if we are talking about general strength isn’t the leg press and the deadlift enough? as the leg press would hit the front of the leg like the squat, while the deadlift would hit the lower back, glutes and hamstrings?
people always say squats, but if your torso is short and femur is long, you have to bend over more so it puts more of the stress on the lower back, which reduces the poundage you can use and puts less focus on the legs so they end up as the weak point in the strength chain.a bodybuilder would probably have to include calf raises and straight leg deadlift because normal deadlift has basically no negative portion. but what do you think? agree?
Unless you’re in some way crippled you need to squat. Fuck your short torso and long femur. If you’re bending over a whole bunch then good for you, enjoy a strong back and a huge deadlift.
Strong username to subject irony. Anyway, try box squats. Theres some good youtube videos from elitefts showing how to perform. Your long femurs will thank you.
If you find you need to lean forward excessively then try high bar squats or front squats. Both will be better than the leg press, which requires very little in the way of stability and balance.
[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:
if we are talking about general strength isn’t the leg press and the deadlift enough? as the leg press would hit the front of the leg like the squat, while the deadlift would hit the lower back, glutes and hamstrings? people always say squats, but if your torso is short and femur is long, you have to bend over more so it puts more of the stress on the lower back, which reduces the poundage you can use and puts less focus on the legs so they end up as the weak point in the strength chain.a bodybuilder would probably have to include calf raises and straight leg deadlift because normal deadlift has basically no negative portion. but what do you think? agree?
[/quote]
Deadlift is an awesome exercise, so glad you are at least doing that. Leg press is fine as far as simple muscle building goes. I would encourage you to keep working on the squat, even if you have to lower the weight to get good range of motion. Nothing stimulates overall growth hormone production like the higher volume squats (sets of 10), so the work you do on other body parts will benefit from all the awesome stuff circulating in your system.
My main point is that you listed having to do leg press, straight leg deadlifts and calf work to make up for doing squat, when you could just squat to get those areas. No one expects you to be the world’s best squatter, but I’d rank a light squatter over a complete non-squatter any day!
ps, front squats might be a way to gain some mobility and depth without the low back issues you cited.
Based on that logic you should be able to get huge legs by doing leg ext and leg curls… You gotta squat, your long legs might hurt your squat but just like I tell tall people… it helps you in every other area of your athletic life and in less your trying to be a power lifter don’t worry about it… I have short lets and it might help on the squat but you should see me run the 40 LOL
Read the Lee Boyce article from a couple days ago and watch that video. He has written a lot about disadvantageous leverages before and he has incredibly long legs. Might help give you a little insight. But to answer your question No, the leg press does not equal the squat. That is something people tell themselves so that they feel better about wussing out on the squat. I know because I have been guilty of that at a point in my life.
Op, I have the same issues. My core fails before my lower body does on max effort work, but I still squat and it’s below parallel. I squat for two reasons
1: I love the overall strength I have from heavy ass squats
2: My girlfriend loves my ass and squats are excellent for that particular area
I do not squat for massive legs because well for me squatting it not the most efficient exercise for that goal.
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
Op, I have the same issues. My core fails before my lower body does on max effort work, but I still squat and it’s below parallel. I squat for two reasons
1: I love the overall strength I have from heavy ass squats
2: My girlfriend loves my ass and squats are excellent for that particular area
I do not squat for massive legs because well for me squatting it not the most efficient exercise for that goal. [/quote]
Do you ever do high reps for squat? Like sets of 20? I have heard that is good for building mass…
[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:
if we are talking about general strength isn’t the leg press and the deadlift enough? as the leg press would hit the front of the leg like the squat, while the deadlift would hit the lower back, glutes and hamstrings?
people always say squats, but if your torso is short and femur is long, you have to bend over more so it puts more of the stress on the lower back, which reduces the poundage you can use and puts less focus on the legs so they end up as the weak point in the strength chain.a bodybuilder would probably have to include calf raises and straight leg deadlift because normal deadlift has basically no negative portion. but what do you think? agree?
[/quote]
For taller people or anyone with long limbs, the wider stance sumo style squat works well. Squats are magical. Don’t know why, they just are. I wish they weren’t as they’re pretty hard on your system. Only time I get my legs to budge is with squats. All the leg press/hack squats/whatever/ in the world don’t work as well, no matter how much they burn or feel like they’re working your muscles more than squats seem to be.
Oh…and squat with the pussy pad if you have to. Nothing wrong with that. Once I started doing that, my headaches went, breathing got better and i could squat all day if I had to.
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
Op, I have the same issues. My core fails before my lower body does on max effort work, but I still squat and it’s below parallel. I squat for two reasons
1: I love the overall strength I have from heavy ass squats
2: My girlfriend loves my ass and squats are excellent for that particular area
I do not squat for massive legs because well for me squatting it not the most efficient exercise for that goal. [/quote]
Assuming your avi is recent, that is some impressive thickness you’ve built up man, and you’re not even flexing. That’s “bulking” done right there sir!
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
Lot of dogma in this thread.
OP, do what yields best growth. Period. [/quote]
THIS…[/quote]
I really think that Squat>Leg Press in all areas for a basically healthy individual. The only time I will choose a leg press over a squat is late in a session where I have already taxed my CNS hard and want to squeeze in some more volume.
For the most part, people who say that the squat doesn’t work as well as the leg press for anything(strength, hypertrophy, or improved squat performance), don’t know how to squat, or more commonly, they don’t want to use enough weight to get the max benefit because they don’t like the effort it takes to squat heavy.
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
Lot of dogma in this thread.
OP, do what yields best growth. Period. [/quote]
THIS…[/quote]
I really think that Squat>Leg Press in all areas for a basically healthy individual. The only time I will choose a leg press over a squat is late in a session where I have already taxed my CNS hard and want to squeeze in some more volume.
For the most part, people who say that the squat doesn’t work as well as the leg press for anything(strength, hypertrophy, or improved squat performance), don’t know how to squat, or more commonly, they don’t want to use enough weight to get the max benefit because they don’t like the effort it takes to squat heavy.
Don’t take my word for it though.
[/quote]
Bret Contreras is a douchebag, don’t take my word for it though.
I’m somewhat tall (6’1") and while I’m not sure if I have “long femurs” or whatever the fuck, but I do know that the deadlift has always seemed natural to me and the squat has always been more awkward than taking my cousin to the prom and getting lucky.
Having said that, I think whatever gets you to your goals is fine. If you’re an athlete, you must squat. I didn’t say back squat, but you must squat. Zercher, front, goblet, something. Squats are a natural human movement that demonstrate basic mobility and the inability to do them is basically inexcusable. Same if you’re just exercising for health (whatever that means.)
If you’re training for size, I think the back squat is probably part of your balanced breakfast. I don’t think it’ll have the same effect on me as it did on Platz, but that doesn’t mean I should nix it from the program entirely. But hey, if you’re doing bosu ball lunges and you’re happy with your leg size, then who am I to tell you what to do? If you’re reaching your goals that trumps all else. If you just want to be a strong dude who lifts, I think a 2x bodyweight squat is pretty fucking doable.
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
Lot of dogma in this thread.
OP, do what yields best growth. Period. [/quote]
THIS…[/quote]
I really think that Squat>Leg Press in all areas for a basically healthy individual. The only time I will choose a leg press over a squat is late in a session where I have already taxed my CNS hard and want to squeeze in some more volume.
For the most part, people who say that the squat doesn’t work as well as the leg press for anything(strength, hypertrophy, or improved squat performance), don’t know how to squat, or more commonly, they don’t want to use enough weight to get the max benefit because they don’t like the effort it takes to squat heavy.
Don’t take my word for it though.
[/quote]
Bret Contreras is a douchebag, don’t take my word for it though.
I’m somewhat tall (6’1") and while I’m not sure if I have “long femurs” or whatever the fuck, but I do know that the deadlift has always seemed natural to me and the squat has always been more awkward than taking my cousin to the prom and getting lucky.
Having said that, I think whatever gets you to your goals is fine. If you’re an athlete, you must squat. I didn’t say back squat, but you must squat. Zercher, front, goblet, something. Squats are a natural human movement that demonstrate basic mobility and the inability to do them is basically inexcusable. Same if you’re just exercising for health (whatever that means.)
If you’re training for size, I think the back squat is probably part of your balanced breakfast. I don’t think it’ll have the same effect on me as it did on Platz, but that doesn’t mean I should nix it from the program entirely. But hey, if you’re doing bosu ball lunges and you’re happy with your leg size, then who am I to tell you what to do? If you’re reaching your goals that trumps all else. If you just want to be a strong dude who lifts, I think a 2x bodyweight squat is pretty fucking doable.[/quote]
I am confused. You say he is a douchebag then basically reiterate the entire article. I am not trying to say that you should take everything he says as the gospel but anyone who puts that much effort into the science of lifting is trying to help people which would make him not a douchebag.
We agree about squats though. And if someone is happy with their leg size after bosu ball lunges that’s great. However that doesn’t mean it was the optimum exercise for them to do. Just the one they did.
[quote]csulli wrote:
Unless you’re in some way crippled you need to squat. Fuck your short torso and long femur. If you’re bending over a whole bunch then good for you, enjoy a strong back and a huge deadlift.
[quote]bpick86 wrote:
I am confused. You say he is a douchebag then basically reiterate the entire article. I am not trying to say that you should take everything he says as the gospel but anyone who puts that much effort into the science of lifting is trying to help people which would make him not a douchebag.
We agree about squats though. And if someone is happy with their leg size after bosu ball lunges that’s great. However that doesn’t mean it was the optimum exercise for them to do. Just the one they did. [/quote]
Just throwing it out there as someone who’s 6’3" and all femurs I’ve found moderate/closer stance high bar squats feel much more natural than wide stance squats which some people say are best if you’re tall. Alot of other guys ik with long femurs have found the same.
