21
votes
Accepted
If a child scooters everyday, does it make one leg of him/her larger than the other?
Unilateral training does indeed lead to a difference between the size and strength of the muscles on each side. However, most active individuals have discrepancies between their dominant and non-...
- 6,181
11
votes
10
votes
Accepted
Reasons to train lower body
It's important to keep one's legs in good working order for anyone who wants to retain the ability to get out of bed, climb stairs, stand up off the toilet, walk around a hilly neighborhood, run away ...
- 25.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Should I lock my knees doing Leg Press?
No, the knees should not be locked out.* See caveat.
The two primary reasons:
Once the knees are locked all the weight is transferred directly to the joint, which can be disasterous
Not locking out ...
- 2,287
7
votes
What is this calf gym machine called?
Also search for "gastrocnemius press" or "gastrocnemius machine."
But I agree with the other comment, you can usually get 90% of the benefit of this with existing equipment, be it ...
7
votes
Do squat and deadlift work the hip flexors and extensors in a balanced way?
The purpose of the hip flexors are to lift the legs when walking or running.
The purpose of the hip extensors are to lift the whole body when walking or running.
Since the whole body is a lot heavier ...
- 3,727
6
votes
Accepted
Lower leg training
The smaller leg muscles, we can pick on the extensor digitorum longus or the sartorius (as examples) are not supposed to be individually engaged. They are role-specific, and supposed to serve in a ...
- 14.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Warming up without legs
It's perfectly common to warm up your upper body by simply doing upper body work.
If you're doing bench press, for instance, let your warmup consist of 5-6 lightweight, high-repetition sets of bench ...
- 18k
6
votes
Accepted
Are squats on the tip of the feet and bending back good for the legs?
I believe you're describing a Sissy Squat *. This is a great body-weight exercise for developing your quadriceps. However, sissy squats don't work the glutes at all; instead recruiting the hip flexors....
- 4,599
6
votes
Do squat and deadlift work the hip flexors and extensors in a balanced way?
I've seen plenty of leg routines based entirely (or almost entirely)
on squats and deadlifts. My simple question is this routine is
balanced.
This question seems to depend on the assumption that it ...
- 14.7k
5
votes
Walking faster V/s Running
The Gait Cycle (Walking vs Running)
The above image compares the gait cycles of walking and running. The same concepts that apply to walking apply to power walking. The only thing that changes is ...
- 2,817
5
votes
Accepted
Is it quite OKAY to do 45 Degree Leg Press alone to replace squat?
It is not going to replace squat.
You can see which muscles the squat hits here and leg press here.
You see, in the squat you use other muscles as well like your erector spinae, obliques and abs. ...
- 398
5
votes
Does cardio build muscle?
This is going to be a yes and no answer, and here is why.
If you start from nothing, you will have not have a lot of muscle mass in your legs. Cardio activities such as running, sprinting and cycling ...
- 4,191
5
votes
Are leg 'pull' exercises a thing?
Well, yes. But actually no.
If we examine your example with "doing squats with your feet glued to the ceiling", we'll find that there's a set of joints that are closing. Namely the hip and ...
- 18k
4
votes
Accepted
Does running/biking suffice as a leg workout?
Please use low-impact exercises till you are fit enough to run. A lot of people make the mistake of using running as an exercise to get fit which can backfire.
Rowing - Uses upper body as well and ...
- 282
4
votes
What next, after Pistol Squats
You can always increase the time you are doing the exercise, increasing the time under tension. In addition to it, you can also do the same exercises with "holds". For example, you can stay in pistol ...
- 884
4
votes
Accepted
Felt like passing out doing Bulgarian Split Squats
Your work capacity is lacking.
Borrowing from my answer here:
Cardio.
It's a bit of a meme in powerlifting that powerlifters never do cardio. Don't fall into that trap. The energy demands of compound ...
- 4,313
3
votes
Unable to do leg day
Is there a reason for training volume you use? I would ask you two questions:
are you world class pro (in your goal)?
do you take performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)?
If your answer is NO for both ...
- 411
3
votes
Most efficient way to stand?
Probably depends just how still you have to stand. Beefeaters (the fellows in black hats and red jackets who stand at attention at the Tower of London) have to stand absolutely still for hours at a ...
- 223
3
votes
Accepted
During squat (front & back), is it mechanically possible to work the glutes more than the quads? How?
To understand how to correct the problem, it often helps to think carefully about what, exactly, might be happening. But in summary, it may help to:
take a shoulder-width stance,
externally rotate ...
- 6,181
3
votes
Is it right that frontal muscles above knee gets tired (don't like it) during bicycling with heightened load (>260W)?
I wonder - what muscles can be [approx 5-15 cm above knee]? My guess is that there are very few muscles and they should not be important for the cycling.
That would be the quadriceps, and they are ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
Building the thigh muscles near the knee area
If you aren't already, make sure you include full range of motion squat patterns in your programming. I used to do leg extension variations until I was blue in the face to grow my VMO (the medial ...
- 481
3
votes
Accepted
Is Calves Raises barefoot a proper training method?
I wouldn't go as far to say that training barefoot is always superior to training with shoes on. There are situations where certain types of shoes provide some benefit to being completely barefoot.
In ...
- 8,851
3
votes
How important is it to train glute medius?
How important is it to train glute medius?
I would say, follow the advice of your physiotherapist. You say you run into trouble when you don't stick to your exercise, so these seem to be working for ...
- 362
2
votes
is the squat a complete exercise for the legs?
I like @MiloMartinovich's answer, and want to add a couple of things:
You don't indicate which type of squat you do. I recommend the low-bar back squat, because it uniquely engages the hamstrings as ...
- 1,801
2
votes
How to get definition in the outer calves
We are commonly advised to turn the toes in (medially rotate) in order to emphasise the lateral head, and to turn the toes out (laterally rotate) in order to emphasise the medial head. And this notion ...
- 6,181
2
votes
Healthy way of losing leg muscle
Reality check: If you are "morbidly obese" in BMI you are definitely NOT at 10% body-fat. It's impossible to prove without a photo but I suspect you still have a lot of weight you can lose.
As ...
- 6,982
2
votes
Accepted
Hex Bar Deadlift: Should my upper back be sore?
Yes, upper back soreness from any deadlift is perfectly normal.
Keep in mind, the weight is hinged on your shoulders. That's where it is attached to your torso. When you bend forward, you have to ...
- 18k
2
votes
looking for best way to progressively increase my leg muscles without making my hurt cartilage more hurt?
Please consider quitting seated leg presses and other machine-based movements. These can bias your exertion toward quad-dominance, which may exacerbate imbalances in forces in your knees.
Instead, ...
- 1,801
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