Leg presses killing my lower back

[MaxxReps]

Smith machine lunges are a great compound exercise. If you are looking to isolate a bit more stiff leg deadlifts for hams and narrow squats for quads. If you are into machines the standard curl and extensions are ok but I feel heavy extensions are hard on the knees.

 

[stantonz71]

Why not front squats or zercher squats? I've been alternating these two with my heavy back squats. To be honest... I feel more with the lighter front and zercher squats than going heavy on my back squats.

 

[Quality Poster]

You can do squats as suggested and finish off with leg press if you like.

As for your lower back problem, go as low as you can without letting your butt comes off the bad or allowing your lower back to round.

P.S. our body mechanics are slightly different so if you feel uncomfortable doing leg press even though you're using the correct form then it's not worth it to risk it; drop it.

 

[Fishak]

Get some front squats...

Sent from my PC36100 using EliteFitness

 

[Brapbrap07]

......... make sure your butt stays on the seat..... make sure to use nothing but your heels on leg press..... move your feet as high as they can go on the plate to achieve a good fulcrum point. Congrats back problems averted

learn and apply

 

[Creepusmaximus]

One legged presses. Do hack squats cause you a problem??? Stick with one legged anything because that takes half the weight off of your back but your legs won't know the difference. Even squats just put one leg behind you up on a bench and squat like normal but you'll only be doing one leg at a time. Takes a little to get the balance down but it's better then having chronic back problems.

Get rid of the belt it's hurting you more than helping. Work on your core, planks whatever. Try a plank on your elbows, if you can't hold it very long that would be a major problem to work on. If you're shaking and falling apart at 10 seconds then you have a weak core for sure. Strong core = strong back.

 

[TrueLiberal]

Leg presses put your spine in a precarious position if you let your butt lift off the seat and let your lower back round. Hip belt squats are a great alternative to back squats if you can't tolerate loading your spine.