Leg press

Why it's here

The leg press loads the quadriceps heavily without a bar to balance, which makes it easier to take sets close to failure and to add weight in small increments. In an eight-week comparison, leg press and squat training both improved strength and functional outcomes, each transferring best to itself ^[1].

The evidence

• Training study Squat-only, leg-press-only and combined groups trained for eight weeks. Leg press strength rose in every group, squat training transferred more to squat strength, and the authors conclude that both free weights and machines can improve functional outcomes. The trial reported strength and function; it is not evidence about muscle size ^[1].

How to do it

1. Sit with your back flat against the pad and your feet about hip-width apart on the platform.
2. Release the safety handles and lower the platform under control until your knees are well bent, stopping before your lower back lifts off the pad.
3. Press back up through your whole foot without snapping your knees straight at the top.
4. Re-engage the safety handles before you step out.

Stop an exercise that causes significant or unusual pain and have it assessed. This page describes the movement; it is not rehabilitation advice.

Making it harder over time

This is a large compound exercise in the Progressive Overload Calculator, which adds weight in steps of 2.5%–5% once every set reaches the top of your rep range, and adds reps until then.

Alternatives

• Barbell back squat — The classic lower-body lift. Squatting deeper grew the glutes and adductors more, and the quadriceps just as well.
• Smith machine squat — A squat with the bar on a fixed track. Machine training built muscle and strength about as well as free weights.
• Leg extension — Isolates the quadriceps. The knee-bent half of the movement is the part a trial found grew them most.