My uncle was very overweight and could not do squats without creating problems for his legs. But once he joined a gym and started using the leg extension machine, he was able to easily strengthen his quads in a very short period of time, which then allowed him to start doing cardio. He has dropped over 120 pounds and says that machine saved his life. 👍👍
The mention of the last 0-30° as being unnecessary to achieve the desired end state is very good information. Strengthening the quadricep while not placing unnecessary pressure on the patella tendon and meniscus, which is part of the goal, only requires a range up to that 30° of remaining motion. Thanks 👍
Thanks for your comment. I have very sore quads, primarily my right leg for some reason, together with knees that have been subjected to meniscus surgery over the years. Your focus on the point they raised pertaining to the "last 30 deg. was very useful.
Once when I had physical therapy, they taught me to do a quad exercise lying down. Simply press the back of the knee into the table/bed. Of course, multiple reps and sets. It can be done, no matter what condition a person may be in. It works.
Leg extension never worked for me due pain under kneecap. The best exercise for quad strengthening, and MORE IMPORTANTLY ACTIVATION, is wall sits with or without a foam roller between your lower back and the wall. I started doing this 2 weeks ago and my vmo is finally growing again. No exercise was ever able to wake up this stubborn weak dead vmo. Wall sits is amazing.
I had ACL reconstruction surgery 3 years ago and I was doing extensions however I had a patella graft. The pad rested directly on the patella, my PT had me going full extension and it hurt!! I was also starting these a month after surgery. I am back to full use of my knee after nearly 3 years of daily exercise but my quad is still an inch smaller than the other (pretty good considering that I had 6 inches of atrophy 😱). Thank you for showing me this so I can do it in a more controlled manner that won’t hurt my knee further!!! You guys are the best!!
I tried this exactly as described, my physiotherapist told me to do it this way, and it got worse and caused even more knee pain. Yes I have had my knees X-Rayed.
You guys have been such a help during my knee replacements recovery. I just graduated from pt today so I'm depending on you guys for creating my new workouts. 🏃♂️🏂🏋♀️🤸♂️😃
Good to know - I'm one of those people who are pretty fit but there are some areas that I need to work on, such as increasing my quad strength. I am currently having a flare-up of acute (there is nothing "cute" about it) tendonitis in my knee and I am pretty motivated to avoid hurting it, so it's nice to hear that more of the quad muscle works in the first 0-30 degree range. If I do anything to try to fully extend that knee all the way it just ends up delaying the recovery process.
I loved this thanks. I also found this format easier to follow and more instructive. It was calm with less moving around, and just more structured. Thanks!
I never had issues with leg extensions unless I go too heavy. I haven't been doing leg extensions for awhile since I get plenty of quad workouts between the gym and Brazilian jiu jitsu.
Thank you so much for this video gents, I desperately need to strengthen my thighs as they’re so terribly weak possibly due to hypothyroidism, but I’m unable to do quads due arthritis of the knees which makes it so painful! I’ve got a feeling the ankle whatsits, from the wall might be the best, but any other help would so appreciated. Bless you both xx
@@anabanana7060 I second the collagen supplements (joint-specific ones); it's taken a minute longer than a few weeks but after 6 months I do notice a significant difference.
TKR rehab most of it for me was Long and Short Arc quads and that builds to the Knee extension. Quad sets were given to help get that extension to to 0 degrees.
This is exactly what I was looking for. But I'm pretty sure in one of your more recent videos - and I think I have watched at least 80% of them - you cautioned against doing this particular one. Or maybe I misunderstood? I've been doing this exercise for a couple of years now, with 5 lb. ankle weights (I am 66), without any pain. I've been doing 2 sets of 35 reps every other day, sounds like that's too many reps. Thanks again for providing useful exercise and stretching info.
Good evening sir, I m dr kesavan, I m a cyclist having pain front of knee once in 3mo for 3 or 4 days, and tenderness of the patellar tendon, I ve corrected my saddle height recently, but repeatedly I ve this issue, no other areas of pain, I ride with 3:4 fear ratio for 1 hr about 25 kms, pls guide to fix the issue. Thanks in advance sirs
The last 30° actually seems like it would be more damaging because I notice that last 3rd of the flexion causes more pain to my lower back and it intuitively doesn't feel right to bring my knees that high. I didn't feel comfortable doing the full 90° so this makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks 😃
Hey guys, thanks so much for this video! I've been dealing with patellofemoral friction syndrome for almost three years now (tried to do a one-legged pistol squat repeatedly which messed up my joint), but I've made significant progress. In fact (as of the date of this writing), my chiropractor said I'm about 90% thru the recovery process as the other 10% is dependent on quad strength, which is the hardest part. Thus, I wanted to ask you if this exercise is useful for those with injuries like mine? I've been told during the early stages of my recovery to stay away from extensions and do curls instead, but I don't think that applies anymore since I've pretty much regained my full range of motion. Thanks again!
I have arthritis in my knees and bending them like that puts too much stress on my knees. Alternative please. I have been doing seared leg extension raises.
I'm a fit Master's cyclist who had a collision with a lorry and consequently fractured my skull, suffered a compound fracture of the left radius, and received very deep, to the bone, 6' diagnonal gash just above my knee cap, into the quad, rupturing my quad tendon and a lot of muscle damage. That was Christmas Day and the start 0f 12 days in hospital. March 1st today, and I have 90 degree flexation in that knee but not much strength, though I walk 4-5 km a day.. the doctors have told me to do some weight training in anticipation of returning to cycling in 2 months or so. Anyway, would you suggest this exercise with the quad tendon rupture or stick to closed chain activities ? The tendons around the knee still feel tight, so I'm a little reluctant to really push on at this time.. Thanks for your great videos, I'm following the ones on regaining wrist/forearm strength and flexibility as well, and am getting positive results
Good mornign Gents, Thank you for this video. I'm doing these excercies as part of my PT. I'm 9 moths TPF with torned meniscus. Just wanted to consult, I'm able to do 3x15 - 10lbs ancle weights. What is a good schedule, every day. Or every other day? Or maybe 2x day. Just curious. Any thoughts. I'm trying to bulid my quads as quiqly as possible.
If you have bad knees avoid this. I have knee pain under knee cap and I've tried everything! I find it hard to do lunges as well. I find reverse lunges easier to handle
Guys... would hill cycling out the saddle be good at strengthening the knees if you're able to do it? I used to do it in my teens and it worked a treat, but now I'm much older.
I had ACL and meniscus repair 8 years ago and my Surgeon, who ironically went to Stanford, told me after my surgery that leg extensions was the one exercise I should never do again.
As the PTs said, the last 0-30° of the movement are not beneficial to the strengthening of the quadricep muscle. In that range, WITH WEIGHTS, the exercise places unnecessary pressure on your patella tendon, and cartilage underneath it. Exercising for range of motion is not synonymous with exercising for muscle strength. To achieve range of motion, your natural body weight is optimal.
TheAmazingFirehawk avoid hip thrusts? Wow. The hip thrust, even the unweighted one, is such a crucial exercise for glute isolation because too many people injure their back by shutting off the glutes and using their hamstring and lower back when bending down. The glute is the middle man. Such an important muscle.
Actually, it's "intuitive," for the first thirty degrees to be the most stressful with the shin horizontal and the foot free. The situation where the most flexed part is the most stressful, is walking down a steep hill with no hand rail, which is where increasing flexion puts the shin at an increasing angle to gravity, and the direction of the traction-force, is to add more of a "flexure-compoundment" force, on the shin--. This in fact is the one real-life situation where sufficient quad-strength is "critical--;" but also where being able to be "sure" one didn't just "make it worse" "instead--;" is necessary--.
Sir iam facing Acl injured problem I consult a physiotherapy doctor he will preferred MRI scan.and MRI results will be say the Acl will cut little bit it will recover by the physiotherapy exercises......... How much time it will taken completely..... Iam not able to sitting down words on foot
Question about the last few degrees on the leg extension. I had an ACL replacement 10 years ago, and the ms affects my right leg. (Yes, ms. It doesn't deserve to be capitalized). My right leg has recently started hyper-extending during the support phase of my walk. To combat this, I've been resting my knee on a foam roller and lifting a 5 lb ankle weight the last few degrees on a leg extension 3 sets of 50 reps. I don't think it's working. Is there anything else I can try before getting a brace? (I don't want to have to get a brace.) p.s. I think you're the most famous PTs on the internet too.
This set comes with 5 bands of varying resistance, a storage bag, ru-vid.comUgkxS7ex6L4sMqpaTn4LnBPyBmRQsSingL8y a small pamphlet with some sample exercises, and an access code for an online workout video. I haven't viewed the online video, so I cannot speak to the quality of that piece of the set. However, everything else is perfect for what I was looking for. The bands are durable, and the resistance strength varies enough between bands that they're each useful for different exercises and provide a great challenge as you gradually increase the resistance level for certain exercises. The only band I don't use very often is the lowest resistance band, but even that is nice for exercises that target weaker/seldom used muscle groups.
You can't outtrain a bad diet... I learned that the hard way training so hard and having poor results. Then I started following the Agoge diet, and I finally started seeing some amazing results.
86 Winhawk grad, final phases of partial quad tear rehab, 11 months, leg extension feels ok in last 45 and pain starts up going in the 45 to 90 degrees of flexion. Used some of your tips and physio fitness bosu ball single leg knee iso holds.
Not shocking, but we know that the more stress place across the muscle area the more potential for growth. EMG doesnt necessarily carry over to actual training. Also other factors such as ability to perform the exercise and the population being study is important.
Maybe if you stay in one plane of motion its fine but not when walking because of the abrupt change in position when not walking straight, it changes the 2-D plane to 3-D and puts strain on the knee that it is not use to abruptly
I'm going to try like hell to regain some kind of strength in my little leg so much lost time I did ask the ankle exercises and my leg was still very thin from having on a cast I'm hopeful and taking vitamins and minerals supplements just trying to get any strength back in my leg...it's been close to 5 yrs couldn't find any help the doctors I spoke with were useless maybe I can spark some
IMPORTANT--BOB and BRAD PLS ANSWER: My knee hurts when I do the leg extension. when I get two-thirds of the way up. Can they still be done even if you can't get your leg completely extended to zero degrees? (The goal would be to get them to zero degrees.) Simple question: Are they beneficial if you can only go two-thirds up? Or damaging? Thank you!
I am no doctor, but I had surgery to the knee and I am still rehabilitating. I order to get the strength back in my quadriceps I have to train my legs a lot. It has been tricky because a lot of training make it hurt in my knee. In the beginning I did full range of motion training with very low weight. However I did not gain strength and it was a failure. My therapist said I need to increase the weights to get better results. So I increased the weights, but in order for that to work I had to limit the range of motion to limit pain in my knee. So now I only do the motions that don't hurt my knee. That worked very well and I have had much better results! I don't think you have to worry at all about just going up 2 thirds of the movement. It's working great for me.
First he says don't extend the last 30 degrees because of it being very hard on the knees and then later he says be sure to extend the full distance. WTF?
no, I think he said the last 30 degrees is the part where the most injury can occur but then said the research said to go ahead and finish it out to the top if you're so inclined and don't worry too much abut it. lol They were all over the place in this one.
I have torn my medial meniscus in my right knee on the left knee I have torn the posterior third of the medial meniscus and my quads are withering away as I am too scared to use them. How can I build them without causing more damage to my meniscus?
Ankle weights? I lifted 50kg on those machines my first try and it was just about heavy enough to limit me to 12 reps. Never found a 50kg ankle weight! Lol
@@BobandBrad I'm confused, in the beginning you seemed to be saying to only lift 2/3 of the way up, then demonstrating later you went to full extension.
Hi, I actually can't extend my left leg as I have a nerve weakness or femoral neuropathy after a surgery I had. My quad is very weak. I had an EMG done and the neurologist said I have no muscle there.
Strangely enough ,just watched a video from another channel about different exercises that were wrong to do and extensions was one ,according to them a lot of pressure on your knee caps ,since our legs weren't made to lift weights on that position,so sum up ,things change so quickly that we might as well don't exercise or do it laying down 🤣🤣🤣,joking of course
