamstrings important for power which would certainly not make them high in Type I fibers, but type II fibers as well. Perhaps that was a typo on your part.

Everyone is failing to mention the fact that the leg press does nothing to help strengthen your core as the squat does.
Wes
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Whoops...you're right...sometimes I fall into typing and don't look back. Good post, by the way.
 
newf said:
Who cares about fibers? The strongest survive...
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The strongest out there (powerlifters, Oly lifters, strong men, etc) are very intuned with their knowledge of fibers and how to train them.
 
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