Watch: Rashmika Mandanna is channelling her ‘inner beast’ while working out

Mandanna can be seen doing leg extensions on the lever machine. “As you sit on a padded seat and raise the padded bar with your legs, it works the quadriceps muscles of the front of the thigh—the rectus femoris and the vastus muscles. You can use this exercise to build lower body strength and muscle definition as part of a strength training workout,” said fitness expert Garima Goyal.

Why do this exercise?

Targeting the large muscles on the front of the thighs, leg extensions are open-chain kinetic exercises such that the legs aren’t stationary when they work. “While compound exercises engage multiple leg muscles, leg extensions provide significant isolated volume to the quads, resulting in optimal strength development in the legs,” Goyal said.

 

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As a low-impact exercise, there is less strain on the joints which translates into reduced risk of injuries.

Goyal also shared that it enhances knee stability. “The biomechanics of leg extensions uses a torque force that causes you to push through your quads to straighten your knee. As a result, your patella and quadricep knee attachment ligaments strengthen. Regularly performing leg extensions reinforces this biomechanic and helps to reduce your risk of injuries by improving your knee stability,” Goyal described.

According to Goyal, athletic performance receives a boost as the quads and thighs are strengthened. “Your quads help your overall stability and balance, so those metrics also improve from doing leg extensions. Strong quads will improve your lifts and give you better performance in the gym. Your quads affect your lower leg movements and upper leg movements significantly. These come into play during squats, deadlifts, and other lower body strengthening exercises,” she said.

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