Any suggestions for doing the equivalent of the leg press at home? I already do squats but am looking for a way to be sitting and pushing at increasing weights like can be done on the equipment at a gym. I have a Weider 8525 home gym and can't really afford to upgrade to a new one right now.

No, unfortunately. You can buy a leg press machine designed for home use, but it's a few hundred bucks. I tried to jerry-rig something once with my bench, as it has a leg curl attachment. I was hoping I could load plates on it, sit on a chair, and push with my feet on the attachment, but I ended just sliding the bench across the floor, or else my chair,

Squat variations are really the only other alternative. Regular squats (half, full), front squats, goblet squats.

there are plenty of ways to make bodyweight squats more intense...

hold a pair of dumbells...
squat with one leg on a stack of books...
squat with just one leg (called a Pistol squat)...
weighted vests...

plus... these squats work your ab muscles as well as your legs... introducing an element of instability can work wonders. Look for the balance platforms... i guarantee you that your first 10 squats while standing on one of those will feel like the first 10 in your life.

stationary and isolation machines do not do much for improving functional strength.

Besides the great recommendations of Malefic..Try split Squats or Y Squats, Lunges, hack Squats with barbell or dumbells.

The leg press is not a good alternative to squats or lunges IMO..some may need them for rehabilitave purposes or can't squat correctly due to biomechanical problems, but I think it is a piece of equipment that makes excercise easier and more comfortable. Not always a good thing.

I do like toe raises(calf raises) on the angled leg press machine. You can work up to some pretty hefty weights on that,

Excellent suggestions and you can pick up a balance board and weighted vest from Walmart for a decent price. I just got the 20lb weighted vest and it more than does the trick. If you're really tight on a budget, you might want to consider using sand bags. Check out www.sandbagexercises.com

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll continue on with the squats and implement the variations/additional weights once I get stronger at them.

I do like lifting without machines much better, but at my current weight my knees still complain a bit. I think the machines would allow me to build the muscles without compromising the knee position. I'm working on improving the knees with leg extensions, so maybe it won't be too much longer. That's also why I'm not doing lunges right now.

Thanks again!

The leg extension machine won't help your knees: it's for quadriceps isolation.
Bodyweight work would help more to strengthen muscles and stabilize the knees, you know. And the leg extension machine can overstress the knee joint; there's a good summary of the problem here: "Knee Problem". Lunges are good -- not fun, but good.

Cheers--
Terry-24

Thanks Terry. I was wanting the leg press for the quads. When I went to the gym a couple of years ago, I liked doing them along with the squats. I'm working out at home now so was hoping I could find something similar.

And I'm just using small weights for the extensions ... 5 lb ankle weights at this point, so I don't think that will overstress the knees. Trying to approach building the knees up from a lot of different angles so I can get to the point where I can do the heavier squats and lunges.

Thanks again!

Actually there are alot of people out in the field who think the leg extension is quite damaging to the knees..

Try the split squat first..pretty easy on the knees and you don't have to go down so low..

But the lunge is king IMO for women..

Lunges are good, curse them. Yeah, not fun.

Ok, I'll take a look at the split squat. Thanks!

Split squats are hard. Very hard. I hate them. I do them, but I hate them.

My personal home version of leg press is to fill a strong backpack with weights (or books), hold onto a door frame or a post of a garden fence, and then squat. Holding on take the balance element out of hte squat, so you can go heavier with a full range of motion.

I think there are a couple of problems with this recommendation:

• You want to balance: it's essential for functional strength. Don't sacrifice it. If you don't have good balance, try wall-squats.

• Depending on where you're wearing that backpack (presumably mid- or lower back), you can stress back muscles that really should *not* be working in a squat. Look at Krista's pages on squats and see also her link to a good no-equipment squat site that shows how much work basic squatting can be.

• "Full range of motion" = ass to grass? That's great if you have the strength, flexibility, and balance to get there, but everyone's full range of motion is different. A less-than-optimally-deep squat, done properly, is still valuable strength training.

There's some excellent suggestions here with the weighted vest, backpack, sandbags etc. Another would be to incorporate the SWING into your training. It doesn't necessarily target the quads the way you re looking for, but it has HUGE benefits to the entire body. Some target areas are, back, hams and glutes. Do them with a deep knee bend and you've got more quad work. You'll burn a hellacious amount of calories as well. Overall fitness will improve too. Here's a link to check it out a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9STygncN0_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h1Q...related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy5u...related&search=

If you can find something to use at home to simulate a deadlift, you can use a 'duck stance' to shift resistance more to the quads. Before squats were popular, many impressive legs were made from the deadlift.