Trainer Tuesday: How to Leg Press for Strength and muscle
And not strain your back
The leg press is a highly effective but equally maligned piece of equipment.
Pseudo functional trainers love to dunk on it.
Regular gym goers love to throw on weight and do half reps and believe it’s a show of serious strength
Leg presses are not all made equally well. Depending on the design and setup, some models work better than others
Used correctly it’s a fantastic weigh to develop the quads and glutes and spare the spine.
Used incorrectly it’s a lumbar crunch and ego lift.
Let's learn how to do it right
Pelvic Positioning
https://youtu.be/4PYXEYqgCqk?is=klT9d-nXNP19WpUg
I want to watch this video
When you like press, you need to maintain a neutral spine in pelvic position, your pelvis should not tuck under you. The posterior pelvic tilt puts a ton of pressure on the lumbar spine. It's the reason why many people strain their lower back leg pressing.
Knee Bend
An “ass to grass” leg press is not the goal. If your knees are coming up to your chest, but your butt is rounding underneath you, you're going to injure yourself.
The target Is 90 degrees of bend at the knee. Maybe slightly more. And thats it.
Some people have the BONE STRUCTURE to “go deep” on a leg press and not lose their pelvic position. If this is you, you will figure it out within your first few training sessions. It’s not something you can force your body to do.
Keep your spine straight
Don't tuck the chin. Dont round the upper back. Maintain a neutral spine
It should look like this
https://youtube.com/shorts/S4c9EYGYDA8?is=mgpgp1Jwsv4vOvSO
Feet high? Feet low? It depends
The forward flexion you get in your knees, the more your quads will be recruited. If you leg press with less knee bend and more vertical shin, it will be more of your glutes taking on the load.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nRrlAneS8ic?is=KlOw5fuc_6Rrhqrs
Most people have a “sweet spot” position that enables proper depth, and is in the middle of the two. You can alternate the foot position if you want, or stick with the middle position that works both muscles.
Different leg presses suit different bodies
A conventional 45 Degree leg press doesn’t work for some people. The torso angle inhibits knee bend and hip flexion. I am one of these people.
For more, horizontal leg press works far better.
here is my favorite model
https://youtu.be/L5ZQH5Ppjq8?is=_b5DbZpcOPuP30oC
Another version I like is an upright leg press. It's not as angled as a 45, and allows for better ROM
https://youtu.be/BqtKBC68GJw?is=PQi5KR1SenT4FLUP
Major point here; experiment and find the machine that works best for you. If you can find a good groove with one machine, try another.
6. Tempo
Slow the reps, feel the burn. Control the eccentric, press hard on the concentric. Keep your reps honest. Take your working sets to failure, or at least your last set
Reps, high reps
I don't see the point of Doing less than 10 reps for working sets. The entire point of leg press is that you can overload your legs and not have to worry about your back. There’s no better exercise for high rep sets.
I will also add, the regardless of what arguments the “sCiEnCe” based lifting crowd likes to make, higher reps lead to more leg growth.
my favorite set and rep protocol is 30 Reps on your first set, and then keep doing sets with only 1-2 minutes inbetween, and keep going until you can barely do 10 reps. Maybe it’s 5 sets, maybe it’s 7, maybe it’s 4. Do it and watch your legs grow
This post was brought to you by this mornings NeuroVolt, Dad energy, and waiting till my kids fell asleep.