Question:
What are the advantages
and disadvantages of doing leg curls and leg extentions
instead of doing squats?
Answer:
That's an excellent question.
Here's the scoop:
Advantages of Leg Curls/Leg Extensions Over Squats
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. You can focus on the target
muscles more selectively. When doing squats, you hit a lot
of muscles at once and expend a lot of energy. With the
leg curl or extension, you can target only the hamstrings
or the quads, giving all your energy to that muscle group.
This can be especially important for the hamstrings, which
are often neglected.
2. You can work that target
muscle more intensely. Because you are focusing more tightly
on one muscle group, you can increase the intensity for
it.
3. Leg curls/extensions are
easier. Since you are using less muscle mass, the exercises
are easier to do. They won't affect your whole body the
way squats will. Squats will use up a lot of energy.
4. These two exercises are
far easier to learn and are less technique-intensive than
squats. Any beginning trainer can do leg curls or
extensions but not everybody can jump right in and do squats.
Being easier, they are also useful for more advanced trainers
in the later stages of a workout where you are already fatigued
and squats may not be the safest exercise to do.
Disadvantages of the Leg Curl/Leg Extension
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. They are isolation exercises.
Because they only work one muscle group, they won't have
as much of an effect on real-world strength. There aren't
any movement you do in real life that are done in isolation,
like the curl or extension movement, however you do squat-like
movements all the time.
2. Being isolation exercises,
they don't address the functions of the muscles as an integrated
system the way squats do. This can lead to imbalances if
you do only these movements exclusively.
3. Leg extensions can be harmful
to your knees. The position of your legs in the exercise
place a lot of torque on the connective tissue in the knee
joints. Heavy leg curls, especially if you use momentum,
can really mess your knees up. Back off on the weight and
focus on the squeeze instead.
4. They normally require very
specialized machines. These machines aren't normally cheap!
You can, however, improvise both of these exercises using
dumbells.
Advantages of Squats over Leg Curls/Leg Extensions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The squat is a very functional
exercise. It will build your muscles and strength faster
than nearly any other exercise. The squat movement is done
in real-life all the time and is very useful to train with.
2. Squats affect a far greater
amount of muscle mass. This can stimulate muscle growth
over your entire body, not just your legs. The other two
exercises can't claim this.
3. Squats require less specialized
equipment. You can do them without any weight at all. You
can do them holding a dumbell. You can do them with just
a barbell and some racks.
4. Squats work the body as
an integrated system. Muscles are used in ways they were
designed by nature to be used in.
Disadvantages of Squats
---------------------------------------
1. They require good technique
to prevent injury and maximize results. A person learning
squats should be supervised by a qualified instructor. It's
not normally wise to jump right in and do them if you don't
know how.
2. Form can be tricky to learn.
A good squat is not easy to perform. It is very easy to
use poor technique but still get the weight up and down.
Proper technique is crucial.
3. Squats are hard. It is
for this reason most people don't do them. Because they're
hard, they're that much more effective than leg curls or
leg extensions.
4. Squats can be uncomfortable.
For some people, having the bar across their back can be
painful. There are things you can do to minimize this pain,
e.g. pads, towels, or a Manta Ray.
5. Squats require a lot of
energy. Doing a few hard sets of squats first in your workout
can really drain your energy levels for the rest of the
workout. But if you do them last, you may not have much
energy to do them either!
To sum it up, which exercises you should do really depends
on your goals, experience level and motivation. If you want
to build muscle and strength, do squats. If you are trying
to focus more specifically on these muscles, do the leg
curls or extensions. To be honest, the best solution is
to incorporate all the exercises into your routine (to me,
however, leg extensions are optional).
Use these links to check out
some good info on each exercise...
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