need strength help

[Vegetamode]

My buddy can do 16 plate leg press full rom but only 160 on leg extensions and curls…
I can only do 10 plats on leg press full rom but 245lb+45 hung off the pin for leg extensions and 240+25lb hung off pin on curls……why is he stronger than me on press but weaker on isolation? Full rom for him is 3-4 inches away from bottoming out press on owest setting…mine is kissing the rubber…idk if that helps

[SuicideGripMe]

The Leg Press is probably the worst gauge of strength.

I'd say you should both do squats, same form either parallel or full-ROM, and see where your sticking points are or how and where your form breaks down. That would be a better way to tell your weak areas.

[TheShadowMan]

I don't count it as a true gauge of strength unless it has all three parts of an exercise's range of motion - concentric, eccentric, and isometric. Machines don't give you that, they're meant for special usage, like rehabilitation and isolation. I knew a guy once, could leg press around 1200 but up against a dumbbell front squat he was lucky if he could do a few reps with 20's. Free weight and bodyweight can be very humbling and a way better test of strength than comfy machines can.

[air2fakie]

Nothing wrong with leg press & leg extensions, but if you & your buddy fancy yourselves as "strength" guys you might want to do some real lifts.

[jaxqen]

I don't count it as a true gauge of strength unless it has all three parts of an exercise's range of motion - concentric, eccentric, and isometric. Machines don't give you that, they're meant for special usage, like rehabilitation and isolation.

I knew a guy once, could leg press around 1200 but up against a dumbbell front squat he was lucky if he could do a few reps with 20's.

Don't machines have a concentric, an eccentric and an isometric?
I would say the difference between machines and free weights = the ROM is fixed vs different directions


Come on!
Not saying I don't believe you, but this has to be 1 in a million.
Maybe he used a partial ROM on press and had some mobility issues on the squat.

[Vegetamode]

I can’t squat becuAse of knee issues so I work around it as much as possible with machines and hex bar deadlift/carry’s.

[SuicideGripMe]

I can’t squat becuAse of knee issues so I work around it as much as possible with machines and hex bar deadlift/carry’s.

Learning to box squat would be way better for your knee health than leg presses could ever be... especially as it sounds like you and your partner enjoy dumping plates on a machine.

[air2fakie]

I can’t squat becuAse of knee issues so I work around it as much as possible with machines and hex bar deadlift/carry’s.

It’s a good thing your knee issues don’t affect you going for 1RMs on the leg extension and leg press machines.

[TolerantLactose]

why is he stronger than me on press but weaker on isolation?

Asks question

I can’t squat becuAse of knee issues so I work around it as much as possible with machines and hex bar deadlift/carry’s.

Answers question

So different exercises have different demands and causes different adaptations? How strange.

[EliKoehn]

Do a proper freeweight exercise as a litmus test if raw strength is your goal. There's an argument to be made for efficient localized hypertrophy in the case of lean bodybuilders who use machines but if raw strength is your goal, machines are not going to be your flagship lifts.

[GeneralSerpant]

Different strength curves. Between any two exercises really, but overall strength can be a factor (consistency more or less between exercises).

Intensity is hard and stability is hard. You can't really get rid of one or the other for convincing strength assessment. Intensity on the machines won't get very far in progression without proper stability. Squats can be unreliable indication too if the form is compromised in some way... but it's mostly coming down to particular curves on the LE as I was saying also.

[jaxqen]

Different strength curves. Between any two exercises really, but overall strength can be a factor (consistency more or less between exercises).

Intensity is hard and stability is hard. You can't really get rid of one or the other for convincing strength assessment. Intensity on the machines won't get very far in progression without proper stability. Squats can be unreliable indication too if the form is compromised in some way... but it's mostly coming down to particular curves on the LE as I was saying also.

You have different strength curves even on only free weight exercises. BOR has a different strength curve than BP.

I don't understand why you cannot really get rid of the stability part because:
1. you need stability on machines. Especially on plate loaded ones, with low reps, you need stability.
2. There is a spectrum regarding stability. Machines are more stable than barbells, but barbells are LESS stable than bodyweight exercises and cable exercises. Also, dumbbells are even more unstable. A one arm one leg squat push press on a bosu ball is really unstable.

3. The way I see it, all of them {bb, db, cb, mh, bw} have {well, it depends on the person using them}:
a) concentric part
b) eccentric part
c) isometric part
d) intensity
e) stability - more or less, in this order: MH < BB < BW < CB < DB < unilateral exercises on unstable surfaces