Wwyd?

[MAFMAN]

Question of the day...

If you had to choose from one of the following for leg exercises, which would you choose?
A) Leg Press
B) Weighted db Lunges
C) Smith Machine Squats
D) None of the above, do standard squats and deadlifts

Okay, so of course D is the correct answer for 99% of you. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a barbell or squat rack, so that left me with the other 3 choices. Intuitively one would think that that the smith machine squat would be best as it's closest to the standard squat, but I've heard that the straight up-down movement is unnatural and can hurt your joints. That left me with 2 choices. I eventually chose leg press. I've also added some supplemental leg curls to hit the hamstrings, too.

So, would you have chosen the same? Or does somebody have other suggestions of a leg movement that can be done with dumbbells that is more effective than leg presses?

 

[Totentanz]

The leg press is a fine exercise. Supplement with leg curl, romanian deadlift or whatever for hams. I've actually paired leg press with conventional deadlifts in the past without any issues. I never do lunges for actual working sets. They do a good job for stretching the legs after your workout though. Weighted or unweighted when doing them for stretching. So what I would recommend you try is doing leg press for your working sets then afterwards something for hams and after all that, either light or unweighted lunges to get a good stretch.

 

[MAFMAN]

I would love to do deadlifts, but unfortunately I don't have a barbell. Sounds like I'm stuck with what I'm currently doing.

Weighted lunges do more than stretch for me. I walk across the room with pretty heavy dumbells, which does provide a pretty good workout. But I do think that presses will definitely yield better mass.

As always, thanks for your thoughts.

 

[alam906]

I'd pick leg presses too or use dumbbell for squats, free weights are always good. You can try goblet squats (hold a single dumbbell at the plate in front of your chest and squat). The drawback is that you can use as much weight since dumbbells cap out at 120lbs, at my gym at least.