noobpone

I personally am against them!

Ziltoid

Any weight lifting can be bad if you don't know what you're doing.

Machka 

They can be good if you don't overdo it and if you don't fully extend your leg so that your knee locks.

They were recommended to me by a Sports Dr to recover from and prevent patello femoral syndrome, and seemed to work for me.

JonnyV

Good and bad. With alot of weight and full range of motion this a bad movement. It puts a lot of shearing force on your knee, that is usually forced to stay in the same track. The movement is good for the muscle, especially developing the "tear drop" head just above the knee.
"but my physical therapist has me doing them, how bad can they be?" was a question I was asked many times when talking to customers about knee extensions. Most of the time a PT has a machine that can limit the range of motion, to hit any degree. The last 10 degrees (approx) is where you get the most benefit because you can still squeeze at the top of the movement.
If you're looking to add size and shape to your legs, I recommend lunges. They aren't fun but they work and fast. And if you're starting a lifting routine, do not neglect your hamstrings!

8ounce

In my experience, I would usually see the bobybuilders at the gym doing leg extensions and the athletes doing more lunges.

Smallguy

I like to use them to isolate the tear drop ... I was able to use them successfully for my IT band woes

I didn't use much weight though and certainly wasn't straining

I find if I'm using enough weight to really force my legs to work I do get some minor knee pain so i prefer lunges and bulgarian squats

umd

Huh, I thought this was going to be about evaluating your fit...

bigdaddy10028

EXACTLY, I'm so tired of hearing clueless people say they are so bad for you. i'm not restricting this to cycling, I'm saying in terms of general fitness. Me and every other person I know that has recovered from major knee surgery has had to do them as part of physical therapy. They can't be that bad right?

Here is what gets you into trouble with leg extensions.

1. Imbalance, always doing leg extensions, but not working the hamstrings to match and keep balance through the joint.

2. Too much too soon. Trying to go way to heavy, way too soon. Tendons need time to get conditioned just like the muscles do. you need to have a couple weeks under your belt of doing strength training in your legs to have the conditioning required to lift heavy.

3. Piss poor form. Jerking the weight up and stopping it way to hard at the bottom of the movement, also starting the movment up from an acute angle as opposed to taking it down to 90* and then starting back up.


Any exercise done with poor form or not coordinated properly as a total conditioning regimen is going to cause problems.

NickDavid

Another 5-Star thread. Man, they are getting wild today!

StephenH

I was thinking of these things:
https://www.amazon.com/Dimension-Peda...1116737&sr=8-2

learnmedia

OP, check out this recent thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...lifting+weight
It included some debate about the efficacy of leg extensions.

Keep SA Lame

Leg extensions???

Only for people in rehab and teh chunkers at your local Curves fat lady club.

W Cole

My knee doc says they're bad and not to do them.

sakonnetclip

I'd go with the hip sled and low weight / high reps.

Keep SA Lame

I will submit that tire dragging or weight sleds would be far superior to 'leg extensions' on those shiny machines at Globogym.

B. Carfree

Like many have said, they can be good or bad. Here is my $0.02:
1. Keep the weights light and do LOTS of reps. I usually do one leg at a time, 15 reps, repeat this while alternating legs without rest for 5-10 sets. I also increase the weight after each cycle (extensions then curls).
2. Don't forget to balance by doing hamstrings. These muscles seem more prone to being strained, so I do about half the reps.
3. Do full range of motion, even lifting the legs off the bench to include the hips. Always keep the weight under control.
4. Don't forget to warm up. Riding 30 miles or running some stairs for an hour really adds to the benefits.
5. Be careful to not escalate your reps/weights as quickly as your strength and endurance seem to warrant. Your muscles will get stronger much faster than your tendons. Be patient or you will likely pay a painful price.
6. Did I mention to keep the weights light? You don't want to be Arnold, you want to have useful muscles.

colombo357

Your time must be worth next to nothing. Minimum wage job?

Blackdays

You're not very smart, are you?

Keep SA Lame

I'm fear your point was lost amongst the pettiness.

tadawdy

Useful for rehab and bodybuilders. Not all that useful for the rest of us, and can load the knee improperly.

wheelgrabber

Non stop calistenics are an excellent way to improve a cyclist fitness. Using a 3 kilo weight ball will kick your butt. Most cyclist tend to have stiff backs and tight hamstrings from riding in flexion(hunched over). Spending time working on core strength and flexibilty will be more beneficial for your overall fitness and should make you more comfortable on the bike as well.

My physical therapist wife recommends incorporating rotational movement with any strength building exercise. It maintains flexibilty in your spine. Functional strength building does not include things like leg extensions. Where in the real world would you do a leg extension?

f4rrest

Top 3 Gym Noob exercises:
1. Curls
2. Bench press
3. Leg extensions (if they do legs at all).

I don't do any of these now. No need whatsoever, and there are much better ways to accomplish strength and balanced muscular symmetry in the gym.

ricohman

Considering the bench works such a large group of muscles, if done correctly. You have eliminated a very good excersize.
Let us know how this works out for you in 20 years.............

tadawdy

It is a good exercise, and there are really only so many pushing movements you can perform, but I think the main point is that noobs tend to stick to the basic lifts and think that's all there is to it. That's fine to start with, but it's good to integrate more functional movements.

As for how he'll be 20 years after not doing bench press, I suspect he will be fine. I'd guess he's doing pushups and cable exercises, which remove some of the challenge from the pushing motion and place it in truck stabilization.

GoLoaf

Anecdotal contribution:

Had my ACL replaced, and my physio told me to never, ever do leg extensions (like for the rest of my life). And I'm pretty sure it didn't haven't to do with the fact that I had knee surgery. The exercise puts a ton of torque onto your knees that just isn't necessary.

Do squats instead. Much more dynamic and complete exercise. Also deadlifts and lunges. There are gazillion other leg exercises you should be doing that doesn't involve the dumb leg extension machine.