


Push through your midfoot to bring the legs back into complete extension.Drive the knees back and stop just short of touching the chest.Push against the platform until your legs are completely extended.Place feet lower on the platform and about hip width apart or closer than your regular stance.Set the back pad up so that you are comfortable.
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While a lower and narrower stance can target the quads, a wider and higher stance can target the glutes and hamstrings much more.Īdditional quad activation can be achieved by utilizing the internal cue of pushing through the toes.On that note, here are several other options for exercises that take the glutes out and focus primarily on the quads and hamstrings 9 Best Leg Ex e rcises That Don’t Use Glutes How To Do It ĭifferent leg press foot placement can activate the hips, quads, and glutes in different capacities. This modification makes the close stance leg press a good leg extension replacement. While the regular leg press targets the quads and glutes, we can bring our stance in to prioritize the quads to a greater degree. In turn, this will recruit the knee extensors/knee flexors (quads/hamstrings) over the muscles, while placing less of an emphasis on the muscles of the hips. Elevating the heels will decrease the range of motion of the hip, while increasing the range of motion and demand of the knee.

The quadricep muscle group consists of the 4 big muscles on the front of the thigh bone. Takeaway: A good leg extension alternative will predominantly target the muscles of the quadriceps, limiting the use of other lower body muscles like the glutes, hamstrings, and calves. The leg extension exercise isolates the action of knee extension, which effectively targets all four parts of the quadriceps muscles. The muscles used in the leg extension are: Let’s look into these factors a bit further. Prioritize the quadricep femoris muscle group as much as possible.Target similar muscle groups as worked in the leg extension.What Makes A Good Leg Extension Alternative?Ī good machine leg extension alternative will accomplish one of the following: In this article, I will break down each exercise, including why it might be a better alternative over the leg extension, how to do it properly, and some tips to get the most out of it. These alternatives include a variety of barbell, machine, and bodyweight leg extension exercises. Dumbbell Goblet Squats with Elevated Heels.Front Foot Elevated Bulgarian Split Squat.Here are the 15 best leg extension alternatives: However, leg extensions can be quite boring (especially if you’ve had them in your program for several weeks), and access to a machine might be limited. Fortunately, there are equally-as-beneficial leg extension alternative exercises that can target similar musculature. And what really sets them apart is that they are a single-joint isolation exercise that can “burn out the quad,” even after a heavy lower body workout. I like to incorporate leg extensions toward the end of my workouts. It’s a great way to work the big muscles in the front of your legs, known as the quadriceps. The leg extension machine is a popular addition to any regular gym-goer’s workout routine.
