Thread: Proper leg press technique

Use as full of a range as you can but try not to spring off your calves.. when i put my feet lower on the sled it works my quads more and my glutes/ham's less. Feet higher on the sled=less quads..

It was always shown to me that when you position yourself for leg presses, your starting point should be with your feet even or above your knees and not below them. Feet below your knees puts the stress on the knee area and away from your quads. Your legs should be bent at a 90 degree angle at that starting point also.

One question, my gym has two leg press systems. One you sit in and you adjust the back with the little pad under your ass. The other you are lying down and you have two pads on your shoulders. In the first, I always find that when I go over a certain weight that my lower back hurts. On the later mentioned system I feel no stress on my lower back at all.

Ya, I wasn't saying to put your feet on the bottom like a calf raise... It just seems everyone puts their feet real high up on the sled, which is less effective for hitting your quads... at least for me..

I use the decline which is the one you sit in and press upwards at a 45° angle. I'll double check my leg angle to start with. I could have sworn it was at knee height.

Originally Posted by cshea2

Ya, I wasn't saying to put your feet on the bottom like a calf raise... It just seems everyone puts their feet real high up on the sled, which is less effective for hitting your quads... at least for me..

I plan to do these for my hams. I really like how effortless the leg press is as opposed to other quad and ham exercises. I still do the others, but I always had a special part of my workout dedicated to leg pressing. now that I am back at the gym I can use this again, as opposed to working out at home.
kris

Just confirmed what the lower back pain was from. It was not sore because I worked out, and I do not think it was sore from improper technique. I have a bruise about 4"x4" directly located above the ass crack.

seems like the padding on the machine might be mediocre at best and my lower back absorbed all the weight when pressing.

That will do it, even if there was a lot of padding.