# Single-Leg Leg Press: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads, glutes
- Also works: hamstrings
- Equipment: machine
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/single_leg_leg_press/0b4b5e1596/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit with your back and head flat against the pad.
2. Place one foot mid-platform, in line with that hip.
3. Rest the other foot on the frame, out of the way.
4. Lower slowly until your knee is at about a right angle.
5. Press through your whole foot until your leg is almost straight.

## Cues

- Both hips stay on the seat.
- Knee in line with your toes.
- Soft knee at the top.

## Common mistakes

- Twisting the hips as the sled comes down.
- Letting the knee drift inward.
- Going so deep your lower back lifts.

## Starting position

Same plate-loaded 45° sled leg press as legpress: platform on rails at 45°, low seat, back pad about 30° above horizontal. Sit with the hips pushed into the crease of the seat, back and head flat on the pad. Place the right foot flat on the platform at mid-height, directly in line with the right hip (heel in line with the right buttock), toes turned out a little. Press the sled up, release the stops and hold both side handles.

## The movement

Lower the sled by bending the right knee and hip together. The right knee travels towards the right shoulder, in line with the foot, neither caving in nor flaring out. Both buttocks stay on the seat and the pelvis stays square: no rolling or twisting towards the working side. Stop at about a right angle at the knee, before the pelvis curls up off the seat. Pause, then press through the whole right foot until the leg is nearly straight.

## End position

Bottom: right knee bent about 90°, hips and low back still on the pads, pelvis level. Stopping at 90° rather than 95° keeps a margin, because with only one foot on the platform the pelvis tilts and twists sooner than in the two-leg press.

## Tempo

2 s down, 1 s pause at the bottom, 1.5 s up, 0.5 s at the top. The 2 s lowering and 1 s pause at 90° follow the metronome in [3].

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sled rail angle to the floor | 45° | 45° (machine) | [1] [2] |
| Back pad angle above horizontal | 30° | 25–35° | [2] |
| Right foot, side to side | in line with the right hip | ± 5 cm | [3] |
| Toe-out, right foot | 10° | 0–30° | [3] |
| Right knee flexion at the bottom | 90° | 85–100° | [3] [4] |
| Right knee flexion at the top | 10° (soft knee) | 5–15° | [1] [2] |
| Pelvis lift or twist off the seat | 0 cm | under 1 cm | [1] [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. [Pisz, Blazek and Stastny 2026, J Funct Morphol Kinesiol 11:216, "Hip and knee bilateral deficit across bilateral, unilateral, and split-load leg press conditions"](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13301863/)
4. [Lorenz and Reiman 2011, Int J Sports Phys Ther 6(1):27–44, "The role and implementation of eccentric training in athletic rehabilitation"](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3105370/)

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