Liftworthy
ExploreTrainFeed
Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

Rankings
  • All rankings
  • Add an exercise
  • Build a workout
About
  • How scores work
  • The app
  • Your tiers
Legal
  • Privacy
  • Terms & community rules
General training information, not medical advice. If something hurts, stop and see a professional.
  • Explore
  • Train
  • Feed
  • You
Explore/Quads

Leg Extension

MachineIsolationEasy to learn
Front
Back
Primary

Works

Quads

You need

Leg extension

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
Ankle pad
1Start
Ankle pad
2Top
Main muscles
  1. 1Knee lined up with the machine pivot
  2. 2Lean back slightly to stretch the rectus femoris
  3. 3Lower slowly into the bend

Most common mistake

Kicking the weight up and dropping it.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Top 10 for quads
  • Keeps the work on the target muscle
  • Easy to keep adding weight

Compare with

vs Reverse Nordicvs Sissy Squatvs Belt Squat
C
For cycling
#15 of 16
See the full list →
Research
49
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 49
TransferGood
Injury protectionFair
PracticalityStrong

Research behind these criteria

  • Transfer: Seitz et al., 2014 · Markovic, 2007 · Blagrove et al., 2018 · Rønnestad & Mujika, 2014
  • Injury protection: Lauersen et al., 2014 · van Dyk et al., 2019 · Harøy et al., 2019 · Webster & Hewett, 2018
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

  • ABulgarian Split SquatDumbbell
  • ATrap Bar DeadliftBarbell
  • AStep-UpDumbbell
  • AHack SquatMachine

Takes

None yet
needed to post
280