Whats the diff?

[Crisp]

I've never squated before and I don't care to. I do however use a legs press now. Whats the big difference in these exercises? I've noticed they work all of the same muscles. I can easly press 330lbs, is a leg press just the easy way to do it, or the safe way?

[$AJ]

w/o going into all the fun issues (e.g,. neuro-physiological), let's just put it this way - you can build good legs from lifts like extensions and leg presses, BUT you'll never get as strong or as big as if you squatted. plus squatting also serves as a load-bearing exercise to teach force preoperceptions. something leg pressing can't do.

summary - leg pressing = 6/10. squatting = 10/10.

[Myth Destroyer]

w/o going into all the fun issues (e.g,. neuro-physiological), let's just put it this way - you can build good legs from lifts like extensions and leg presses, BUT you'll never get as strong or as big as if you squatted. plus squatting also serves as a load-bearing exercise to teach force preoperceptions. something leg pressing can't do.

summary - leg pressing = 6/10. squatting = 10/10.

Are you sure the word is spelled preoperception?

[Crisp]

summary - leg pressing = 6/10. squatting = 10/10.

so it's safe to say a 330lbs leg press would be a 200lb squat?

[$AJ]

so it's safe to say a 330lbs leg press would be a 200lb squat?

absolutely, positively NOT!

if you've never squatted before, i'd doubt if, ont he first go, you'd be able to put up anymore than 140ish.

if you want to, say, look at Ronnie - he can leg press something like 3000pds for reps, but he can only squat 800 for 2. (and this isn't to show that there's a % you can use to figure 1 from the other...it's just to show squatting won't be anywhere near leg pressing...leg pressing is easy)

Are you sure the word is spelled preoperception?

drugs make AJ loopy

[Crisp]

damn, well then no squats at the gym till I can 200+ them at home.

[$AJ]

damn, well then no squats at the gym till I can 200+ them at home.

why? you're there to lift and improve. nobody cares how much you're lifting. infact, the people who do care are usually the skinny noobs who've plateaued and can't figure out why.

[Fit_4_Life]

Squats are great. Don't worry about the weight you are start with. It doesn't take a long time to make gains. Give it a try.

As for leg presses, AJ is correct there will be a big difference between the weights you can do.

I currently do both squats and presses on leg days, as well as extensions and SLDLs. To give you an idea on the weight differential. I have only been lifting since March '04. My personal best on squats is 315x5 and leg presses is 600x8. I started out squatting 120 and pressing 220.

I am curious if there is a particular reason you aren't interested in squats? (I wasn't either initially. They intimidated me since I knew nothing about proper form and from having misconceptions about injuries.)

[imageek]

accept it, a lot of people (even some pros) hate squat
the most common exercises i see in the squat rack in my gym are bb shrugs and bb curl@, and guess what, there are ALWAYS people lining up for the leg press machine.

to give you the best example, I had to stop doing squat a while ago because they were making my legs too big, I have freaky leg genetics. I then switched to leg press, and I can tell you now that the gains from leg press were no match to squat. my progress in other lifts also slowed down (especially deadlift). when I finally switched back to squat I realized that I lost a **** load of strength in my legs.

[Crisp]

I am curious if there is a particular reason you aren't interested in squats? (I wasn't either initially. They intimidated me since I knew nothing about proper form and from having misconceptions about injuries.)

ya i'm just worried about an injury, their tough to do aswell you sit back so far if you fall your ****ed. Anyways, i'l give them a try slowly.

[Moreps]

ya i'm just worried about an injury, their tough to do aswell you sit back so far if you fall your ****ed. Anyways, i'l give them a try slowly.

Doing squats will help prevent injuries by taking your foundational core stregnth to another level.
Leg presses are fine, but only as an adjunct to squats. A compound multi-joint movement such as squats and deadlifts will produce hypertrophy throughout your body.

[dbmyers]

Why do you think doing squats will sacrifice your dunking ability?

[Crisp]

Why do you think doing squats will sacrifice your dunking ability?

I posted this before I figure if something ain't broke don't fix it, I don't want huge lumps for legs.

[RyShy87]

You sound like a girl who doesn't want to lift because she thinks she'll get all big and bulky. You wont grow lumpy legs unless you want to.