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Q.
What
are the advantages and disadvantages of doing
leg curls and leg extentions instead of doing
squats?
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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).
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