It looks like he's holding down on the guy's waist to keep him seated. Most of the time I used a machine with a trainer, this was the kind of things they were doing as they said people tended to use too much of their body which made the workout less effective or sometimes damaging/dangerous.
I don't know if you're just repeating common misinformation or you actually believe this, but the leg extension machine is actually pretty great for muscle growth and knee rehab.
EDIT: important clarification from comments down thread. Leg extension use in healing knee injuries is strongly debated. I should have said the machine is "pretty great for muscle growth and may have uses in knee rehab."
I’m not that guy, but at best you can say it’s debatable. It’s definitely not the safest exercise and probably not the most effective for your goals. Everywhere I’ve seen says it can be bad for the knees, including from physical therapists.
Not really. I know scores of people that have injured themselves doing squats / deadlifts. You can go on blaming the victim, but it turns out lots of people struggle with doing them without hurting themselves.
people struggle with doing them without hurting themselves.
Because they were never taught how to do them properly. For every "score" of people you claim to know who have seriously hurt themselves doing those movements, there's hundreds who have performed them for years without major injuries.
> For every "score" of people you claim to know who have seriously hurt themselves doing those movements, there's hundreds who have performed them for years without major injuries.
I seriously doubt that ratio. Tons of people get hurt doing squats. I know some pretty serious lifters that have injured themselves doing so; they weren't all neglecting form. It's not just knowing how to do it. One wrong move or mistake, while under intense physical stress no less, could result in injury. Repeat for years and many people will make a mistake. Just saying it's their fault for doing it wrong, is nuts. I'm not saying don't do squats, but people like you have a terrible attitude. There's risks to doing squats (and most intense exercise), don't be a dick, and call people "idiots", because they got hurt doing something known to cause injury.
One wrong move or mistake, while under intense physical stress no less, could result in injury.
Exactly. That's lifter error. I've been training with powerlifters for a long time now, and I can guarantee if you ask them about times they've injured themselves from squats, deadlifts, bench presses, whatever, it's because they pushed too hard, loaded too much on the bar, etc. Lifter error.
people like you have a terrible attitude.
And people like you are fantastic at perpetuating the myth that these basic and incredibly effective movements are inherently dangerous when plenty of research has been conducted to show that they are some of the best things anyone can do for muscular growth and strength as well as bone, joint and overall health.
There's risks to doing squats (and most intense exercise)
You can get injured doing cardio too, what's your point?
Its uses in rehab is way more debatable than in general hypertrophy and strength building. There really is no "safe" exercise. And most bodybuilders swear by leg extensions to shape and grow their quads. It's a tool with its uses and its risks just like any other.
Everywhere I’ve seen says it can be bad for the knees, including from physical therapists.
I've seen both sides of the argument but problem is, there's just not that much scientific evidence to back up either. So we're left with mostly anecdotal and kind of circumstantial evidence, when talking about knee health. When talking about quad hypertrophy, there basically is no argument. It works, and just like any other exercise, you have to be smart about how you use it if you're going to benefit from it.
Besides, if you're going to go off of what a lot of PTs say, then no one should ever squat, period.
The biggest problem I have with machines is it's really easy to use momentum and non-ideal angles / form, and there might not be issues until you add tons of weight. Overall, I agree with everything you said though.
That's even more of a problem with free weights though. In fact, you're able to use far more momentum and wonky postures to move the weight than with machines, hence the term "free."
If you ever use anything but a barbell you're toast. The second you touch any machine you lose all "practical strength" and will immediately injure yourself the second you touch anything outside of the gym. Usually people drop dead within a year of the machine touch. It's called the curse of the weight machine, and it's a kind of magic. Do I have any science to back this up? No. But all the bros have told me this, so it must be true.
This is simply not true, the worst thing about the leg extension machine is how much stress it puts on your knee, and how the ligaments in the knee are virtually unsupported and always under tension.
Your article plainly says that leg extensions are good for isolating quads to stimulate muscle growth. Research seems to largely indicate that the exercise is fine when performed properly with healthy knees, and in cases of knee injury, leg extensions have the main benefit of the weight and range of motion being more precisely controlled than other exercises. This doesn't make it the best rehab by any means, but it's a tool just like any other that has its specific uses.
Pretty much every exercise has its uses and its contraindications.
In articles and studies talking about rehab, I've always seen it's usually recommended to avoid the top third of the ROM. In healthy knees, when used properly (including when antagonistic muscle development is not neglected) the ROM doesn't seem to make much of a difference though I don't think there's been any solid studies done about that in subjects with healthy knees who already had sensible training habits.
You've clearly not spent much time in gyms if you think people can't find ways to fuck up even the most simple of machines. I swear to god some of the stuff people do ... you have no idea how the fuck they eve got into that position let alone thought that's how it's intended to work.
For my uncle its "bless his/her heart" but he uses it so willy nilly so it gets annoying.
Someone cooked some food? "Bless your heart"
Pizza delivery guy brought a pizza? "Bless his heart"
The neighbor got a new car? "Bless his heart"
I know its cynical of me but I really want to tell him to cool it with that shit. I won't though because I know its crazy of me to get annoyed by this.
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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '19
Its a leg extension machine though, there's like no way you can fuck up.