Five Reasons Why Squats are Better than Leg Press
Firm, healthy and strong legs are obtainable with constant exercise. Often, infomercials and gyms sell us certain products, among them: the leg press machine. It is effective to some extent, but there’s one exercise that can bring many more benefits to your legs: squats.
One of the benefits of squats compared to the leg press is that there’s a huge variety of them and they’re more intense and effective in some areas of the body.
In this article we show you five reasons why you should choose squats over the leg press. Take note!
1. You can do squats anywhere
Currently, one word characterizes everyone’s lifestyle: busy. Therefore, making the time to exercise is sometimes difficult. In order to train with the leg press you need to go to the gym or have a machine at home, which means you’ll be spending lots of money. Besides, you need to know how to set it up. Too much work!
Squats, on the other hand, you can do at home, at the park… anywhere really. You don’t need any special equipment or even much space. Plus, with squats you can avoid having to go to a gym. Or, even when you do go to the gym, you can avoid having to wait for someone else to finish, so that you can start working out.
Lately, the street workout has been gaining notoriety: a workout that allows you to push your body to the limit anywhere. And squats are a part of this workout, you need nothing more than your body and a willingness to exercise.
2. Squats improve posture
The leg press forces you to sit down, so having only to push the press with your legs, doesn’t bring many more benefits. You’re working only from the waist down, and since the body is in a stable position, it won’t feel the need to use other muscles.
On the contrary, while doing squats, the body doesn’t have as much stability so you have to use other muscles. This is a huge benefit for your body, given that you’re training your abs and the lower back, which improves posture and strengthens the core.
3. Squats burn fat
Squats have the power for burning fat because they demand the use of several groups of muscles. T he fat burning process continues, even after you’ve finished working out- this doesn’t happen with the leg press. Plus, you gain resistance, burn calories and build muscle mass.
Unlike squats, the leg press only works quads and calves, and possibly glutes and thighs. It doesn’t burn many calories, and works only on the strength and growth of muscles.
4. You’re working out using your own weight
The leg press is a predefined exercise, it adds the weight that you have, to push with your legs. This can cause both an imbalance in muscle memory and in the management of the weight of your body. This is because there’s additional weight, to which the body is not accustomed to.
But, squats allow muscle development through the use of your own weight. This improves muscle memory and allows you to connect with your body. Moreover, there’s no risk of muscle strain, since there’s no extra weight to exceed the limit of your muscles.
5. Safe knees!
Having to push with your legs creates a tension in the ligaments, so, stretching your knees completely, or lifting up your hips from the seat, can cause injury. Plus, it spoils the proper work of your muscles.
Squats prevent this type of problem given that the movement is fluent and doesn’t involve any type of weight that affects the bending of the knee. Actually, it strengthens the ligaments, the joints and tones the muscles.
Between leg press and squats, the latter is the most recommended one. Squats allow you to improve certain physical factors and there are a great variety, so you won’t become bored. On the other hand, the leg press is only one movement, and you need a machine to do it.
Think about yourself and your muscles: training is about enjoying the moment and heading toward better things. Remember to combine your training with a healthy diet and lots of water. So now, train hard and make squats your favorite exercise!