Need to get extra from leg day with out working your self into the bottom? This information reveals the best way to use the leg press to construct dimension and energy with out burning your self out.
Some health “gurus” say squats are all you’ll want to construct robust, muscular legs.
They’re mistaken.
Squats are glorious, however they’re additionally extremely fatiguing—particularly in your decrease again—which limits how typically you are able to do them every week earlier than your joints cry uncle.
That’s why sensible weightlifters pair squats with workout routines just like the leg press, which let you practice lots of the similar muscle tissues with heavy weights, however with out beating up your physique as a lot.
That mentioned, the leg press isn’t foolproof. If you wish to get essentially the most out of it whereas remaining injury-free, it’s a must to study correct leg press type.
On this article, you’ll study every little thing you’ll want to know concerning the leg press train, together with what the leg press is, its advantages, the best way to use the leg press machine, and extra!
Need to know precisely how you need to practice to achieve your health objectives? Take our free 60-second coaching quiz and discover out now
Key Takeaways
- The leg press is a machine-based lower-body train that primarily trains your quads and glutes. It additionally trains your hamstrings and calves to a lesser extent.
- It’s much less fatiguing than free-weight workout routines like squats, making it preferrred for when your again is drained or injured.
- Inserting your toes excessive on the footplate could barely improve glute and hamstring activation, however the variations are small.
- The only-leg leg press might help repair muscle and energy imbalances between sides and scale back stress in your backbone whereas nonetheless permitting you to coach exhausting.
- For an efficient leg press exercise, do three units near failure of the leg press, Romanian deadlift, lunge, and calf elevate.
- To get essentially the most out of your leg press coaching, think about using a high-quality protein powder that will help you attain your each day protein goal, creatine to help restoration and muscle development, and a pre-workout to reinforce vitality, focus, and efficiency.
What Is the Leg Press?
The leg press is a lower-body train that entails sitting in a seat and pushing a weight away out of your physique utilizing your legs.
You often carry out it on a leg press machine, with the 2 commonest varieties being the “seated leg press” and the “vertical leg press”. Whereas each leg press machine is barely totally different, most encompass a padded seat, a footplate, and security handles.
Right here’s an instance of what a seated leg press machine appears to be like like:
Leg Press: Type
The easiest way to study the best way to use the leg press machine is to separate the train into three elements: arrange, descend, and press.
Step 1: Arrange
Load a leg press machine with the specified quantity of weight, then sit within the seat and wedge your butt down into the bottom of the seat.
Place your toes midway up the footplate and somewhat wider than shoulder-width aside along with your toes pointing barely outward.
Straighten your knees barely and use the protection handles to launch the load.
Step 2: Descend
Decrease the footplate towards your chest till your knees are about 12-to-18 inches out of your chest whereas holding your butt firmly planted within the seat and with out rounding your again.
As you decrease the load, push your knees out in the identical route as your toes.
Step 3: Press
Whereas holding your again pressed towards the backrest, push the footplate away out of your higher physique till your legs are virtually however not fully straight (knees barely bent) and return to the beginning place.
Leg Press: Muscle Labored
The primary muscle tissues labored by the leg press train are the quadriceps and glutes, although it additionally trains your hamstrings and calves to a lesser extent.
Right here’s how the muscle tissues labored within the leg press look in your physique:
Leg Press: Advantages
1. It means that you can practice your legs when your again is drained.
Throughout lots of the finest leg workout routines, just like the again squat, entrance squat, and Romanian deadlift, your again muscle tissues should work exhausting to maintain your higher physique in a secure, secure, and environment friendly place.
In case your leg exercises solely encompass free-weight workout routines like these, your again muscle tissues (and notably your lower-back muscle tissues) could fatigue sooner than your legs. In different phrases, whereas your again could also be bushed after 6 units of those workout routines, your legs could possibly deal with just a few extra.
The leg press is a useful workaround on this situation, because it means that you can practice your legs (primarily your quads and glutes) after your again is fried.
This ensures you may practice your legs with the quantity (units) they should develop with out your lower-back turning into a limiting issue.
2. It’s much less fatiguing than different leg workout routines.
Usually talking, free-weight workout routines are simpler than machine workout routines for constructing muscle and gaining energy.
Nevertheless, free-weight workout routines additionally are typically extra taxing in your joints, ligaments, tendons, and central nervous system than machine workout routines that practice the identical muscle tissues, which implies you may solely accomplish that a lot earlier than the standard of your exercises dips.
That is very true with regards to massive muscle teams just like the legs and again.
A great way to keep away from that is to switch certainly one of your free-weight leg workout routines every week with the leg press train as a result of this allows you to successfully practice your legs with out carrying your physique to a frazzle.
For instance, as an alternative of doing a exercise that consists of the barbell again squat, leg curl, barbell entrance squat, and dumbbell lunge, you can swap the entrance squat for the leg press. (In truth, that is virtually precisely what I like to recommend in my applications for males and ladies.)
3. It’s preferrred for individuals with lower-back issues.
In contrast to many different compound leg workout routines, the leg press doesn’t load your backbone (when it’s carried out appropriately).
This makes it preferrred for people who find themselves coaching round or attempting to keep away from reaggravating a again damage.
That mentioned, in case you carry out the leg press incorrectly by bringing your thighs too near your chest, or in case you lack the flexibleness to carry out it via a full vary of movement, you could spherical your decrease again throughout the train.
This locations stress in your decrease again and should improve your threat of damage. Thus, it’s important that you simply carry out the train appropriately.
You might have heard you could change which lower-body muscle tissues you emphasize on the leg press by altering your leg press stance.
For instance, frequent gymlore stipulates that . . .
- To do a leg press for glutes and hamstrings, you need to place your toes excessive on the footplate.
- To do a leg press for quads, you need to place your toes low on the footplate.
- To emphasise your outer quads, you need to take a slim stance.
- To emphasise your internal quads, you need to take a large stance and switch your toes out.
And whereas this isn’t fully mistaken, it isn’t precisely proper, both.
As an illustration, some analysis reveals that performing the leg press along with your toes excessive on the footplate will increase glute and hamstring activation, and performing it along with your toes low on the footplate will increase quad activation.
In each circumstances, nonetheless, if the variations happen, they’re slight, and since increased muscle activation doesn’t all the time lead to extra muscle acquire, it isn’t clear how a lot altering the peak of your leg press foot placement impacts your long-term outcomes.
Issues are much less ambiguous with regards to how stance width and foot orientation impacts muscle activation: a number of research present that muscle activation in your legs is similar no matter how vast your stance is or the way you level your toes.
Thus, tinkering along with your stance width on the leg press received’t make any distinction to how a lot muscle you construct or the place you construct it, although it’s nonetheless one thing you need to experiment with to discover a width that feels most snug for you.
All issues thought of, the most effective foot place for most individuals shall be one which has your toes midway up the footplate and somewhat wider than shoulder-width aside, and along with your toes pointing barely outward.
That is essentially the most snug place for most individuals because it feels secure and secure and doesn’t require excessive flexibility, making it the most effective place to begin with.
Advantages of the Single-Leg Leg Press (And When to Use It)
The preferred leg press variation is the single-leg leg press (typically additionally known as the “one-leg leg press”).
You carry out the single-leg leg press the identical because the common model, however as an alternative of urgent the load with each toes, you practice one leg at a time.
The advantages of single-leg leg urgent is that your stronger facet can’t compensate in your weaker facet, which helps you repair any muscle and energy imbalances you may need.
The only-leg leg press additionally has a sensible perk: since you’re solely utilizing one leg at a time, you don’t have to load the leg press machine with as a lot weight, which saves time throughout setup and cleanup (which I’m positive you all the time do).
Some additionally argue the single-leg leg press is a safer, extra snug possibility, since putting one leg on the ground prevents you from rounding your decrease again and inflicting or irritating decrease again points.
At backside, each the common and single-leg leg press are efficient, so both follow whichever model fits you finest, or alternate between them each few months of coaching.
Pattern Leg Press Exercise for Dimension & Energy
When most individuals say “leg press exercise,” they’re not speaking a few routine that solely contains the leg press. As a substitute, they often imply a lower-body exercise that facilities across the leg press however contains different key workout routines, too.
And that’s the correct method—as a result of to maximise muscle development, analysis reveals it’s finest to coach every muscle group utilizing quite a lot of workout routines that practice your muscle tissues at totally different angles and thru numerous ranges of movement.
Right here’s a pattern leg press exercise routine that does simply that.
- Leg Press: 3 units | 4-to-6 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Romanian Deadlift: 3 units | 4-to-6 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Lunge 3 units | 6-to-8 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
- Standing Calf Elevate: 3 units | 8-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
Dietary supplements to Maximize Your Leg Press Beneficial properties
If you wish to get essentially the most out of your leg press exercises, contemplate these three dietary supplements:
- Protein powder: Protein powder, similar to Whey+ (Legion’s whey isolate) or Casein+ (Legion’s micellar casein), offers your physique with the vitamins wanted to construct muscle tissue and recuperate from exercises.
- Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and energy acquire, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle harm and soreness out of your exercises. For a pure supply of creatine, strive Legion’s creatine monohydrate, creatine gummies, or post-workout Recharge.
- Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances vitality, temper, and focus, will increase energy and endurance, and reduces fatigue. For a top-tier pre-workout containing clinically efficient doses of 6 science-backed elements, strive Legion’s Pulse with caffeine or with out.
(In case you’d like much more particular recommendation about which dietary supplements you need to take to achieve your well being and health objectives, take the Legion Complement Finder Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know precisely what dietary supplements are best for you.)
The Finest Leg Press Options for Dimension & Energy
To be thought of a worthy substitute for the leg press, an train should meet three standards:
- Allow you to raise heavy weights safely and progress over time
- Prepare your total decrease physique
- Decrease stress in your backbone
With that in thoughts, the most effective leg press options are:
- Hack squat
- Barbell entrance squat
- Dumbbell entrance squat
- Security bar squat
- Goblet squat
- Bulgarian break up squat
- Step-up
- Pendulum squat
- Belt squat
Need to know why these work so effectively—and the best way to do each appropriately? Learn this subsequent:
8 Leg Press Options for Health club and House Exercises
One in style possibility I don’t suggest is the Smith machine leg press. Right here’s what it appears to be like like:
It’s awkward to arrange, probably unsafe, and fewer efficient than simply doing Smith machine squats or lunges as an alternative.
FAQ #1: How do you carry out the leg press for glute development?
If rising your glutes is a precedence, leg press along with your toes excessive on the footplate. Some (although not all) research recommend this will increase glute activation, which can enable you acquire glute muscle extra successfully.
That mentioned, the distinction is small. In different phrases, it’s a low-risk, probably medium-reward tweak—nevertheless it received’t make or break your outcomes.
If putting your toes excessive on the footplate feels awkward or uncomfortable, follow a extra normal setup: toes in the course of the footplate, simply exterior shoulder-width, with toes turned barely out.
FAQ #2: Leg Press vs. Squat: Which is best?
It relies upon.
The leg press and squat are each efficient workout routines for coaching all of the muscle tissues of the legs, although the squat is probably going higher at coaching stabilizer muscle tissues throughout your total physique and secondary muscle teams such because the decrease again, and should have extra carryover to different athletic endeavors.
That mentioned, many individuals lack the mobility to carry out the squat correctly, or can’t carry out the squat due to preexisting accidents that make it unsafe to put heavy masses on their again.
For these individuals, the leg press is a greater possibility than the squat, a minimum of till they develop the mobility to carry out the squat with correct type or recuperate from the damage that makes squatting uncomfortable.
The squat can also be very fatiguing, which may make the leg press a greater train for together with on the finish of your exercise once you’re feeling ragged.
FAQ #3: Leg Press vs. Hack Squat: Which Is Higher?
It relies upon.
The primary variations between the leg press and hack squat machines are that the hack squat trains your muscle tissues via a larger vary of movement, which is mostly higher for muscle development, however the leg press is much less taxing in your decrease again, which implies it’s much less fatiguing and could also be extra snug in case you’re working round a lower-back damage.
In fact, there’s no cause to decide on only one. The most effective answer for most individuals is to incorporate each workout routines in your program.
A great way to do that is to incorporate the leg press in your program for 8-to-10 weeks of coaching, take a deload, then change the leg press with the hack squat for the next 8-to-10 weeks of coaching.
Then, you may both proceed alternating between the workout routines each few months like this or follow the one you favor.
FAQ #4: What’s the leg press world document?
The leg press isn’t formally tracked in the identical means that workout routines just like the squat, deadlift, and bench press are, which implies there isn’t an official world document leg press.
That mentioned, William Cannon set an unofficial leg press world document of 1,120 kilograms (2,470 kilos) for a single unaided rep utilizing each legs in September 2021.
FAQ #5: Are you able to do the leg press at dwelling?
Until you could have a leg press machine, no, you may’t do a “dwelling leg press.”
That mentioned, there are lots of good leg workout routines you are able to do at dwelling that practice your legs in the same solution to the leg press.
Take a look at this text to study among the finest leg workout routines you are able to do at dwelling with dumbbells, resistance bands, or your physique weight:
The three Finest Leg Exercise Routines You Can Do at House
Scientific References +
- Barnes, M. J., Miller, A., Reeve, D., & Stewart, R. J. C. (2019). Acute Neuromuscular and Endocrine Responses to Two Completely different Compound Workouts: Squat vs. Deadlift. Journal of Energy and Conditioning Analysis, 33(9), 2381–2387. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002140
- Da Silva, E. M., Brentano, M. A., Cadore, E. L., De Almeida, P. V., & Kruel, L. F. M. (2008). Evaluation of muscle activation throughout totally different leg press workout routines at submaximum effort ranges. Journal of Energy and Conditioning Analysis, 22(4), 1059–1065. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0B013E3181739445
- Escamilla, R. F., Fleisig, G. S., Zheng, N., Lander, J. E., Barrentine, S. W., Andrews, J. R., Bergemann, B. W., & Moorman, C. T. (2001). Results of approach variations on knee biomechanics throughout the squat and leg press. Drugs and Science in Sports activities and Train, 33(9), 1552–1566. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200109000-00020
- Vigotsky, A. D., Ogborn, D., & Phillips, S. M. (2016). Motor unit recruitment can’t be inferred from floor EMG amplitude and fundamental reporting requirements have to be adhered to. European Journal of Utilized Physiology, 116(3), 657–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00421-015-3314-6
- MURRAY, N., CIPRIANI, D., O’RAND, D., & REED-JONES, R. (2013). Results of Foot Place throughout Squatting on the Quadriceps Femoris: An Electromyographic Research. Worldwide Journal of Train Science, 6(2), 114. /pmc/articles/PMC4882472/
- Martín-Fuentes, I., Oliva-Lozano, J. M., & Muyor, J. M. (2021). Affect of Ft Place and Execution Velocity on Muscle Activation and Kinematic Parameters In the course of the Inclined Leg Press Train. Sports activities Well being. https://doi.org/10.1177/19417381211016357
- Martín-Fuentes, I., Oliva-Lozano, J. M., & Muyor, J. M. (2020). Muscle Activation and Kinematic Evaluation throughout the Inclined Leg Press Train in Younger Females. Worldwide Journal of Environmental Analysis and Public Well being, 17(22), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH17228698
- Barakat, C., Barroso, R., Alvarez, M., Rauch, J., Miller, N., Bou-Sliman, A., & De Souza, E. O. (2019). The Results of Various Glenohumeral Joint Angle on Acute Quantity Load, Muscle Activation, Swelling, and Echo-Depth on the Biceps Brachii in Resistance-Educated People. Sports activities (Basel, Switzerland), 7(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/SPORTS7090204
- Stokes, Tanner, et al. “Current Views Concerning the Position of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Train Coaching.” Vitamins, vol. 10, no. 2, 7 Feb. 2018, p. 180, www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/2/180/pdf.
- Eckerson, Joan M., et al. “Impact of Creatine Phosphate Supplementation on Anaerobic Working Capability and Physique Weight after Two and Six Days of Loading in Males and Ladies.” The Journal of Energy and Conditioning Analysis, vol. 19, no. 4, 2005, p. 756, https://doi.org/10.1519/r-16924.1.
- Bassit, Reinaldo Abunasser, et al. “Impact of Brief-Time period Creatine Supplementation on Markers of Skeletal Muscle Harm after Strenuous Contractile Exercise.” European Journal of Utilized Physiology, vol. 108, no. 5, 3 Dec. 2009, pp. 945–955, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1305-1.
- Wirth, Ok., Keiner, M., Hartmann, H., Sander, A., & Mickel, C. (2016). Impact of 8 weeks of free-weight and machine-based energy coaching on energy and energy efficiency. Journal of Human Kinetics, 53(1), 201. https://doi.org/10.1515/HUKIN-2016-0023
- Kubo, Ok., Ikebukuro, T., & Yata, H. (2019). Results of squat coaching with totally different depths on decrease limb muscle volumes. European Journal of Utilized Physiology, 119(9), 1933–1942. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00421-019-04181-Y
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