Pulse Leg Extension

At Completegyms, we are proud to offer you this leg extension from Pulse.

Why not warm up first Resistance Bands

Check out this video – Video

Excellent for beginners

Squats will always reign supreme, both in terms of functionality and strength development, particularly when it comes to developing quad strength.

But there are plenty of instances where squats are not the best option.

For people coming off an injury, for example, or those of you who aren’t ready for the more technical aspects of squatting correctly (not as simple as it looks—you’d be surprised how many lifters botch this “basic” exercise).

The learning curve on leg extension is straightforward and easy to work through. The limited range of motion and fixed path of the resistance means it’s, well, less likely that we will screw up and hurt ourselves on it!

Building muscle awareness

Experienced lifters who want to be better in tune with the eccentric and concentric phases of a quad-dominated lift should ABSOLUTELY do leg extensions.

Because your quads are right in front of you (as opposed to below you as with squats), you can really see the musculature flex and contract as you raise the padded bar up and down.

There is something about the visual feedback that comes with seeing your muscles flex in real-time under resistance to give you a better sense of how your leg muscles are contracting to counter resistance. (Can you tell I like nerding out about this stuff?)

Bodybuilders in particular will appreciate this aspect of the exercise—giving you full control and awareness of how your muscles are reacting to load.

Great exercise for “finishers”

Because you are sitting down when doing this exercise, it’s a great choice for a “finisher” exercise where the goal is maximum reps until failure.

Exercises like barbell squats aren’t always a great choice for finishers—nobody wants to fail and ditch a loaded barbell, after all-with the leg extension providing a safe alternative for burning out your quads at the end of a big leg day workout.

Once you’ve done your big lifts for the day, go for maximum pump and burn by doing a high-rep set with moderate weight to failure.

Leg extensions are safer than many free weight exercises

At the end of the day, and this goes primarily for beginners and even some intermediate lifters, lifting weight confidently and safely is the priority.

The leg extension machine has you sitting down, reducing the concern one might have about lifting with proper technique and posture.

Because you are sitting and in a controlled movement, there is less that can go wrong.