Free weight exercise alternatives to popular exercise machines (part 4): leg curl & leg extension

It's been a while since I've touched on this series of articles - I figured most of you got the point after we looked at the leg press, lat pull down and chest press and their superior free weight alternatives. After roughly 4 months of giving the issue a rest I think it's time for a friendly reminder as to why my training foundations are centred on free weight movements. The leg extension and leg curl machines share a tied second place behind the leg press as the most popular leg exercise machine in your 'typical gym'. Let's take a quick look at these machines and two free weight alternatives - the lunge and dead lift.

Swap out: leg curl & leg extension 

The popular leg extension and leg curl machines work the quadriceps and hamstrings respectively. These machines isolate the quadriceps and hamstrings by 'locking' the body in place during the exercise and preventing any movement at the hips. Isolation exercises are described as those that only involve movement at one joint - in the case of these two machine exercises the movement is at the knee only.

Some isolation machine exercises such as the leg extension and leg curl machines serve an important purpose in the early stages of a rehabilitation program. With the exception of very specific rehabilitation, compound, free weight movements should form the foundation of a training program - exercises that involve movement at two or more joints.

Swap in: lunge & dead lift
The lunge and dead lift are free weight exercises that work the same muscles as the leg extension and leg curl machines. In addition to working the same muscles these free weight exercises provide a number of additional fitness benefits, these include:

• strength development in more muscle groups including the glutes, calfs & lower back
• greater energy expenditure and therefore better weight control benefits due to more working muscles
• development of hip stability, balance and core strength
• greater functional application to daily tasks and sports
• greater coordination development
• unrestricted movement path which reduces the risk of injury and allows for a more natural motion
• better skill transfer to more advanced training exercises

Training is very much a matter of time efficiency. Maximising available training time to achieve the best results is a priority. Including compound, free weight exercises in your training program ensures that a broad range of fitness components is developed and the best fitness results are achieved. 

You don't have to train more to achieve these additional fitness benefits, you just have to make smart exercise choices. Making the smart swap from the leg extension and leg curl machines to the lunge and dead lift requires no extra time but delivers so much more. This is why compound free weight exercises form the foundation of my training approach. 

In the next part of this series (part 5) we will look at free weight alternatives to the seated shoulder press.