Leg Press Vs. Squat

Many fitness freaks believe that there cannot be any comparison between leg press and squat. Some think otherwise. I think one cannot compare these two as they are totally different forms of exercises.

Squats is one of the whole body exercises primarily focusing on lower body whereas leg press is one of the leg exercises. So, instead of pulling you in the debate, I will tell you about their benefits and drawbacks, that will help you know what suits you better.

Squats work not only on the leg muscles, but the entire trunk and lower body muscles. It helps you tone the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, abdominal and lower back muscles.

Squatting also releases hormones that promote muscle growth that help you build muscles, not only of the legs but the entire body. You can perform free squats aka squats without weights, weight squats, or squats with dumbbells. Weightlifting squats help you strengthen your legs and increase whole body strength.

It also helps you improve your stamina and is one of the best cardio exercises. Squatting is also known to be safe, as all the movement it involves is sitting on a fictitious chair and standing again.

Apart from this, they can be performed by almost everyone. That is the reason, it is known as the king of exercises. It helps you burn more calories, if you compare seated leg press with squats, squats help you burn more calories than leg press.

According to many health experts squats exercises are not for everyone. Obese and excessively overweight people cannot perform squats, as it can be injurious to their knees and leg muscles.

People with heart problems are also advised not to perform squats, as it can be threatening for their heart health. Some also believe that it puts too much strain on the body and muscles making it very difficult to perform.

In the debate of leg press vs. squats, it is often said that, in the leg press a person is provided with support but it is not the case with squats. For example, if you consider leg press vs. hack squat then, leg press is safer than hack squats.

Leg press helps you build leg muscles with less risk of muscle injury. With the help of leg press machine you can put controlled and fixed strain on the muscles.

If you compare leg press machine vs. squats, leg press machine makes the workout easy and safe for you, whereas, squats are performed without a machine and hence the person has to manage the control that increase the chances of wrong exercise.

Leg press also works on multiple joints and muscles in the lower body. These were some of the leg press benefits. In short, leg press is a safe exercise for leg muscles, that involves optimum support from the machine.

Some fitness experts believe that leg press is not as effective as squats. It does not challenge the muscles as much as squats do. If you compare leg press and squat weight, then weightlifting squats offer you more health benefits than leg press.

The only thing you need to be careful is following the correct squats technique. Another drawback of leg press is that it provides exercise to the legs and does not challenge the upper body. A free leg press is not useful for your body, you have to perform it with weights.

Some experts also say that, after a certain time when your legs get accustomed to the weight, you feel no challenge in performing leg press, that results in no muscle building. Another limitation of leg press is that it can be performed in limited ways, on the other hand, squats can be performed in different styles with variations.

From the earlier comparative information discussed, you can take a call for yourself. It essentially depends on the health goal of a person to decide whether he should opt for squats or leg press.