Broke my leg extension/ leg curl machine.... Now What?????

[Iplan]

Well, I got my squat rack a few months ago, and have really enjoyed incorporating squatting into my leg routine of quad extensions, hamstring curls, and calf raises. As of today, I've added an inch on my legs (26 inches now ~ which is good, but still a far cry from the 28 inch guns I used to walk around with back in the day)..... ahh memories.....

Regardless, I broke my leg machine in the process of regaining some of my old form, so my extensions and curls are on hold for now.

I have a pretty well equipped home gym, and was thinking of just doing more squats (currently doing 5 sets of 12), in lieu of the other two exercises, or maybe adding forward and reverse lunges.

Are there some other exercises that might be better?

All suggestions are appreciated. Suggestions that begin with something other than, "Join a gym" are really appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[tom183]

Lunges, Bulgarin split squats, front squats, good mornings, sldl's, rdl's.

[Off Road]

Lunges, Bulgarin split squats, front squats, good mornings, sldl's, rdl's.

All good ones. Also, Step-Ups, Barbell Hack Squats, Pull-Throughs, Ankle weight Leg Curls, and many different movements using bands.

[Raleighwood]

Consider it a blessing your leg extension machine broke. Open chain exercises like that really set you up for injury or imbalances in the future.

I do a little work with a big football team and some olympic lifters and they do not touch machines like that.

[gmen5681]

you are looking to get bigger legs and are upset your leg extension machine broke? you should be doing squats, i dont understand how people come on this website and still talk about things like that. no one here uses that stuff. compounds lifts, try them they work and have worked for many many many years. far before leg extensions and leg curl machines were around. try reading a couple stickies. research this stuff before you just jump into a stupid routine with movements that are more than likely going to hurt you in the long run. that stuff is hell on your knees.

[Iplan]

you are looking to get bigger legs and are upset your leg extension machine broke? you should be doing squats, i dont understand how people come on this website and still talk about things like that. no one here uses that stuff. compounds lifts, .

lol.... I do squats ~ so don't think I'm not reading the forum..... It's just that I also do other things on leg day as well.

BTW, the reasons people still do the leg extensions and curls, and still talk about them is because they do have a place in leg development. When I had 28 inch legs, (that btw were bigger and more cut than all the other guys I knew that squatted), all I did to get them was leg extensions, hamstring curls, and calf raises. I didn't start squatting anything until earlier this year, after I'd lost about 3 inches on my legs due to an injury, and was looking to regain form. That's also when I joined WBB, and I did it based on the suggestions you guys made.....

I'm going to rotate the suggested exercises through my next few leg workouts, and pick the full time replacements after that.

I'll post the two that made the cut.

[gmen5681]

was it an injury to your knee perhaps?

[Iplan]

was it an injury to your knee perhaps?

No, it was a groin tear ~ not even lifting related. I injured it skimboarding at the beach, it got worse and worse for 6 months, then went to physical therapy after it had stretched upward into my abs. At that point, I couldn't raise my head off the pillow. Anyway, it cost me a year......


BTW, not that I'm advocating not squatting, but Dorian Yates didn't squat too much, and he turned out all right.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQvjCoHnCes&NR=1

[Allen Cress]

Everything has its place. If developement is your main goal then leg extentions and curls have their place and should be utlized but should never be the only leg exercises done. Obviously squating and its variations should be used in a leg program to get the best development. Depending on the build and anatomical leverage of an individual squats may not be the best thing to increase mass due to lack of range of motion and thats where you should implement unilateral exercises such as split squats and lunges. Especially if you have had a groin injury once its healed you need to incorporate more single leg movements.

All exercises can be used if properly placed in a program. Nothing wrong with leg extentions and curls just to make them the only movements.

You can even do bodyweight complexes like Quad blasts to train legs as well and these are as brutal as a set of 20 rep squats. You can place them in the middle of a leg day or do them at the end of an upper body day about 3 days between leg day.

BW Speed squats X 24
BW alternate Lunges X 24 (12 each leg)
BW split jumps X 24
BW Squat jumps X 10 or Max

take 0-20 sec between each exercise and do for 2-4 sets

[greemah]

Would doing leg extensions, glute ham raises, and calf raises be a good overall leg workout?

Edit: I personally squat, I'm just trying to find out why things like this don't work, as all the lower body muscles are being worked doing the above exercises so I don't see why this wouldn't be as good as a squat (apart from saving time)

[tom183]

^-- There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat - Mark Rippetoe

[Iplan]

Here's a summary of my first leg workout without my leg machine.

I did
1. Deep Squats 5 x 12 [I took 50 lbs off the bar, and made sure I went deep (way past parallel to activate the quads)]
2. Reverse Lunges 2x12
3. 3 sets of calf raises to failure, and got out of town.....

I'm not sure this is going to be enough of a load for growth, because I'm cutting the number of sets from 14 down to 10.

I was doing Squats to parallel 5x12
Quad Extension 3x12
Hamstring Curls 3x12
Calf Raises 3 sets to failure

One positive note: I left thinking "Leg Workout Day doesn't suck anymore."

[IronDiggy]

I'd say front squats or narrow stance squats for quads, some form of a dl for hammies

[Iplan]

I'd say some form of a dl for hammies

Hey that's a good suggestion, and I'm remiss in not mentioning that I do Deadlifts on a different day....

[IronDiggy]

Hey that's a good suggestion, and I'm remiss in not mentioning that I do Deadlifts on a different day....

My days usually run, Squat main, DL's for accessory like RDL's or SLDL or some variation. same goes for DL day, I squat as an accessory, speed, front, zercher, ect.

[greemah]

^-- There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat - Mark Rippetoe

This sounds like it would make sense for a powerlifter or if you were lifting for practical strength, but from a bodybuilding perspective not all that relevant

[Off Road]

This sounds like it would make sense for a powerlifter or if you were lifting for practical strength, but from a bodybuilding perspective not all that relevant

Because increased strength, muscle mass, hormones, and appetite has no effect on bodybuilding? Seriously?

[greemah]

I was refering mainly to bone density etc (don't know anything about that or how it relates to bodybuilding)

I was always under the impression that if you work a muscle to failure it is going to grow the same no matter what exercise you chose?

[tom183]

^--So a 100RM set of tricep kickbacks is as good as a 5RM set of dips?

[greemah]

I was meaning in the same rep scheme

[Off Road]

I was always under the impression that if you work a muscle to failure it is going to grow the same no matter what exercise you chose?

I think most exercises have merit and can be utilized at different stages. But, there is a big difference between a heavy squat and leg extensions when it comes to growth. I could get really in depth with tons of explanations, but a simple analogy will do just fine...

If you were to take a new lifter and have him do nothing but leg extensions for a couple of months, and I mean nothing else but leg extensions, what progress do you think he will make? He may gain some size in his quads, but given the light amount of weight that has to be used, I'm sure it would be minimal. Also, the chance of knee injury is increased if he does try to use some heavier weights. The effects on the rest of his body will be nothing short of ZERO.

Now switch that same guy to a routine that uses nothing but progressively heavier squats for a couple of months. What do you think the gains will be now? You will see incredible strength and size gains throughout the body. The quads, hamstrings, calves, hips, glutes, shoulders and back will all see a strength and size boost. There is no way around it, the squat is a full body growth exercise.

Now when recovery is at a premium, you want training economy, fewer lifts that cover the entire body. That will ensure the most growth with the fewest exercises to maximize recovery. Would it make more sense to include a leg extension that only hits the quads, or a squat that will hit the entire body? Me, I'll choose squats over anything else if I'm able to do them.

[Raleighwood]

I was refering mainly to bone density etc (don't know anything about that or how it relates to bodybuilding)

I was always under the impression that if you work a muscle to failure it is going to grow the same no matter what exercise you chose?

No way. Your body responds dramatically different depending on the intensity and volume of the movement.

To give you a brief idea... There are 2 types of hypertrophy (sarcoplasmic, myofibril) and handful of different types of strength (speed strength, starting strength, strength endurance, limit strength). There are a handful of muscle fiber types (Type I, Type IIa, Type IIb, and possibly a couple more depending on the text you are reading). These are not the only variables in the training equation...

Training frequency, intensity, volume, nutrition affects all these things and will in turn affect your strength and size gains.

So to say that training to failure with any weight/exercise will give the same growth response is inaccurate.

[greemah]

Ah ok I see now thanks guys. Forgot about the muscle fibers etc

Guess it was a good thing that I dismantled the leg extension component of my bench when I got it