Why You Need Both Leg Press and Leg Extension
If you aren’t performing both leg press and leg extension, you are missing out. Authors of a new study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise analyzed the impact of leg extension and leg press on muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth).
The results have significant implications for the design of our workouts.
In this study, one group of adults performed leg extensions while a second group performed leg presses.
The group that performed leg extensions (and no leg press) experienced hypertrophy of the quadriceps (front of the thigh), exactly as we would expect.
The group that performed leg press (and not leg extensions) experienced almost identical muscle hypertrophy of the quadriceps.
But when we examine further, only the group that did leg extensions experienced hypertrophy of the rectus femoris (the outermost muscle located at the middle of our thigh).
To be clear, the quadriceps of the leg press group grew, but the rectus femoris didn’t grow at all (only the other quadriceps muscles grew). This is important as the strength of the rectus femoris is critical for preventing knee pain, rehabilitating after significant knee injury, and prevention of re-injury.
We could argue that the rectus femoris is the most important quad muscle. Importantly, it is impossible to target with leg press, squats, lunges, or step ups. We need leg extensions.
Just as important, the leg press group stimulated significant hypertrophy to the glutes (the buttocks) and the adductor (inner thigh).
Bottom line:
We need to do leg extensions to strengthen the rectus femoris.
If we want great glutes, we should do leg presses (and we’ll reap quad and adductor benefits as well).
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