Hello,
I'm new to the site and thought I might as well ask about something that has been bugging me for a while as I have grown to fully embrace lifting as I have gone to college. I see from many fitness youtubers and others that I have personally spoken to who swear that the leg extension machine, among other leg machines including even the leg press, are detrimental overall due to their fixed range of motion. As I have started to lift more religiously I have started to notice some slight pain in my back as I leg press, and I really don't put anything more than four to five plates on, rather focusing on form. Usually these videos or conversations end with the person claiming that exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and lunges are good alternatives...which is all well and good except for for the fact that those three lifts alone aren't quite enough to truly flesh out as long a leg workout as I would like. So i guess my question is what are some good alternatives to leg pressing, and other machines that have been decreed as "detrimental"? Hahaha sorry for the long winded post, have been watching many of your videos for quite a while now and this leg workout predicamant has been bugging me for a while. Finally, I thought I might include my standard leg workout, (I deadlift on back day):
Back Squat: Four sets (First two sets for 8 reps, second two sets for 6 reps)
Smith machine lunges: 3 sets of 8 reps
Smith Squat holds: 3 sets of 8 reps
Leg press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Three way hack machine calf raises: 3 sets of 8 reps for each way
Again, sorry for the long string of questions! Any help with my leg workout would be greatly appreciated!- Matt