Presses v. squats

[Harley]

Been lifting for about 5 years and have made good progress in my legs by including leg presses on leg day rather than squats (which seem to put too much pressure on my lower back). How do squats compare to leg presses?  is there a specific type of squat (free weight or smith) that is less stressful on your back?

thanks

[Mike]

Have you tried front squats?  They tend to keep you a bit more upright but can be tough on the lower back if you can't handle the weight properly.

Smith squats or smith hack squats always will help you out a bit. 

If you don't want to do either of those you can do box step-ups (bb or db) or lunges (bb or db) for your legs. 

I always advocate at least 1 standing leg pushing movement (pushing off of the ground i.e. squat/lunge/step-up as opposed to leg curl/deadlift) in any lower body day because of the athletic implications as well as for the obvious benefits of training legs from a natural standing postion.

Leg presses are great for isolation and mass and you can really move some weight, I would def. put them in there somewhere.

[Redwingenator]

Smith machine squats put less pressure on the low back because you are able to keep your low back straight vertically by placing your feet 6-12 inches in front of the bar.  You can squat deeper than you can leg press so you get a much better range of motion and a better leg workout.  The bottom line is that any exercise that aggravates your low back condition should be avoided.  A "no pain no gain" philosophy applied to low back pain is good way to end up with a severe disc herniation with possible radiculopathy and muscle atrophy.

[Bluto]

if you make good progress on leg press by all means stick with it. maybe wanna try lunges, they are an underrated excercise.

[nodeal]

unless you have an exceptional injury which truly prevents you from doing them, i would suggest trying to put the standard squat into your workout. it is the exericise of all exercises.

[Mike]

unless you have an exceptional injury which truly prevents you from doing them, i would suggest trying to put the standard squat into your workout. it is the exericise of all exercises.

Dude, he said it bothers his lower back.  Now, a useful post might try to give him ways to improve his form or work on a pain-free way of squatting, not just saying "it is the exercise of all exercises"

[KSA]

Use a good leg press and avoid curling the lower back, otherwise you risk a serious injury.

You can also use a trap/shrug bar or a hip belt squat from www.ironmind.com

[The Squadfather]

Dude, he said it bothers his lower back.  Now, a useful post might try to give him ways to improve his form or work on a pain-free way of squatting, not just saying "it is the exercise of all exercises"

agreed, it's stupid to tell a person with a back or knee injury to just suck it up and squat, there are plenty of good alternatives out there these days, this isn't 1948 where all you have is squats.