Leg Extensions

The proper way to perform bodyweight leg extensions.

At first glance, leg extensions seem pretty simple and essentially they are.

However, the difficulty lies in the ability to adjust this exercise to your own level.

As beginners, we usually start with “Leg Extensions- Sitting” (see video). As we progress and get more strength, we need to be honest with ourselves if we want to make this exercise hard enough and effective. Simply sitting on our feet and bringing our hips back to the original position won’t do the trick. We need to be very mindful of how much strength we use from the quads to bring our hips up, and make sure we use as much of it as we can and don’t just rely on a hip swing.

Swinging won’t make your legs work and won’t have any benefit.

As we get stronger, the goal is to hinge less and less at the hips and try to keep a straight line from the shoulders to the knees, until eventually we are able to fully lean backward as low as possible with no hip movement at all.

Please watch the videos to get a better idea of what the starting point looks like (Leg Extensions- Sitting) and what the final goal is (Leg Extensions).