Question for strongmen and massers......

[The Shadow]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your theory. I thought you were of the opinion that you could work specific parts of a muscle or muscle head to a significant degree to force some sort of localized adaptation. For example, the "inner chest", or declines for the "lower chest". Do I have your take on this wrong?

Certain exercises hit particular areas of the target muscle - yes.

Ex - French press hits mainly long head of triceps...decline nose breakers hit all three heads...etc....

leg extensions hit areas of the quads that are also involved in squatting. Most pl'ers do not do extensions...my question is why not....when it has bveen shown that the extensions will strengthen the quad muscles which will build a bigger squat...

 

[b fold the truth]

Louie Simmons threw his leg extension machine out in the front parking lot and has never allowed it back in his gym.

The quads are used in the squat to a degree...but not in the strength squat. The olympic squat is highly a quad exercise but I feel that there are other movements that would aid more in quad strength development than the leg extension. The hack squat, front squat, and elevated heel squat would strengthen your squat more than the leg extension.

It is all about finding the exercise that is most efficient towards your goals. If you want to increase your squats...you do not need to spend time doing leg extensions...you need to be doing Goodmornings, rev hypers, glute ham calf raises and maybe some other type of "quad" squat if you are lacking in quad recruitment.

Chuck V squatted 1025 at 220lbs I believe...and he doesn't do leg extensions, probably for a good reason.

 

[The Shadow]

Fold - I understand where you are coming from...but the question still remains...no other exercise hits the quads as effectively as extensions...not hacks, front squats, etc.....quads are still involved in the power/lifting squat. Why shy away from extensions specifically??

 

[frorider6]

My take on this - In a perfect world, we'd be able to train every muscle and every muscle combination all day long without overtraining. But we can't. There has to be tradeoffs.

I think a person's training regimine needs overall balance, with an emphasis on what you're training for. I'm going for more bodybuilder goals at the moment but I won't ignore the powerlift moves like squats and deadlifts. I probably won't do a lot of Farmer's Walks and log carries right now as they just won't fit into my routine. I also wouldn't expect a powerlifter to do a lot of machine work such as leg extensions.

I do think that there are many exercises that need to be rotated into one's training but may not have a permenant place.

My example:
Should a powerlifter do leg extensions? I believe he should, but more as a rotation thing to keep the muscle guessing and to polish them off after a hard leg session. I wouldn't prioritize it though.

 

[b fold the truth]

I think that most powerlifters do hip belt squats if they feel that they need to bring up their quad strength.

I have never felt that doing leg extensions of any sort would help a squat. That is similar to saying that a tric kick back will help to bring up your flat bench. It might....but you could do other exercises that would do it more.

The squat uses so many different muscles just to do the exercise properly. If I am looking for an exercise to increase my squat and I have to choose between the leg extension or any other type of squat...I pick the other exercise everytime because it will have the greatest carry over. The quads go through a different type of movement in a squat than they do in the leg extension...it does not serve the functional purpose needed to improve the squat.

I think that more people fail on a squat because of their hips, hams, and back strength...not because of quad strength. Why spend time training the least limiting factor?

Lots of people focus on exercises that are for the muscles that they can see. The main focus of a lot of people are the shoulders, bic, chest, abs, and quads. The strength comes from the tric, rear delts, back, erectors, glutes, hams, and calves...those are the limiting factors...so focus on them.

B True

 

[The Shadow]

I got it.

Your contention is that the quads are not really activated during the grunt part of the lift - ie - bottom thru midrange and only come into play duing lock-out which is the strongest range anyway...

Correct?



Props to Arioch.

 

[I'D RATHER BE DEADLIFTING]

Frorider- why would a powerlifter want to "polish" off his quads after a lower body session? That is ridiculous.

 

[The Shadow]

Frorider- why would a powerlifter want to "polish" off his quads after a lower body session? That is ridiculous.

...an increaded pump correltae quite well to increased growth