# Leg Press: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads, glutes
- Also works: hamstrings, adductors
- Equipment: machine
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/leg_press/13e82123ae/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit with your back and head flat against the pad.
2. Place your feet hip-width apart in the middle of the platform.
3. Release the safety handles and slowly bend your knees towards your chest.
4. Stop when your knees reach about a right angle.
5. Press through your whole foot until your legs are almost straight.

## Cues

- Keep your lower back on the pad.
- Knees in line with your toes.
- Soft knees at the top.

## Common mistakes

- Lowering so far that your hips roll up off the seat.
- Locking your knees straight at the top.
- Letting your heels lift off the platform.

## Starting position

Sit with the hips pushed into the crease of the seat, back and head flat on the pad. Feet in the middle of the platform, hip- to shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little, whole foot flat. Press the sled up off the safety stops, release the stops and hold the side handles.

## The movement

Lower the sled by bending the knees and hips together. The knees travel towards the chest and stay in line with the feet, neither caving in nor flaring out. The sled moves in a straight line along the rails. Stop before the pelvis starts to curl up off the seat. Press back by pushing through the whole foot, heel and forefoot together, until the legs are nearly straight.

## End position

Bottom: knees at about 90° of bend with the hips and low back still on the pads. At that point the thigh is close to vertical, and with the back pad at 30° above horizontal the hip sits at about 115° of flexion. Deeper knee bend quickly forces the pelvis to roll off the seat.

## Tempo

2 s down, 0.3 s pause at the bottom, 1.5 s up, 0.5 s at the top.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sled rail angle to the floor | 45° | 45° (machine) | [4] |
| Back pad angle above horizontal | 30° | 25–35° | [4] |
| Foot platform size (one model) | 90 × 45 cm | — | [4] |
| Stance, heel to heel | 1.0 × hip width | 1.0–1.4 × (hip to shoulder width) | [1] |
| Toe-out, each foot | 10° | 0–30° | [1] [3] |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 95° | 85–110° | [1] |
| Knee flexion at the top | 10° (soft knee) | 5–15° | [1] [2] |
| Pelvis lift off the seat | 0 cm | 0 cm | [2] |

## Sources

1. [NASM, Leg Press](https://www.nasm.org/resource-center/exercise-library/leg-press)
2. [ExRx, Sled 45° Leg Press](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/SL45LegPress)
3. [Escamilla et al. 2001, Med Sci Sports Exerc, "Effects of technique variations on knee biomechanics during the squat and leg press"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11528346/)
4. [Primal Strength, Club 45 Degree Leg Press (PSSS2208), product specification](https://fitnesssupply.com/collections/primal-strength/products/club-45-degree-leg-press-psss2208)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/leg-press