Can i make good progress on legs and back with machines?

[pks17777]

At the moment i have to use a small community gym for back and legs, i workout the rest with free weights at home.
But at the gym they only have leg press, leg curls, and ham curls for legs,
and for back, its lat pulldown, and the machine row lifts, oh yah and pullups,.

Will these workouts be good enough?
I used to do deadlifts and squats but im doing a lighter workout for now.

[flangmasterj]

Of course you can.

Just keep that intensity level at it's maximum.

[LS2Stew]

Leg press is as good as squats

[buffgrk]

Leg press is as good as squats

strong false advice.

its good but not comparable to squats.

sorry, you fail.

[pks17777]

how effetive are leg curls? i seriously hate those

[buffgrk]

how effetive are leg curls? i seriously hate those

with that mentality you should stop bbing right NOW.

[Appetite]

At the moment i have to use a small community gym for back and legs, i workout the rest with free weights at home.
But at the gym they only have leg press, leg curls, and ham curls for legs,
and for back, its lat pulldown, and the machine row lifts, oh yah and pullups,.

Will these workouts be good enough?
I used to do deadlifts and squats but im doing a lighter workout for now.

Plenty of sets of leg press with different foot positioning.

Loads of sets of rows and pullups with as many different grips, attachments and angles as you can. Also straight arm pulldowns on the lat pulldown machine. Have you got a cable row machine?

Without freeweights the leg curl is a must.

[TheStreetKing]

At the moment i have to use a small community gym for back and legs, i workout the rest with free weights at home.
But at the gym they only have leg press, leg curls, and ham curls for legs,
and for back, its lat pulldown, and the machine row lifts, oh yah and pullups,.

Will these workouts be good enough?
I used to do deadlifts and squats but im doing a lighter workout for now.

Does the Gym have Barbells or Dumbbells at all. If they do you can do Lunges and SLDL for your legs. If they don't you can finish your legs at home. Also what do you have at home? That would help us out a lot in guiding you into Exercises you can do. You said you had Free Weights at home.

[LS2Stew]

strong false advice.

its good but not comparable to squats.

sorry, you fail.

Leg press takes more out of your legs than squats do. Squats work other muscles which means you can't hammer your legs as effectively.

[buffgrk]

Leg press takes more out of your legs than squats do. Squats work other muscles which means you can't hammer your legs as effectively.

LOL, strong false advice again.. so your saying that leg press stimulates the whole lower region more than squats do?, you got some reading to do.. or go to the gym now and try them both and come back to me with your head in shame.

[LS2Stew]

I've done both and got more out of leg press. Squats is more of a balancing act.

[buffgrk]

I've done both and got more out of leg press. Squats is more of a balancing act.

Your a dope. That's all.

[LS2Stew]

This forum is the pits.

[Appetite]

Your a dope. That's all.

This forum is the pits.

Before this decends any further.

Its depentent on alot of things,

1, You need to get truly comfortable with squats before you can really focus in on hitting your quads. This means getting your technique down and building the core muscles sufficiently, this takes a while. Leg press you just get on and go.

2, Some people are genetically predisposed to use more hip/lower back or more ham/glute in a squat. Rendering it less effective as a quad builder.

Basically its a personal thing, however I believe the vast majority of people will benefit from incorporating both in leg workout.

[RockyIV]

Leg press is as good as squats

You couldn't be more wrong. Squats are king

[TulsaCoker]

Here are the results of the best workout exercises study::
(100% would signify maximum muscle fiber stimulation)


Rectus femoris (quads)
Squats (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----88%
Seated leg extensions (toes straight) -------86
Hack squats (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----78
Leg press (110 degree angle) ----------------76
Smith machine (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----60

[iSkinny]

No offense to Tulsa but I hate when people quote the Bompa EMG study - despite being a brilliant man, yes periodization, that study was planned very **** - as, this being a perfect example of why it was planned so ****, it only was performed on one of the heads of the quads. There is also new physiological information which may disapprove his entire set of results due to the the placing of the pads.

Either way though, **** study or no study, machines decrease the involvement of stabilization, and muscles are responsible for stabilization thus activated MORE during movements involving an increased demand for stabilzation.

Both > squats > leg press.

[Caracalla]

At the moment i have to use a small community gym for back and legs, i workout the rest with free weights at home.
But at the gym they only have leg press, leg curls, and ham curls for legs,
and for back, its lat pulldown, and the machine row lifts, oh yah and pullups,.

Will these workouts be good enough?
I used to do deadlifts and squats but im doing a lighter workout for now.

you wasted a paragraph, you should have posted," I get too sweaty and tired when I do deads and squats and anything i might have to be creative on to do so is is ok if i do all the easy stuff instead, im lazy?"

[golfwolf]

what about behind the neck Smith Squats, front Smith Squats, or Leg Press?

[Defiant1]

At the moment i have to use a small community gym for back and legs, i workout the rest with free weights at home.
But at the gym they only have leg press, leg curls, and ham curls for legs,
and for back, its lat pulldown, and the machine row lifts, oh yah and pullups,.

Will these workouts be good enough?
I used to do deadlifts and squats but im doing a lighter workout for now.

Can you make good progress?


Yes.