Leg Press Better Than Squat?

Training Bodybuilding
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[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Pro bodybuilders simply throw heavy weights around with atrocious form. Watch any of their vids, they have no real clue on how to train. [/quote]

Of course not. That is why they are all fucking huge. I love guys that talk about impecable form and how to train properly but are also tiny. Just because they train differently to you doesn’t mean they are ignorant or are training the wrong way.

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Also, at 6’8, you’re gonna fuck up your back doing conventional deads. As it is, nobody can keep a back arch on a heavy DL. At your height, every poundage you use is going to turn the movement into an SLDL, also known as the rounded back dead.[/quote]

Shit, I always thought they were called straight legged dead lifts, and that you kept your back straight. I guess everyone I’ve ever talk to or read was wrong.

Tall guys can absolutely do deadlifts, and they should, as the posterior chain is often weaker in these guys. Just be careful with your form.

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
You’re much better off using bodyweight-only moves than machines. [/quote]

Sorry but this is absolute horseshit. We get it. You hate machines. That’s fine but please stop with the bullshit. Machines have their place just like everything else. Don’t bring your ignorance in here and preach it like gospel.

Let’s see, bodyweight only rather than machines. I know. What would you do for reverse hypers. Great exercise and on a machine. GHRs - great exercise on a machine. Leg press - studies show that it is superior to squats for quad hypertrophy and it’s a machine. Even you recommended using a cable station. Oh shit, that’s a machine to!!

No-one listened to you the first time because they thought you were full of shit. Then you had to open your mouth again to prove it.

Free weights have their place, and so do machines.

42

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Also, at 6’8, you’re gonna fuck up your back doing conventional deads. [/quote]

And this my friends is how genius tidbits such as “Squats are bad for your knees” get started.

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i like the leg press, i just started doing it when i went from 2 days a week full body to 3 days a week upper/lower split

i do leg press the same day i do Dlifts

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[quote]mikeron wrote:
malonetd wrote:
If I remember correctly, Eric Cressey discusses taller athletes in his D-Tap audio interview. I don’t recall the specifics, however.

I may be mistaken, but I think Cressey defined “tall” as 6’8" and up…[/quote]

“Tall” means exceeding above-average height. For men in the U.S. (see Average height for men, height and weight chart), above-average means over 5’10". So “tall” starts at 5’10" and goes up from there.

45

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Pro bodybuilders simply throw heavy weights around with atrocious form. Watch any of their vids, they have no real clue on how to train. If you don’t know shit about lifting but you train like an animal and you have the genetics for it, you’ll grow. This is how meatheads bulk up.
[/quote]

Boy, that deserves the Douchebag of the Day award. That is the most uninformed statement I’ve read in quite some time. Seriously, shut up. You’re idiocy is showing.

46

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
PGA200X wrote:
Bullllllsssshhhiiittttt…

I guess Ronnie Coleman’s and all other bodybuilder’s routines arent serious or anything like that. They use machines if you didn’t know.

Pro bodybuilders simply throw heavy weights around with atrocious form. Watch any of their vids, they have no real clue on how to train. If you don’t know shit about lifting but you train like an animal and you have the genetics for it, you’ll grow. This is how meatheads bulk up.
…[/quote]

Yeah those pro bodybuilders have no idea what they are doing. Only skinny T-Nation readers have any clue on how to train.

If they could only find a guy who knows how to train AND has the right genetics he would be twice as big as Ronnie Coleman.

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[quote]ptc22030 wrote:
mikeron wrote:
malonetd wrote:
If I remember correctly, Eric Cressey discusses taller athletes in his D-Tap audio interview. I don’t recall the specifics, however.

I may be mistaken, but I think Cressey defined “tall” as 6’8" and up…

“Tall” means exceeding above-average height. For men in the U.S. (see Average height for men, height and weight chart), above-average means over 5’10". So “tall” starts at 5’10" and goes up from there.[/quote]

5’10" people are not tall. Anybody who complains that their squat suffers because they are 5’11" is an idiot.

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There is some kind of mythology that the squat is a “natural” movement, and the leg press a mchine related unnatural movement.

But I think with regards to functionality in my game (firefighter), I use both movements. I have propped back against things and pushed out with my feet many times to remove debris or get doors open. This mimics the leg press. I have never had a barbell like object across my upper back though on the job! Sand bag training, front squats, zerchers and DLs mimic real life far better than a back squat. Its a very unnatural way to try and lift something.

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Squats are great, but it is nice to not load the spine all the time. I don’t see the leg press as being superior to squats in any way, but they seem to me to be in the higher end of “second-tier” exercises. If you have to wait on the muscle fiber in your back to recover before the muscle fiber in your legs, you might not tax your legs enough (depends on the particular person, but I think most people’s legs will recover before the back tissue). That is the role I see for the leg press, as a very good supplementary exercise.

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Poliquin has clearly stated that in some individuals, leg presses may be better than squats for quadriceps hypertrophy.

That’s all.

If you squat heavy but you feel like you could do with more quadriceps hypertrophy, add in some leg presses. Clearly the squat is superior in many ways, but the leg press has its place too.

I’m only 5’10-5’11 so squats do enough for me. I can imagine really tall guys would need more than just squats.

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GOT SQUAT?!

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He’s not going to parallel, so he’s clearly not functional!

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[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
I’ve said it before, but anybody who thinks there is any place at all for machine training in a serious lifting program simply hasn’t been exposed to the full range of options that are available with free weights.
[/quote]

And I’ve also said it before, but anybody who thinks that there is no place whatsoever for machine training is simply an absolutist zealot. Even Paul fucking Chek will admit that machine training has a place.

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[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:

It’s not about machines vs. free weights, it’s about an inferior exercise vs. a superior one. Yeah, you can say that leg pressing is “different” from BB squats. Namely, it’s inferior. Whatever differences exist that aren’t inferior, they can be replicated with a different weight movement. There’s nothing a machine can do that can’t be replicated with free weights.
[/quote]

Your previous comment betrays that, with you, it IS about machines vs. free weights. And you aren’t making a very good argument by simply insisting that your position is correct without producing so much as a rationale or explanation.

And there clearly are things that a machine can do that can’t be replicated with free weights. Are you kidding?

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[quote]alexbk44 wrote:
GOT SQUAT?![/quote]

That may very well be the most inspiring squat pic I have ever seen.

That ranks up there with Franco’s deadlift pic with the dog. I really wish they’d make that one into a poster.

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Yea. tht pic sure gets u motivated for Squat Day. haha.

On the issue of leg press vs Squats… in terms of functionality the Squat will definitely own the leg press but IMHO, the leg press does do wonders who tall lifters in terms of quad hypertrophy i guess.

Well… im not too good with this. I’m a shorty. 5’8… so i ll just stick to squats and use the leg press for calves :slight_smile:

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[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
Hopefully got your attention with that blasphemous subject line.

Okay, in reading a former TC article about wanting to kill Joe Weider, he listed a large number of T-Nation commandments. One of these was “You’ll be hard pressed to get a strength coach to admit it, but for taller athletes, leg presses may be superior to squats for hypertrophy.”

Being a serious weight lifter and former college football player, I was shocked, but in being 6’4", I was intrigued.

Anybody have any info on how this statement could possibly be uttered? Is it purely that a tall athlete can achieve greater depth with the leg press than the squat? Let me know what you think/know…[/quote]

Don’t 'Diss the Leg Press

"For the long-legged lifter, the leg press can actually result in more quad hypertrophy than the squat.(1) I know, I know, a lot of strength coaches would like to throttle me for that statement, but you can bet your ass nine out of ten of them are short bastards.

Because of the enormous range of motion a tall lifter has to travel in doing a squat, it’s often his aerobic capacity that fails before his anaerobic capacity. In other words, his lungs will give out before his quads. When a tall guy does ten squats, he’s done a helluva’ lot of work. In other words, he’s moved the weight a great distance ? considerably more than a shorter guy using the same weight. As such, the bar is often racked prematurely."

Honestly, so what’s the big deal with building up your aerobic capacity? Are lifters really that scared of the word “aerobic”?

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[quote]Lift4Life wrote:
Honestly, so what’s the big deal with building up your aerobic capacity? Are lifters really that scared of the word “aerobic”?[/quote]

If you want to build up your aerobic capacity, go for a run. If you want to build up strength and muscle mass, use weights.

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Hey guys, first I wanna say that this is a really interesting discussion…and that picture of Platz squatting is truly inspiring. Here’s what I think: If you really want to build total leg mass and strength and have no injuries to hold you back-squatting is king (get your ass on top of your heels!!). If you are limited and cannot place a bar on your spine, leg presses are okay. I would rather use leg press as a complimentary exercise to squats, but in my opinion there are better options out there. Try some hacksquats, 1 legged squats, lunges, or anything that kills your posterior chain. If you are tall, you will use less weight-fact of life…women also like tall dudes-another fact of life (see? there’s good and bad). That doesn’t change the muscle recruitment or the incorporation of the majority of your muscles when performing squats. Balance (or bending forward) may be an issue at first, but find your groove and you should be fine (you don’t hear about tall people forgetting the bench press cuz their arms are long). You also need to determine what YOUR goals are-hypertrophy, strength, or some combination of the two. Leg presses are probably good for size, and decent for strength but like I said there are better options out there (front squats, for example are beasts for strength and hypertrophy-and work the posterior chain better than presses). Also, you guys arguing about Ronnie Coleman and his training are doing apples vs. oranges. Bodybuilder training is very effective for hypertrophy, which is what they are after. Don’t forget, many strength athletes use “sloppy” form to be explosive in their lifts…it depends on what you are after. And it’s true that there may be numerous alternatives to machine training, but YOU have to take your own goals into account…leg presses could very well benefit you if your body responds well to that exercise. Some freaks get huge from leg extensions!Noone can make a hard & fast rule of training…we’re all different, so avoid getting caught in following one line of thinking. Train in many different ways until you find what works best for you, and motivates you as well (if you hate squats and always will, there is no point in doing them…). As far as machines vs. free weights, that is up to you…although you really should make the majority of your movements free weights. Personally, I will take free weights-heavy as I can, for 4-6 reps and I just keep getting stronger and bigger. That’s me. Here’s a question for you all-what do you guys think is the baddest-ass exercise to use after deep squats?? I’ve rotated between presses, 1-legged squat, lunges, hack squats, and front squats. Any ideas?