Written by Tom MacCormick | BSc Sports Sci. & Coaching | MSc Str. & Cond.
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Aside from a few gym bros that regularly skip leg day, building bigger lower body muscles is a primary focus of many people’s training. Squats and leg presses are two popular exercises used to build muscular legs, but there is often confusion surrounding both lower body moves.
Is one better than the other? Is there room for both in a leg-day workout? And how do you decide which one to use and when?
To make a decision, let's examine what real-world results and scientific research have to say about the leg press vs squats. We're about to discuss everything you need to know regarding the leg press vs squat, so you can pick the best exercise for your routine.
Table of Contents:
- Leg Press vs Squat: Which Is Best?
- What is a Leg Press?
- What is a Squat?
- Comparing Squats & Leg Press by Muscle Activation (EMG Studies)
- Leg Press vs Squat: Similarities
- Squat vs Leg Press: Differences
- Squat Benefits
- Leg Press Benefits
- Squatting vs Leg Press: How to Determine Which is Right For Your Routine
Leg press vs squat: Which is best for your workout program?
There are multiple variables to consider when examining this question, including:
- What are the practical outcomes of leg pressing or squatting?
- Which one delivers the best results for your lower body workouts?
- Does the leg press or squat build more muscle?
Interestingly, research shows they're both beneficial, meaning both the leg press and squat are equally beneficial to your lifting program.
A study compared leg presses and squats and a combination of the two, finding both lead to similar muscle mass and body composition gains1. And that's great news for your body recomposition goals as it means you have choices! Additionally, separate research found no real difference between free weights and machines for muscle gains during resistance training interventions2.
So what does this mean when determining which exercise to choose?
It means both the leg press and squat can be used for muscular growth for your legs and to improve your physique, and individual characteristics and personal preferences should guide whether you pick one or the other. These studies indicate you don’t have to agonize over leaving gains on the table if you decide squatting isn’t for you or leg pressing doesn’t feel quite right.
You can design a training program using the information we're about to go over in detail, allowing personal preference to guide your exercise selection. This will help you enjoy your training more, stick to it for longer, and ultimately make more long-term progress.
Now that we know there's no bad choice, let's discuss both moves so you can find the right choice for you.
What is a Leg Press?
Performed using a machine, the leg press requires you to use your feet to push a platform away from your body. To perform the move, sit with your back against a backrest, typically at a 45-degree incline or horizontally.
Depending on the type of leg press machine your gym has, you will adjust your resistance either by loading plates or using a weight stack attached to a cable pulley system.
How to do a Leg Press:
- Before starting, select your desired weight using the weight stack or load your plates.
- Sit down, placing your back against the backrest. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart on the machine's footplate or platform with your toes pointed outward slightly.
- To release the machine's safety feature, press through your feet. Begin by pushing your feet into the platform to extend your legs. Straighten them, but do not lock your knees.
- Slowly bend your knees to bring them toward your chest. The closer your knees are to your chest, the harder your muscles will have to work.
- Once you're as low as you can get, push through your feet, extending your legs again.
What is a Squat?
The squat is a compound exercise that targets multiple muscle groups. Squats are great for increasing strength and building muscle, all while activating your core.
To perform a squat, begin in a standing position, lowering your hips to sit back and down, until your hips are slightly below knee level and your thighs are parallel to the floor.
You can use multiple equipment options, or no equipment at all, as you can perform this exercise using only your body weight. Variables include a barbell, one or two dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a resistance band.
This how-to will explain the proper form for a barbell back squat, as it is arguably the most popular variation.
How to do a Back Squat:
- To perform a barbell back squat, begin with the barbell on a rack, positioned so you can place it on your upper back, aligned with your rear shoulder and upper trap muscles, without standing on your toes to reach and unrack it.
- Unrack the barbell, taking approximately two steps back. Your feet should be around shoulder width apart with your toes pointing outward slightly.
- Keep your spine neutral and your upper torso straight. Retract your scapula and look straight ahead to help with best upper body form.
- Lower down by slowly sitting back. Stop your descent when your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your knees in line with your toes and your torso straight.
- Driving through your heels, straighten your knees to return to a standing position.
Comparing Squats & Leg Press by Muscle Activation (EMG Studies)
When examining research comparing muscle activation in the squat and leg press, a 2021 study found the following3:
- Vastii Muscles: All vastii muscles (quads) showed considerably higher force production during squats compared to leg presses. This is attributed to the smaller knee-flexion angle in squats, which increases knee-extension force.
- Rectus Femoris and Vastus Lateralis: These quad muscles were more active during leg press exercises performed at deeper knee flexion angles.
- Gastrocnemius and Gluteus Maximus: Gluteus maximus activity was greater during leg presses performed at higher knee flexion angles, while the soleus muscle was the main contributor to plantarflexion.
- Concentric and Eccentric Muscle Actions: Both squat and leg press exercises induced significant eccentric muscle actions. The rectus femoris (quad muscle) showed slightly greater concentric activity in leg press and squat exercises.
- Activation Patterns of Antagonistic Muscles: During the late eccentric phase, the rectus femoris and biceps femoris were highly active, presumably to stabilize the knee and hip joints. However, during the late concentric phase of squats, the biceps femoris showed prominent activation as a hip extensor.
In addition, the research found that the leg press was performed at an 11° deeper knee-flexion angle than the squat. To see a visual comparison of the two exercises and muscles worked, take a look at the image below.
VL: vastus lateralis, RF: rectus femoris, VI: vastus intermedius, VM: vastus medialis, SOL: soleus, GA: gastrocnemius, GM: gluteus maximus, AM: adductor magnus, BF: biceps femoris3
Based on the study's findings, the leg press may be the preferable resistance exercise between the squat vs leg press, both in terms of effectiveness and injury risk perspective. Additionally, the propensity to perform the leg press at a deeper knee angle than squat shows that the leg press is preferable for building muscle in the quads.
Leg press vs squats: Similarities
Before getting into how they’re different, it’s important to cover how squats and leg presses are similar as you may even want to consider using them interchangeably, as opposed to only picking one.
1. Both require similar joint movements.
The general joint movements of both exercises are very similar for the lower body. Whether you're doing a squat variation, like a dumbbell squat, or using the leg press machine, during the eccentric portion (lowering phase) of both exercises, the hips and knees flex to lower the weight.
During the concentric portion(lifting phase), the quads contract, extending the knees, and the glutes contract to extend the hips, with some support from the hamstrings. This broadly means they do similar things as far as stressing the quads and glutes go.
While there are plenty of nuances, as will be discussed, they both involve the same basic movement pattern and joint functions.
2. The leg press and squat activate the same muscles.
Both exercises effectively train similar muscle groups, mainly the quads and glutes, and neither exercise is a particularly effective hamstring builder.
During both the leg press machine and squats, the hamstrings work primarily as co-contractors to stabilize the knee, with most of their activity coming from the eccentric portion of the lift.
There are much more efficient exercises to train your hamstrings, which take the muscle group through a larger range without you having to manufacture a mind-muscle connection to try and recruit your hamstrings.
To summarize, both the leg press and squat are great for the quads and glutes, but neither is the best option for your hamstrings.
3. You can build muscle and improve strength with both.
Separate studies examining the leg press and barbell back squat found that both exercises improve muscular strength4,5. Further, both exercises, when performed properly, will build muscle.
In order to add mass with either exercise, keep in mind that you need to be in a calorie surplus. In addition, make sure to follow progressive overload and work through a large range of motion.
For the squat, this means lowering down as deep as you safely can, and for the leg press, this involves moving your knees as close to your chest as you can before pressing the footplate away.
Squat vs Leg Press: Differences
Here's a look at the three main differences between the squat and leg press.
1. The leg press is a machine exercise, while the squat uses free weights or body weight.
You can use your body weight, a barbell, which is the most popular variation, dumbbells, kettlebells, or a resistance band to perform the squat, making it a highly versatile exercise. Heavy squats require a good squat rack.
The leg press is performed on a leg press machine, of which there are 3 different types: the horizontal leg press, vertical leg press, and 45-degree leg press.
2. The squat activates more muscles than the leg press.
It's important to note that if your goal is to grow your quads and glutes, both are great. In addition, both exercises work the calves and hamstrings, to some extent, although neither move should be a primary exercise for either group.
In addition to these muscles, the barbell back squat also activates the core muscles, which must work to keep the body upright as it supports the barbell and its weight.
3. Squats are better for improving jump height.
A study had participants either perform the squat, leg press, or both twice weekly for 10 weeks, finding that the group that performed squats twice a week saw the most significant improvement in their jump height at 8.9%4.
The group that performed both squats and leg presses improved their jump height by 6.5% and the group that only performed leg presses increased their jump height by 3.3%.
These findings show that for those looking to improve their jumping performance, squats are most beneficial.
Leg Press vs Squat: Similarities & Differences At a Glance
Here's a side-by-side look at the similarities and differences between the leg press and squat.
|
Similarities |
Differences |
|
Both require the same lower body joint movements. |
The leg press is a machine exercise, while the squat uses free weights or body weight. |
|
The quads and glutes are highly activated for both, and the hamstrings and calves work to a lesser degree. |
The squat activates the core, whereas the leg press does not. |
|
You can build muscle and improve strength with the leg press and squat. |
Squats are much better for improving jump height. |
Now that we have an understanding of similarities and differences, let's do a deep dive into the benefits that come with performing each exercise.
5 Best Squat Benefits
Here are 5 reasons why you should regularly be performing this highly effective compound movement.
1. Squats have higher lower body muscle activation.
Muscle activation, usually measured using electrodes via electromyography (EMG), is often used as a proxy for the stimulus to the muscle. A study used EMG to directly compare leg presses and squat exercises, using a variety of foot positions and stances6. Well-trained individuals performed 12 reps at 70-75% of their one rep max in each position, getting to a 90 to 100-degree knee angle.
They found that both wide and narrow stance squats, with toes straight or pointed out at 30 degrees, had higher muscle activation for the quads and hamstrings than any leg press stance.
An important thing to note is that these findings don’t mean squats are a good hamstring builder, as these dumbbell hamstring exercises will work your hamstrings much harder. It just means they require more hamstring activity compared to leg presses.
When it comes to glute activation there isn’t a direct comparison comparing squats and leg presses, but both theoretically provide a great stimulus to the glutes when you look at the movement mechanics.
Squats can potentially take you through a larger range, getting to a full stretch at the bottom and extending the hips at the top. Leg presses can let you flex the hips without the requirement for squatting deep, which is a barrier for many. However, you don’t get the full hip extension. Because of this, squats seem to edge out leg presses when it comes to the glutes as well.
Overall, when it comes to lower body muscle activation, squats take the gold.
2. Squats are a compound move that activate multiple muscle groups.
Both exercises are multi-joint, multi-muscle group lower body exercises demanding contributions from the glutes down to the calves. However, because of the spinal loading aspect, free weight squats work more of the entire body, hitting the core and lower back (especially the erectors) far more than any leg press can.
This means every time you squat, you’re training more than just your lower body, getting more bang for your buck with every rep. And typically, that leads to more calories burned and more muscles worked.
Many attribute thick, dense musculature (compared to soft muscle) to strong barbell movements like squats and deadlifts; however, this is up for debate. If you’re someone who wants to make the most out of every set, you’re short on time, or you just want to increase your core strength, give squatting the nod over leg pressing.
3. Squats are accessible.
Squats can pretty much be done anywhere, as you have a multitude of options when it comes to the type of squat you're going to do and the equipment you use to do it.
With the increase in home gyms, squats can provide a cheap and easy way to train your lower body without machines taking over the house. It also provides you with flexibility when it comes to where and how you work out.
You can train with friends at a new gym, get a session in on the road, or lift from the comfort of your living room, knowing you have a go-to you can progress that requires minimal (or even no) equipment.
4. Squats are versatile.
Just as squats are accessible, they're also really versatile.
You can use dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, or simply your body weight. You can do standard squats or try a variation, such as the goblet squat or split squat. Alternatively, you can make it more of a plyo move by performing jump squats, which are great for strengthening multiple muscles, improving lower body strength, and positively impacting body mass.
You can opt for moves like the traditional barbell back squat, or use dumbbells for a standard squat in your strength training programs. This compound exercise comes with options. Having a consistent and confident squat is a great way to ensure you can train your lower body anytime, anyplace, and mold your training to your lifestyle - not the other way around.
5. Squats increase your athleticism.
If you’re someone who is looking to translate their gym work over to your sport, in the leg press vs. squat debate, the squat has the edge, improving jumping and sprinting performance more. It'll take your plyometric exercise game to a whole new level.
Finally, getting in the groove with squats is really, really, fun. This is very subjective, but once your squat feels smooth and you are lifting bigger numbers without stressing about form and technique, squatting gets more and more enjoyable. Barbell exercises can provide a level of performance satisfaction we're not sure machine movements can replicate.
Focusing on improving your athleticism better enables you to enjoy your training when progress feels slow (i.e., during long muscle-gaining phases), helping you focus on gym performance, and not how you look in the mirror.
5 Best Leg Press Benefits
With all those squatting benefits, you might be wondering why anyone would ever bother leg pressing.
But there are many leg press pros to consider, and we love incorporating it into a full-body gym machine workout.
1. Everyone can do the leg press.
Leg presses are a low-skill, high-return exercise, leading to muscle growth that targets the glute and quad muscle. You can provide your lower body with great stimulus, without having to undergo hours, weeks, months, or even years of trying to perfect them. This makes them a top-notch glute and quad exercise to add to your repertoire.
Once you have some very basic queues in your head, you can hop on a seated leg press and have great leg workouts. On the other hand, we've seen personal trainers and gym goers alike agonize over squat technique, spending hours over mobility and movement patterns, only to fumble their way through a session.
This usually results in a mediocre workout and more alterations the following week. This falls further into the category of chasing perfection when good is often good enough. The pursuit of flawless technique is the enemy of progress and is more present in exercises with greater complexity than simple movements like the leg press group.
If your goal is to grow your quads quickly, and you find squatting technique hard to nail down, the juice might not be worth the squeeze, and leg presses, which have virtually no technical barrier, can be your best friend.
2. There is minimal injury risk with leg presses.
If you’ve ever seen a leg press disaster video, you might be shaking your head at this one, and if you haven’t, we don’t recommend looking for them. Aside from that, leg press cons are few and far between. In fact, most leg press machines are far safer than squatting. With fewer moving parts, a fixed path, and built-in safeties, far less can go wrong.
This means you can take them close to failure, without the stress of technique breakdowns or worrying about losing balance. And when you're able to push yourself like this, muscle hypertrophy is sure to follow. Even the most proficient squatters struggle to maintain their form as they fatigue, and while you can safely bail from squats, this is another skill that needs to be learned.
This suggests leg presses are a better choice to take closer to failure, making them an excellent choice when set intensity is high and you need to squeeze out one or two more reps. Just keep an eye on your foot position so your heavy lifting doesn't lead to knee injuries.
3. There are many great muscle-building leg press variations.
There are a lot of squat variations, but many aren’t ideal for muscle gain (we’re looking at you, pistol squats). And often squats take a while to learn, further delaying your muscle gains. Because of their safety and low skill level, leg press variations can provide legitimate ways to target your lower body.
Single legs, high or low foot placements, deep and paused are all simple changes you can make without skipping a beat and putting your progress on hold. For the same reasons, leg presses are very malleable.
You can tweak your leg press foot positions, whether you opt for low foot placement or higher foot placement, seat angles, and stances until you find what works best for you, without the constraints a bar on your back brings. This gives you the best opportunity to find a technique you really connect with, and develop a strong mind-muscle connection.
4. Leg presses can help leave fuel in the tank for the rest of your workout.
Arguably the most compelling argument for leg presses is their favorable stimulus-to-fatigue ratio (SFR). Although the stimulus appears to be lower, so is their chronic and acute fatigue.
As leg presses require less stabilization and don’t involve axial loading, the core and lower back muscles essential for squatting are given a rest. Resting these muscles means you can make sure they aren’t the limiting factor when it comes to your lower body training and improving quad strength, and you aren’t skimping on your lower body training because your erectors can’t take any more volume or more weight.
This is especially true if you do a lot of hip hinges and bent-over movements. The key thing to remember here is that swapping barbell squats for leg presses doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and although squats might have the upper hand head-to-head, picking leg presses might allow you to make sure your lower body is getting the stimulus it needs without whole body fatigue limiting your progress.
Leg presses are hard, but squats are harder. The greater musculature used, and distance traveled, make squats incredibly taxing on your energy reserves and cardiovascular system.
If you’re someone who’s done multiple sets of squats close to failure, you’ll know how hard it can be to get through the rest of your session with any real intensity or drive. Thanks to the seated position and safety features of the machine, leg presses provide a great stimulus, without writing off the rest of the workout.
Three sets of squats might be a better stimulus than three sets of leg presses. But if your three sets of squats mean you only go through the motions during the rest of your workout, instead of attacking them with accuracy and quality, leg presses might be the better option.
5. Leg presses are beneficial for everyone.
Some people can walk into a gym, and their short femurs and crazy ankle mobility mean they take to squats like a duck to water. Taller lifters, with long femurs and dodgy ankles, can work on their technique all they like but may never get the same feeling from squats as their short-femur friends.
For people who aren’t built for squats, they struggle to hit consistent depth, their knees hardly seem to bend, and their chest looks almost parallel to the ground at the bottom of the movement.
A lack of knee flexion can really limit quad growth. People in this situation are never likely to squat for maximal quad growth. This is where leg presses come in, as anyone can use the piece of equipment to hammer their quads, sidestepping their anatomical limitations, and building muscle mass in the process.
Squat and Leg Press Benefits At a Glance
Here's a look at the benefits of each exercise, side by side.
|
Squat Benefits |
Leg Press Benefits |
|
Squats activate the lower body muscles more than the leg press. |
Minimal skill is required to perform the leg press, making it ideal for beginners. |
|
Squats activate the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and core. |
Your risk of injury is much smaller with the leg press, compared to larger compound lifts. |
|
Squats can be done anywhere - no gym membership required! |
There are multiple muscle-building variations of the leg press to pick from. |
|
Squats can be done using bodyweight, a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells, or a resistance band. |
Leg presses won’t fatigue you as much as squats, leaving energy for the rest of your workout. |
|
Squats can improve your jump height, sprint performance, and overall athleticism. |
Leg presses are beneficial for everyone, regardless of skill, height, mobility, and flexibility. |
Squats vs Leg Press: How to Determine Which Is Right For Your Routine
You don't have to pick just one of these exercises, as you can easily incorporate both into your training. Some of the limitations of a squat marry well with the benefits of a leg press. For example, you can increase leg training volume, but reduce overall lower back loading by using leg presses as an accessory to your squats rather than relying solely on squats.
You could easily use both, even within the same session, providing a slightly varied stimulus to the muscle. For example, 3 sets of 6-10 squats could easily be followed by 2 or 3 sets of 10-15 closer to failure on the leg press. This variation is an essential part of programming.
Remember to have a progressive overload plan in place for this variety, though. Be strategic. Don’t just chuck random exercises and rep schemes in to try and “shock” your body or “confuse” your muscles.
A study examining the role of changing up exercises for hypertrophy vs. strength gains found that strategic variation, as opposed to random variation, supports muscle hypertrophy7. Squats and leg presses can live together in perfect harmony, each covering the other's limitations, providing a different stimulus, and fast-tracking your progress.
Looking for even more guidance on which exercise to pick? The following scenarios will help you decide which is best for you.
Squat vs Leg Press For Building Leg Muscles
Remember, both exercises will build your lower body muscles. You can achieve muscle hypertrophy using either of these moves or including both of them in your routine. Overall, your skill level, available equipment, and anatomy should dictate which exercise you include.
Here are a few different scenarios to consider:
- If you don't have access to a gym or don't like the leg press available at your fitness club, choose the squat.
- If you are a beginner still working on perfecting squat form, choose the leg press (ideally while you continue practicing proper form for the squat).
- If you find that the squat is awkward or uncomfortable for you, whether due to ankle, knee, or hip mobility issues, or simply being a taller lifter, the leg press may be your best option.
Pick the one that you can comfortably move through a large range of motion following proper form.
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
Squat vs Leg Press For Improving Leg Strength
Both exercises can improve your leg strength, so again, opting for the one in which you can use the best form, most comfortably, may be best.
The leg press may be the safer option if your goal is to improve leg strength, as it has built-in safety features that enable you to lift heavy without increasing your risk of injury. In addition, increasing leg strength via the leg press can even improve your barbell squat performance.
It's also helpful to consider why you're trying to improve your strength. If your goal is to improve athletic performance, squats are best. If it's simply to increase your leg strength, the leg press is be the better option.
Squat vs Leg Press: Final Takeaways
To summarize, squats appear to provide better direct quad and glute stimulus than leg presses. Squats hit the whole body harder than leg presses but take longer for muscle recovery, impacting training acutely and chronically.
The leg press compared to the squat is a lower body-focused exercise, with less activation, but also less fatigue. The ease with which you can pick them up makes them a great choice for anyone looking for quick gains or searching for a way to increase their lower body volume without other limiting factors creeping in.
Both squats and leg presses can be used to grow your lower body, and it really comes to personal preference. You can sleep soundly at night knowing your legs are growing even if you don’t relish squatting or decide leg pressing isn’t for you.
Interested in learning more about squats and leg presses? Check out our Squats Guide and our article on the Different Leg Press Foot Placements for more information on both exercises!
References:
- Rossi, Fabrício E., et al. “Strength, Body Composition, and Functional Outcomes in the Squat versus Leg Press Exercises.” The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, vol. 58, no. 3, 1 Mar. 2018, pp. 263–270, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27735888/, 10.23736/S0022-4707.16.06698-6. Accessed 30 Dec. 2020.
- Schwanbeck, Shane R., et al. “Effects of Training with Free Weights versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 34, no. 7, July 2020, pp. 1851–1859, 10.1519/jsc.0000000000003349.
- Sjöberg, Maria, et al. “Comparison of Joint and Muscle Biomechanics in Maximal Flywheel Squat and Leg Press.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, vol. 3, 5 Aug. 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.686335. Accessed 16 Apr. 2022.
- Shariat, Ardalan, et al. “Impact of Back Squat Training Intensity on Strength and Flexibility of Hamstring Muscle Group.” Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, vol. 30, no. 3, 5 May 2017, pp. 641–647, https://doi.org/10.3233/bmr-160526. Accessed 1 Mar. 2019.
- Rhodes, E C. “Effects of One Year of Resistance Training on the Relation between Muscular Strength and Bone Density in Elderly Women.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 34, no. 1, 1 Feb. 2000, pp. 18–22, https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.34.1.18.
- Escamilla, Rafael F., et al. “Effects of Technique Variations on Knee Biomechanics during the Squat and Leg Press.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 33, no. 9, 1 Sept. 2001, pp. 1552–1566, journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2001/09000/Effects_of_technique_variations_on_knee.20.aspx. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022.
- Kassiano, Witalo, et al. “Does Varying Resistance Exercises Promote Superior Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains? A Systematic Review.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. Publish Ahead of Print, 1 Apr. 2022, 10.1519/jsc.0000000000004258. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.
Tom MacCormick
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