Different leg exercises make different parts of your thigh muscles grow bigger—leg extensions grow all parts of one muscle, while squats mainly grow the middle part of another.

41

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

41

Community contributions welcome

41

The role of exercise selection in regional Muscle Hypertrophy: A randomized controlled trial

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2021 Oct

This study found that doing leg extensions makes the whole front thigh muscle grow, but doing squats only makes the middle part of the outer thigh muscle grow — just like the claim said.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

The role of exercise selection in regional Muscle Hypertrophy: A randomized controlled trial

Score: 41

DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2021.1929736

Similar Assertions

Leg extensions make the whole front of your thigh muscle grow evenly, while squats mainly make the middle part of a different thigh muscle grow.

41

0

89%

Different leg exercises make different parts of your thigh muscles bigger — leg extensions grow the front part, squats grow the lower outer part.

48

0

83%

Doing leg extensions makes the front thigh muscle grow more evenly along its length than doing squats, which don’t stimulate that muscle as much.

48

0

81%

Which leg exercise you choose matters: leg extensions grow the front thigh muscle more, squats grow the lower outer thigh more and make you stronger at squats—but both help you get stronger at leg extensions.

48

0

80%

Doing leg extensions for 8 weeks makes the front thigh muscle bigger along its whole length more than doing squats, especially near the knee.

48

0

79%