Leg Press
Bodyweight Strength - The Leg Press is not a bodyweight exercise but because of its ability to increase leg muscle and strength it has the potential to contribute greatly to bodyweight strength if utilized properly.
The negative aspect of the leg press is that it is an artificial movement. Unlike the front squat, back squat, or lunge...the Leg Press does not require the body to move through space. It merely requires you to sit down on a seat and press into the foot platform the lift the weights on the machine. This is a very non-real-life scenario. Almost never in real life will you perform a motion like this. However, this does not make the Leg Press worthless. In fact, if utilized wisely this can be one of the most beautiful aspects of the Leg Press.
By removing the torso from the exercise (because you are sitting rather than standing like you would in a squat) you can place your feet anywhere on the foot platform to emphasize a certain area of the legs and hips. This is not possible in a standard squat exercise because you must keep your center of gravity in order to not fall over. One the Leg Press you can move your feet up really high and/or wide on the platform and can thereby emphasize your glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors for the exercise. This can dramatically increase the strength of those muscles and can carry that strength over to the Back Squat, Deadlift, Front Squat, etc. This is crucial for anyone who is experiencing a sticking point in any of these lifts due to an imbalance of quad strength vs. glute, hamstring, hip flexor strength.
However, the Leg Press should never be considered a replacement for any of these primary total body strength lifts that actually move the body through space in a natural motion (such as Back Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, etc). It should only be treated as a supplement exercise utilized for the purpose of enhancing your abilities on those more natural lifts.
To perform a Leg Press properly simply sit down on the seat and place your feet at the desired position on the foot platform:
Once your feet are set, press the platform up to release the handles that hold the platform in place and then begin to lower the weight towards yourself. As you lower the weight be sure to keep your back arched (not rounded). Utilize your hip flexibility to allow yourself to lower the weight as low as possible without rounding your lower back. If you round your lower back then you are 1) risking an injury and 2) creating a bad habit of rounding your back that could carry over to your squat lifts and cause an absolutely disastrous lower back injury on those lifts in which your torso is actually directly supporting the weight on the shoulders.
After lowering the weight down to your current flexible limit, press it back up (while focusing intently on the muscles you are desiring to emphasize). Repeat for the planned number of reps.
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.bodyweight-strength.com
The negative aspect of the leg press is that it is an artificial movement. Unlike the front squat, back squat, or lunge...the Leg Press does not require the body to move through space. It merely requires you to sit down on a seat and press into the foot platform the lift the weights on the machine. This is a very non-real-life scenario. Almost never in real life will you perform a motion like this. However, this does not make the Leg Press worthless. In fact, if utilized wisely this can be one of the most beautiful aspects of the Leg Press.
By removing the torso from the exercise (because you are sitting rather than standing like you would in a squat) you can place your feet anywhere on the foot platform to emphasize a certain area of the legs and hips. This is not possible in a standard squat exercise because you must keep your center of gravity in order to not fall over. One the Leg Press you can move your feet up really high and/or wide on the platform and can thereby emphasize your glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors for the exercise. This can dramatically increase the strength of those muscles and can carry that strength over to the Back Squat, Deadlift, Front Squat, etc. This is crucial for anyone who is experiencing a sticking point in any of these lifts due to an imbalance of quad strength vs. glute, hamstring, hip flexor strength.
However, the Leg Press should never be considered a replacement for any of these primary total body strength lifts that actually move the body through space in a natural motion (such as Back Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, etc). It should only be treated as a supplement exercise utilized for the purpose of enhancing your abilities on those more natural lifts.
To perform a Leg Press properly simply sit down on the seat and place your feet at the desired position on the foot platform:
- High and wide for glute, hamstring, hip flexor emphasis
- High and narrow for glute, hamstring, and quad emphasis
- Low and wide for quad and hip flexor emphasis
- Low and narrow for quad emphasis
Once your feet are set, press the platform up to release the handles that hold the platform in place and then begin to lower the weight towards yourself. As you lower the weight be sure to keep your back arched (not rounded). Utilize your hip flexibility to allow yourself to lower the weight as low as possible without rounding your lower back. If you round your lower back then you are 1) risking an injury and 2) creating a bad habit of rounding your back that could carry over to your squat lifts and cause an absolutely disastrous lower back injury on those lifts in which your torso is actually directly supporting the weight on the shoulders.
After lowering the weight down to your current flexible limit, press it back up (while focusing intently on the muscles you are desiring to emphasize). Repeat for the planned number of reps.
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.bodyweight-strength.com