squats vs. leg press

I did powerlifting for a while and could only do max squats(belt, wraps,suit), leg presses I could not get the same feel regardless of my foot position. After I finished powerlifting the only squat workouts I could do without hurting my back were lower weight higher rep squat workouts,like from the book Supersquats,I kept the weight low enough for 15 reps and would strugle after that to get 20, never hurt my back and my strength went through the roof. I would even use the smith machine if the squat rack was taken. I do think squats are more of a compound movement as opposed to more of an isolation movement such as leg press,extensions,lunges,etc. Squats and Deadlifts are powerful lifts, very easy to injure your back doing them though, I would rather do them with lighter weight than use isolation exercises for cycling. To me there is nothing worse than watching someone under the squat rack with three or four plates going down 1-3 inches, you are better off starting out with a light weight you can safely manage. Start banging out sets of 20 reps and see what your friends say!

Edited by nevergivin 2010-09-01 1:30 PM

I used to power lift as well. 5/3/1, 5 x 5, etc.  I love squats.  That being said I see minimal benefit for road cyclists and none at all if it is going to aggravate a back injury.  While the combo you outline does work in theory to replace squats there are stabilized muscles in your legs you are not hitting.  I see this more of an issue if you are a mtn biker and are constantly being thrown around off road as opposed to a primarily road cyclist.  I say do what you can.  Maybe look at some low weight/high rep pause squats if you can handle it. 

Light weight/high-med rep front squats work great for me.

Squats are definitely better than Leg press....but, what good is squats if you open yourself for injury and can't bike with your buddies??  They'll get on your case for not riding with them.

I do both Squat and Leg press (plus others you mentioned)....I no longer go heavy on Squats but go as heavy as I can on Press.

Agreed.  I also LOVE heavy deads, but find they make my back too tight to ride in the aero position so I've ditched them for speed deads.

this is what I try to explain to them!


thanks for all the opinions.

I've never seen someone poop themselves doing leg presses.  Can't say the same about squats.  You could point that out.

Me?  I'm a walking lunge kind of guy.

I've dropped regular squats for overhead squats as they engage my core more and require more balance.  Give those a try if you can, hold the bar over your head like you would if you just completed a snatch.  From there, do your squats.  Go light at first, the balance will be tough initially and you don't want to push the weight.

Squatted Monday for the first time since mid August.  Felt so good. 

I'm a hack squat kind of guy but as for leg press, I always had the rule.. "no chili on legs day" due to the deep wide stance leg presses. 

I have a hack squat rack in my garage.  This allows me to do a narrow stance / low hack squat which will work the teardrop area very well.  This was the area that cramped badly after the bike portion at Savageman.  I also do wide stance / high hack squats which hits a whole other part of the leg.  I'm easing back into leg training this month and then I'll roll into Jorge's bike program.  I'll let you guys know how well it works for next season.  I personally don't think I would have cramped up at SM had I been doing my hack squats all year. 

FWIW, I have a unique issue where I had to give up squats when I broke my leg.  There is a broken steel rod in my hip so it makes squats pretty rough.

Squats are the king of exercised but if you have neck and back problems leg press is a good alternative.  Don't forget lunges, they are a great exercise to mix it up some.  I'm not a big fan of heavy leg extensions due to the possible knee damage.  You can also do BB hack squats or try front squats and see how much pressure is put on your back.  Front squats are a GREAT exercise.

^^^Bulgarian Split Squat...awesome!  Work stabilizers but also isolate legs.

I'm older and have a history of back and knee problems so I don't tempt fate doing squats anymore.  Leg presses may not be quite as effective as squats, but they work ok for me.

Mark

I found squats to be more beneficial all around vs leg presses.  Leg presses are good, but I found squats to help my running tremendously.  I do leg presses, leg curls, etc a lot more often in my workouts, but definitely try to get a squat session in every other week to avoid old injuries from emerging (and I dont go heavy, but do a weight that I can crank out 10-15 relatively easy).  Would you possibly be going to heavy on your weights during your squat sessions (which may be causing those old injuries to reemerge)?

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