I don’t see hack squats or leg press mentioned much. I find them helpful with athletes who have low-back issues that limit their use of deadlift or traditional squats. I assume they are not preferred, but are there any issues with either of those that suggest they should be avoided?
I think they are fine under special circumstances. Hell, did you ever see the video of Jeremy Wariner doing something like x12 partial leg press with like 200lbs? I have a girl with low back issues (sometimes resulting in numbness of lower limb areas) so I’ll use whatever I can.
hack squats are great if u do they right, but leg press is to impress the chicks. when hack squatting place your feet underneath you the step 1 foot forward, take it to the ground…good luck…ciao
What kind of lower back issues are we talking about?
I think some of the posts are referring to athletes who really have a tough time loading the spine, like lower disc issues. Also, if a lifter has shoulder/arm problems (separated shoulder/ broken arm, etc.)
Personally, I like belt squats to handle some of these situations as well.
(I think they are fine under special circumstances. I have a girl with low back issues (sometimes resulting in numbness of lower limb areas) so I’ll use whatever I can.)
Besides the fact that using machine 4 sport training isn’t helping the athlete(!!), hack squat is producing a tremendous amount of pain in your knee and the leg press doesn’t allow your gluteus to bend back to let the quads working:so in my opinion I SUGGEST not to use those machines is you want to have less problems with your knees and back and start doing squat in the proper way 
Not sure if you read his post correctly. His athlete has lower back issues, that result in numbness sometimes. This is from nerve impingement, usually caused by a disc bulge/herniation (I had the same thing). Loading the spine under this circumstance is NOT what any athlete wants to do. The pain is bad enough alone without putting 300 lbs on your back.
There are alternatives that can be used without loading the spine, but obviously they aren’t going to put the same kind of stress to the body as a heavy squat or deadlift (db variations: split squat, step ups, etc)
You have to use what you have under the circumstances, not every athlete is going to be able to squat or deadlift.
regarding squats, may they be free body or on a hack machine, a common excuse is lower back
manly becuz it feels funny, but the the back is ok…
try feet placing , and lower weight by 25% of
wat u normal use, i bet the back is ok…
ciao