Squats, lunges and legs

Leg press

Muscles worked: Quads · glutes · inner thighs

How to do it

1. Set up. Adjust the machine and plant both feet on the plate. Keep your back and pelvis against the padding and hold the handles.
2. Move. Press through your whole feet to extend the legs while retaining a soft bend at the knees. Do not force a knee lockout.
3. Finish. Lower under control only as far as you can keep your pelvis against the pad, then press back up without locking your knees. The picture shows the lowered position (left) and the pressed-out position with soft knees (right).

Form cues

• Set the seat so your knees bend to about 90 degrees at the bottom without your lower back lifting off the pad.
• Put your feet flat on the platform, about hip-width apart.
• Release the safety catches, then lower the platform under control.
• Stop before your lower back starts to curl off the seat.
• Press through your whole foot without locking your knees hard at the top. Put the catches back on when you finish.

Muscles worked

The leg press works your quads and glutes, with your inner thighs and hamstrings helping. The seat supports your back, so you can train your legs hard without needing to balance.

Leg press foot placement

Start with your feet hip-width apart in the middle of the platform. Placing them a little higher puts a bit more work on your glutes and hamstrings; a little lower puts more on your quads. A wider stance brings in more of your inner thighs. Whichever you choose, keep your whole foot flat and your knees in line with your toes.

Easier and harder versions

Easier

• A light weight and a shorter range to start.

Harder

• More weight.
• A slow 3-second lowering.
• Single-leg presses, with a much lighter weight.

Common mistakes

• Lowering so far that your hips roll up off the seat.
• Snapping your knees straight at the top.
• Heels lifting off the platform.
• Loading more than you can control through the full range.

Where it appears in the member plans

The leg press is a main lift in Beginner Reset (3 sets of 12), Fat-Loss Foundations (3 sets of 10 to 12) and Strength Builder (3 sets of 10). Several other plans list it as the gym swap for the goblet squat.

Leg press questions