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single leg squats vs. lunges

T

the People's Champ

New member
I do lunges and like the feeling of this exercise, but does anyone have experience with single leg squats? I am thinking I need to either supplement this into my routine, or replace lunges once in a while to even out my legs. I am always down to try a new exercise.
 
While I think that lunges are superior, it wouldn't hurt to replace them with single leg squats on a Smith Machine.
 
In all honesty I don't like either one!
 
I am having a similar dilemma. The free gyms at my work (yes there are two) do not have a power rack (grrrr). So I am faced with a dilemma. I was thinking of replacing squats with single-leg squats (I would use DBs). Other options would include Smith machine squats. EVIL!!!!! Or leg presses. I already do lunges, and am probably going to change them to the splits lunges, where you step out to the side rather than straight.

Also, what is the proper form for single leg squats? I have heard one where you put our toe on a butt-high box behind you, and another where you extend your leg in front of you. Has anyone tried either one?

Anyways I would like to hear thoughts on single leg squats vs. smith squats vs. leg presses. And I am only going to do one. I like to get exhausted quickly and make my workouts short. And I am not going to join a gym just so I can squat there once a week, though once I buy a house I might buy a squat rack so I can start squatting again.

JC
 
needsize said:
In all honesty I don't like either one!
Click to expand...

I am totally agreeing with you...totally.

B True
 
joncrane: You don't have to have a power rack to squat...don't they have some sort of squat rack...something...anyting.

Find a way to squat....

B True
 
I knew you were going to say that--that's the standard answer. "Find a way" Well it's going to be several months until I "Find a way" so I am simply asking for opinions as to the least of different evils--

seated leg press
regular leg press
smith machine squats
one legged squats

(I just found out that one of the gyms has a seated leg press where you are pressing yourself away from the press board)

I will at least still be able to deadlift so I should be able to keep up my core strength.

JC
 
So...they don't have a squat rack at all?

B True
 
The seated's where you press away are usually too easy. I would use the leg press, lunges, and smith squats if they don't bother your knees. That should do the job just fine.
 
I like reverse lunges a lot. Takes quite a bit of skill and balance to do it. Hits the hammies a lot harder than squats, but your quads still get it. A nice ratio IMO.

Single leg squats are more on the quad side. The intenisty is unreal. Don't knock it till you try it. If you can squat 500lbs for reps, then try holding two 100lb dumbells and do a single leg squat all the way to the bottom. Now tell which feels more intense? :)

It doesn't take a genius to figure your forearms, delts and traps will take a hiding as well :p
 
Last edited:
Sometime ago I read about Lee Haney doing FRONT SQUATS on a smith machine. This forces the erect posture you seek in front squats to target the quads and less sheering forces on the knees than back squats with the smith machine.

Maybe it would be a nice idea to try single leg front squats on the smith. I aint looking forward to the grueling prospect of holding the 100 lb dumbells in my hands while single leg squating.

Maybe i am just a pussy, anyway I will try the single legs today, see how it works out.
 
i doubt anyone doing a 500 lb squat would be able to hold a pair of 100s and doing a single leg squat. not without being humbled for a long time down in the low double digits. single leg squats require a great deal more proprioception and control than the standard back squat. its not a matter of just stand on one leg and push with all out power anymore. now its modulated power in the beginning until you relearn the squat pattern. periodizing your training to go into single leg or unstable training will greatly improve performance though on the stable (back squat) when coming back.

the diehards will say no, for whatever their reasons (hopefully not to spite the exercise itself) but someone who has done both can attest to the fact that single leg squats are no joke.
 
I just did single leg squats today and they were hard. I did the kind where you put your toe on a bench behind you and with DBs. Since I am still working on coordination I definitely didn't get as intense as regular squats but hopefully I can work my way up. I'll see how sore I am in the next few days to gauge how they hit my muscles.

I did the squats and the lunges today. Does anyone feel that this is redundant? They are pretty similar exercises.

JC
 
I will never believe that one legged squats are better than regular squats...boggles my mind.

Comparing them to lunges, as the original post suggests...I can understand...but not to squats.

B True
 
b fold the truth said:
I will never believe that one legged squats are better than regular squats...boggles my mind.

Comparing them to lunges, as the original post suggests...I can understand...but not to squats.

B True
Click to expand...

from a functional aspect you have to see it. how much time to you spend on 1 leg.....about 60-70% of your time. walking, running, moving, etc. a regular squat is functional for overall strength or in the unlikely event that a tree falls on your back and you have to stand up....but we live in a 3 dimensional, unstable world.....so the single leg squat more readily fits that bill. to round it out a multi planar lunge would put the more of a lateral or transverse stress on the legs as well.

now im not against regular squats...for overall muscular development it may be better, who knows. i do them myself also. but from a real functional aspect, for real life, im for the single leg squat. it teaches/forces correct knee alignment in many situations which can serve as prehabilitation/injury prevention for simple movements which tend to take out those that train completely stable.

if the squat is your thing, thats fine. thats sports specificity, but if you are looking for a more real world training program some unilateral work is going to be beneficial.
 
Real world training? Have you seen how I train? The next time I pick up a 700 pound super yoke and carry it on my back....I don't think that how much I can one leg squat is gonna help me.

Nothing beats a balls to the wall heavy squat. The day we see NFL football players give up 700 pound squats for 200 pound one legged box squats will probably be the same day that we all switch to cables and push ups. Not exactly...I really don't mean that...I just keep thinking that you are joking.

If you want to get big...and strong...you must squat. Like I said earlier, I can see doing them every once in a while for athletes. I could have seen myself doing them when I was training in Martial Arts for balance and strength/conditioning...but not when I was trying to get big...or strong.

The back squat is the king of exercises...

B True
 
I agree with Bignate, the only time I ever use 2 legs together is when I get up from my chair, standing still or when I jump from 2 legs, and even then its rarely ever with 2 feet directly inline with each other facing forwards :)

The rest of time in 98% of my sporting and waking periods, everything is done on one leg in a slightly off balance fashion.
 
b fold the truth said:
Real world training? Have you seen how I train? The next time I pick up a 700 pound super yoke and carry it on my back....I don't think that how much I can one leg squat is gonna help me.


B True
Click to expand...

but when you walk with said super yoke....do you hop down the way? or is weight transferred from one leg to the other? when you back squat do you offset your feet so that forces are unevenly directed down your spine? thats real world. there are very few instances where loading is balanced. so the single leg squat forces that compensation.

as for the nfl, strength and conditioning is coming a long way in a very short amount of time......

keep watching the trends.
 
so....doing one legged squats with 100-200lbs TOPS will give the same or better development (Strength especially) as a back squat would? No way.

I am thinking that either you guys have never squatted heavy, never done any kind of strength sport, or you are seriously joking.

B True
 
i can say i wouldn't mind trying the one leg squat and can see it's point for balance, etc. but i can't imagine being able to push myself near as hard on that type of exercise. it just doesn't seem to lend itself to that. imo
 
I have to agree with bignate. How often in the real world, or even in the sports world, do you put a metal bar across your traps, with your feet evenly placed, dip down to where your thighs are parallel to the floor, and go back up, several times?

I did single leg squats yesterday and today I am sore in places that were never sore from regular squats.

I will never give up squats completely but I am glad that my current situation forced me to find this alternative.

You might say, OK, when in real life do I ever put one toe behind me on a bench, grasp two dunmbells, and squat down several times, then switch legs and do the same.

So you can make the same argument against one legged squats. I think all you can say is that one legged squats are different, not necessarily better than reguar squats.

JC
 
You are right...when talking about the practicality of an exercise...when do you ever end up with two dbells in your hand or a barbell and be forced to push straight out. It isn't every day that a leg press falls on you...or you are forced to do a concentration curl on the football field...lol. But the Squat and deadlift build the overall body strength that the strength athlete needs...total body strength.

I can see it now...as he puts on his belt, one knee wrap, 1/2 of his squat suit and one leg into his briefs...to do a one leg squat...lol. The first time that someone asks me to spot them on a one leg squat...well...that will probably be the same time that they ask me for a spot on donkey calf raises or barbell rows...lol

B True
 
bro, you put too much thought into that last post, haha. i did some one arms benches with half triple denim bench shirt last night too, haha. as a finishing movement.
elbow wrap too, only on my left side though.
 
brian747478` said:
bro, you put too much thought into that last post, haha. i did some one arms benches with half triple denim bench shirt last night too, haha. as a finishing movement.
elbow wrap too, only on my left side though.
Click to expand...

:lmao: What can I say???

B True
 
CoolColJ said:
anyone every squat with their eyes shut?

that will get your sense of balance sorted out real fast :)
Click to expand...

yep. done that

or dbell squats on a airex pads or a dyna disk. thats not particularly fun though. but it is humbling to me. kindof like when you put a dog on a frozen pond, how funny they look walking around with their tail between their legs.....thats how i look when im done squatting unstable.
 
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