For those who don't know, I am coming off a lower back injury that limits my routine. I have been back at it a week, and everything has been going well. UNTIL.....today when I did horzontal less presses. I was told to avoid squads and try leg presses instead (by my doctor). But with the minor pain from leg presses I am concerned that the back injury will re-occur (as is my doctor). I can't do squats, deadlifts (straight legged or otherwise) either.

So, how effective would these three exercises be:

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Seated Calve Raises

The only real area I see me missing is my gluts. What do you think?

FYI: I am not looking to add muscle, just looking to tone.

Be very careful with the lower back injury. Make sure to heal it properly before going too heavy or intense, just to be sure. I speak from experience and it's not fun to be in your shoes. I feel for ya, but good luck!!

As for your exercises:

LEG EXTENSIONS
While I get a great "burn" off these I do not personally care for them. I did nothing but this and leg press for over a year straight (lower back!) (and I thought I was going heavy), and had zero growth in my quads. Then I started doing squads and stiff-legged deadlifts and my legs started growing again. :)

Some people love this exercise though, so I don't know. Just never did much for me.

LEG CURLS
This is a decent exercise in my opinion. I likes. :)

SEATED CALF RAISE
This is okay, but the calves tend to require a lot of weight to significantly do anything because of the workload (not to mention high volume) they take on all day, every day. I find it hard to perform this exercise because it feels awkward with a lot of weight on there. But it's a decent exercise. My favorite for calves is lying calf raise, using the leg press machine.

How come you can't leg press? If you keep your back firm on the pad...? Just wondering. If you arch your back of course that's bad.

Good luck!




For those who don't know, I am coming off a lower back injury that limits my routine. I have been back at it a week, and everything has been going well. UNTIL.....today when I did horzontal less presses. I was told to avoid squads and try leg presses instead (by my doctor). But with the minor pain from leg presses I am concerned that the back injury will re-occur (as is my doctor). I can't do squats, deadlifts (straight legged or otherwise) either.

So, how effective would these three exercises be:

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Seated Calve Raises

The only real area I see me missing is my gluts. What do you think?

FYI: I am not looking to add muscle, just looking to tone.

A good excercise for your glutes that doesn't involve your lower back as much as SLDLs or squats is to lay down on your back and bend your knees in so that your feet are on the floor about a foot away from your butt. Push your hips up as far as you can for 10-12 reps, focusing entirely on using your glutes and hamstrings to do so. If it's too easy, you can always rest a dumbell on your hips for extra resistance. Start slow and determine how much lower back involvement there is in that movement. I don't think there is much, though.

Try doing some static lunges or walking lunges holding dumbbells. It should be easier on your back and get your legs a heck of a workout. Try 3x8-10 per leg. Supplement that with Leg Curls for now. When your back heals up, do a lot of lower back and core strengthening exercises, and start deadlifting and squats. You may want to get the book Core Performance. It will help you strengthen your core quite a bit. A stronger core will mean less chance of back injury again.

At first I was told I can. But when I did them the other day my back was a little sore the next day. According to all medical test I am good to go back at the weights. Maybe I did them wrong (since it's been a while w/o lifting & this is a new gym/machine)

My legs already look pretty good from previous workouts & soccer. I had what some call "soccer legs" :) Just wanted to know if I would be able to reasonablely maintain them with just those three.

Be very careful with the lower back injury. Make sure to heal it properly before going too heavy or intense, just to be sure. I speak from experience and it's not fun to be in your shoes. I feel for ya, but good luck!!

As for your exercises:

LEG EXTENSIONS
While I get a great "burn" off these I do not personally care for them. I did nothing but this and leg press for over a year straight (lower back!) (and I thought I was going heavy), and had zero growth in my quads. Then I started doing squads and stiff-legged deadlifts and my legs started growing again. :)

Some people love this exercise though, so I don't know. Just never did much for me.

LEG CURLS
This is a decent exercise in my opinion. I likes. :)

SEATED CALF RAISE
This is okay, but the calves tend to require a lot of weight to significantly do anything because of the workload (not to mention high volume) they take on all day, every day. I find it hard to perform this exercise because it feels awkward with a lot of weight on there. But it's a decent exercise. My favorite for calves is lying calf raise, using the leg press machine.

How come you can't leg press? If you keep your back firm on the pad...? Just wondering. If you arch your back of course that's bad.

Good luck!

At first I was told I can. But when I did them the other day my back was a little sore the next day. According to all medical test I am good to go back at the weights. Maybe I did them wrong (since it's been a while w/o lifting & this is a new gym/machine)

My legs already look pretty good from previous workouts & soccer. I had what some call "soccer legs" :) Just wanted to know if I would be able to reasonablely maintain them with just those three.
You may have done things incorrectly or with poor form, if so again be careful! I don't want you to hurt yourself again, or make things worse.

If you already have good legs and just want to maintain them, yeah I would assume you can go lighter than what, say, I would be doing as a standard leg routine.

Good luck and be careful. :)