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Oct 30, 2023

The 8 Best Leg Extension Alternatives to Build Huge Quads

Leg extensions are the accessory glue that holds leg day together. Be it a capstone to a squat challenge or a warm-up for the seasoned lifter, it’s hard to escape the inevitable burn as the leg

Leg extensions are the accessory glue that holds leg day together. Be it a capstone to a squat challenge or a warm-up for the seasoned lifter, it’s hard to escape the inevitable burn as the leg extension kisses your quadriceps.

This pump doesn’t happen by accident — the leg extension is a pretty potent quad exercise for increasing strength and muscle mass in the fronts of your legs. But all hope isn’t lost if your gym doesn’t have a leg extension machine, you’re on the road, or you’re doing at-home bodyweight workouts.

You do have options at your disposal even if you can’t hop onto a machine and extend those quads. Here are the eight best leg extension alternatives — and why you should try them out.

Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.

Leg extensions are one of the best leg exercises, and for good reason. Even without a leg extension machine, try finishing a solid leg workout with a seated bodyweight variation. The setup and execution are essentially the same, but the loading and repetitions are a little different.

There’s nothing that hits the quads the same as a good leg extension. The burn, tight squeeze, and ability to isolate the quadriceps from the rest of the leg muscles make it hard to imagine a more ideal choice. The simple execution and benefits for your quadriceps mean the body weight variation is a great alternative all on its own.

Coach’s Tip: Maintain the same posture from the beginning to the end of your set. Try using tempo to maintain the same technique throughout and guarantee an intense burn.

Sets and Reps: Aim for higher repetitions, with two to three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.

The sissy squat is a legendary quadriceps exercise that has remained popular from bodybuilders of legend all the way to today. Its popularity stems from the minimal setup, intense effort, and huge quadriceps development.

The sissy squat keeps your hips straight but bends your knees. While this might sound like a bit of a magic trick, it’s one of your best recipes for cooking the quads. Not only do your quadriceps work incredibly hard, but keeping your hips in the same position mimics the unique benefits of a leg extension.

Coach’s Tip: Listen to your mobility on this one. Descend until you feel a deep quadriceps stretch but don’t force yourself into a deeper position than necessary.

Sets and Reps: Build strength and coordination in this movement by performing two to three sets of three to five repetitions. Once you’ve developed your base, slowly add repetitions over time until you are performing two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions.

The hanging leg raise may sound like a core exercise (and it is!) but you also get some great quadriceps stimulus here. Your quadriceps are hip flexor muscles just as much as they are knee extensor muscles. When you look at the hanging leg raise, the entire movement is one big hip flexion.

The rectus femoris in particular plays a big role here. This part of your quads crosses your hip joint and contributes heavily to this kind of movement. Prepare for big gains here as you develop your quads.

Coach’s Tip: Lower your legs back to the starting position under control. Using an eccentric tempo (lowering slowly) is a fantastic way to maintain tension on the target muscles (your core and quads).

Sets and Reps: Start with two to three sets of three to five repetitions, progressively adding repetitions until you reach two to three sets of 12 to 15 for muscle gain.

Step-ups are a jack of all trades of lower body exercises, including a solid leg extension alternative. The leg extension hits your quadriceps, which the step-up also does in spades. One of the biggest benefits of the step-up is its ability to train one leg independently of the other.

Using a deep step-up maximizes the range of motion of your quads. You’ll also have plenty of easy-to-use loading options, from dumbbells to kettlebells. If you’re looking for a great alternative to the leg extension, you’ve found it.

Coach’s Tip: Perform equal repetitions on both legs to complete one set of step-ups. Lead with your more fatigable leg to ensure that you match the repetitions evenly.

Sets and Reps: Perform two to three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions per leg.

Reverse lunges are one of your go-to options for intense burnout to finish off your session. Leg extensions are often placed at the end of a workout because they help safely fatigue your quadriceps. A high rep set of reverse lunges accomplishes a similar task, albeit with a bit more oomph on your cardio.

A reverse lunge takes the forward and walking versions and simplifies them a bit. Instead of coordinating each landing for your working leg, you’ll stay put. This allows you to put much more effort and focus into working as hard as possible.

Coach’s Tip: If you’re struggling to keep two dumbbells from moving during your set, try using a single weight in the goblet squat position instead.

Sets and Reps: Do two to three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per leg.

Split squats are a tremendous overall lower body developer. Where you place the weight and how you arrange your stance also helps emphasize certain muscles. In this case, a front foot elevation helps to increase the emphasis on your quadriceps.

Elevating your front leg also helps to align your form. You may notice it is easier to maintain full foot contact, even as you reach the bottom position. With that in mind, maintain control throughout the entire exercise to ensure your quadriceps are being targeted as much as possible.

Coach’s Tip: Be sure to maintain good form to get the most out of your front-foot elevated split squat. Try using a pause at the bottom of each repetition to make sure you’re using the perfect technique each time.

Sets and Reps: Try performing two to three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions per side.

The Bulgarian split squat (or rear-foot elevated split squat) is the close sibling of the front-foot elevated split squat. Instead of elevating your front foot, your rear foot is placed on a platform, shifting more of your body weight onto the working leg.

Another quintessential part of a Bulgarian split squat is bilateral loading. This means that both hands are holding a weight, making the Bulgarian split squat especially challenging. Not only is more body weight emphasized on the working leg, but you’re loading it more as well.

Coach’s Tip: Be sure to drive down on your rear foot lightly to help stabilize your hips.

Sets and Reps: Aim for two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions per leg.

The front-foot elevated Bulgarian split squat — quite a mouthful. This variation takes benefits from both the front-foot elevated split squat and the Bulgarian split squat to build your quads as a fantastic alternative to the leg extension.

The front foot elevation helps improve quad engagement on both the front and back legs. On the other hand (or…foot), the rear foot elevation helps improve how much weight you lift. Although it is a unilateral exercise, expect a brutal challenge for your full body on every single rep.

Coach’s Tip: Be mindful of your mobility on this one. The rear leg often feels like a weighted couch stretch. If you feel like you’re losing balance, don’t force any more depth.

Sets and Reps: Perform two to three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions per leg.

Warming up your lower body is very important, especially with leg extension alternatives. The leg extension itself is a very stable machine that keeps you in a specific range of motion. Many of the alternatives require your own body weight and control. Therefore, a proper warm-up is especially beneficial for nailing your sets.

For example, try this:

Your quadriceps are a multi-joint muscle group that extends your knee and flexes your hip. This means that a large number of exercises target them in some way, but some provide different benefits than others.

[Read More: 5 At-Home Workouts for Strength, Muscle Growth, Power, and More]

The leg extension and its alternatives are ones that you’ll want to train consistently. Here’s why.

A good lower body program has exercises that overlap many muscle groups at the same time. This is the same for your leg extension alternatives, so choosing two to three is more than sufficient.

Look for at least one exercise that you use higher weight on (for example, the Bulgarian split squat), and one exercise that you use higher repetitions with (for example, the seated bodyweight leg extension). Finally, hitting up a burnout with something like the reverse lunge for a workout finisher is a great way to end the day.

Training your quadriceps is a fun but challenging experience. It’s possible to pursue strength, muscle mass, and endurance to a greater degree just by manipulating your set and repetition schemes. Here’s how to do it:

It’s a good idea to work towards the heavier side of each repetition range recommendation over time. Jumping head first into the lower repetition sets could be less effective out the gate if you aren’t as experienced with an exercise. Take your time, especially with the unilateral training options, and dedicate yourself to clean technique across the board.

Your leg extension alternatives offer a few important considerations to maximize your results. Boost your progress in your lower body workouts by knowing when to use more load, knowing when to lean into higher repetitions, and which exercises make great pairings.

Certain leg extension alternatives are better to load up than others. The leg extension gets hard with less weight because of how long your legs are. As you continue to extend your leg against the resistance, it starts to feel harder because the weight travels farther from the working muscle.

[Read More: Master the Leg Curl for Stronger Hamstrings and Heavier Deadlifts]

Other leg extension alternatives keep the lever a bit shorter but compensate by adding more weight. The Bulgarian split squat and step-up are great examples here. You can use more classic progressive overload techniques by slowly adding weight to increase the challenge here.

On the flip side, certain leg extension alternatives are much more difficult to safely or effectively load. Where the Bulgarian split squat remains fairly consistent and takes on extra weight more easily, other exercises do not. It may be logistically harder to add weight or it may even be a bit of a safety concern.

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Hanging leg raises and sissy squats, for example, would be extremely difficult to effectively add weight to. In these cases, adding more repetitions to reach a solid end-of-set challenge is the move. Instead of trying to rig up some complex method of weighing your limbs, simply push for a higher repetition count.

Getting a solid leg day workout typically requires more than one exercise. Each leg extension alternative gives you a good complement of muscle gain, an increase in strength, and unilateral training. By pairing certain exercises (such as the sissy squat and reverse lunge), you’ll gain a ton of quadriceps benefits all from the same workout.

[Read More: How to Do the Pistol Squat For Mobility and Leg Strength]

A good way to look at pairing exercises is to combine one that is more weighted and one that is more repetition-heavy. This way, you’ll capture a great spread of gains without doubling down on the same style of challenge time after time in the same workout.

Leg extension alternatives can easily become a staple in your leg day for an array of reasons. They build your quads without relying on a barbell; you won’t even need the typical machine; and they allow you to effortlessly weave them throughout a busy gym.

The quadriceps are a huge muscle group that makes up your thigh. Although they are considered a single training target, they are actually made up of four unique muscles that work synergistically. What makes them a bit more unique is that one of the four muscles in the group has a slightly different attachment point than the others.

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The rectus femoris attaches just below the knee and just above the hip. This means that exercises such as the leg extension have a greater specific impact on its development than, say, a squat or leg press pattern. (1) Many lower body exercises help pump up your quadriceps more generally, but the leg extension and its most similar alternatives bias the rectus femoris.

The leg extension is a great piece of training equipment, but it also requires you to have a gym membership or the resources to buy the machine itself. While extremely valuable, you may find yourself in a scenario where the leg extension machine is simply inaccessible.

The majority of these alternatives do not require you to have a machine to effectively perform each exercise. The lion’s share of leg extension alternatives are done simply with body weight or dumbbells. This comes in particularly handy if you’re training from home and an insufficiently stocked gym.

Every leg day program is going to look a little different based on your goals. Perhaps it is a very strength-dominant program with tons of squats. Maybe you’re interested in maximizing muscle growth with the leg press and lunges. Whatever the case, you’re not alone. Many lifters have a diverse array of training needs and often overlap your scheduled session.

However, there is a near-universal desire to knock out some leg extensions. Either because of its seemingly unique benefits or because it’s just woven into the collective gym psyche, many lower body sessions tend to include them. While it would be great to have free access to them on demand, this highly sought-after piece of equipment is often in use right when you need it.

[Read More: Do the Romanian Deadlift for Bigger Legs and a Seriously-Strong Back]

Leg extension alternatives free you from the burden of waiting in line. The plethora of alternatives provides a great selection of options to keep you effectively moving throughout your workout without having to wait around.

The leg extension is a unique option to target your quadriceps because of their anatomy. The quadriceps are composed of four individual muscles, one of which has a slightly different origin and insertion. You’ll be hitting the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius with your leg extension alternatives.

The rectus femoris is one of the most important considerations during leg extensions. This is because it uniquely attaches just below the knee and just above the hip. Unlike the other quadriceps muscles, this means that major squatting patterns won’t maximally stimulate it. Since it crosses two joints, it works dynamically to stabilize instead of being anchored in position for maximal force production per repetition.

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The leg extension allows you to anchor the hips as you extend the knee, this means the rectus femoris gets stimulation in the same way as the rest of the quads. Keeping leg extensions in your program (or many of its similar alternatives) means you’ll be better able to fully grow your quadriceps.

Vastus lateralis is one of your other three quadriceps muscles that makes up your thigh musculature. It attaches just below your hip crease to just below your knee making it extremely effective at extending your knee joint. Given the name (lateralis), it sits towards the outside of your thigh.

Vastus medialis is a near mirror image of your vastus lateralis. It sits on the medial side of your thigh (innermost), and also attaches just below your hip crease to just below your knee. This means it also works really well to extend your knee joint in conjunction with the other quadriceps muscles.

The vastus intermedius is the final of your four major quadriceps muscles. It originates from the upper two-thirds of your thigh, slightly out to the lateral side. It then attaches just below your knee, making it similarly effective at extending your leg like the other quadriceps muscles.

The vastus intermedius sits deeper (just underneath) your rectus femoris, meaning that growing these muscles helps puff up the entire leg as they grow together.

The leg extension rightfully takes a top spot in so many lower body training sessions. However, if you find yourself without the right equipment, navigating a busy gym, or just looking for a new challenge, there are many leg extension alternatives to help meet your needs.

From calisthenics training to weighted and brutal split squat variations, your quads should never go without. From building muscle, training unilateral balance, or even strength, there’s a leg extension alternative that fits the bill.

To fuel your quest for more gains, check out more BarBend articles on building your best tree trunks.

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