If you want to get stronger at squats, doing squats makes you way stronger than doing leg extensions.

48

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

48

Community contributions welcome

48

Comparison of Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Adaptations Induced by Back Squat and Leg Extension Resistance Exercises.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2025 Dec 12

The study found that people who did back squats got much stronger at back squats, while people who did leg extensions didn’t get nearly as strong at back squats — exactly what the claim says.

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

Comparison of Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Adaptations Induced by Back Squat and Leg Extension Resistance Exercises.

Score: 48

DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000005338

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If you want to get stronger at squats, doing squats is way better than doing leg extensions—but if you want to get stronger at leg extensions, both exercises work about the same.

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