Benefits of Leg Press – Introduction
Leg Press Machine Benefits: How to Guide + Muscles Worked
While the squat is the crowned king of lower body exercises, it’s not the only way to develop the lower body of your dreams.
In fact, for some exercisers, the squat is impractical and can even be dangerous.
Plus, learning to squat takes time, and even proficient squatters need to concentrate one hundred percent to perform this exercise correctly.
Sometimes it’s nice to disengage your brain and just work out – no balance or coordination required.
What are your options other than squats and lunges?
Well, if you’re someone who loves to hit the gym regularly, you must have seen the leg press machine in your gym.
It’s one of the most popular pieces of gym equipment for leg workouts.
Leg press machines are designed to help you build your leg muscles, and it’s a great way to work on your lower body strength.
For many people, the leg press is the ideal alternative to squats, lunges, and more technically challenging lower body exercises.
This article reveals why and how to do this popular lower-body exercise.
Muscles Worked
It should be no surprise to learn that leg presses work your legs!
That said, your legs contain a vast array of large and small muscles.
The main muscles trained during leg presses are:
Quadriceps
Located on the front of your thighs, the quadriceps (or quads) extend your knees and are the muscles you’ll probably feel most during leg presses.
The quadriceps muscle group is composed of:
- Rectus femoris
- Vastus lateralis
- Vastus intermedius
- and, Vastus medialis
Gluteus maximus
Known as the glutes for short, this is your main butt muscle.
The glutes extend your hips and also play a role in hip rotation.
The glutes are the largest muscle in the human body.
Hamstrings
The hamstrings flex your knees and, working with your glutes, extend your hips.
Located on the backs of your thighs, the hamstrings aren’t as active as the quads during leg presses, but they’re still working hard.
Hip abductors
The main role of the hip abductors is lifting your legs out and away from the midline of your body.
However, during leg presses, these muscles work mostly as stabilizers to prevent your knees from caving inward.
Hip adductors
Located on the inside of your thighs, the hip adductors oppose the adductors and prevent your knees from falling outward during leg presses.
Leg Press Machine Benefits
With so many leg exercises to choose from, you may be wondering if the leg press deserves a place in your lower body workouts.
Consider these benefits and then decide!
#1. Back support
You’ll need a strong core to do squats, lunges, and other freestanding leg exercises.
However, during leg presses, the backrest takes most of the strain.
This may allow you to lift more weight with leg presses than you will ever manage with squats.
This may also be a benefit if your lower back is tired, e.g., after deadlifting, but you still want to do some extra work for your legs.
#2. Easy to learn
Even the most complex leg press machine is straightforward to use and easy to master.
With no tricky techniques to learn, even beginners can use this exercise and get a great workout.
#3. Increased safety
While no exercise is ever one hundred percent safe, leg presses are potentially safer than some freeweight leg exercises, such as back squats.
In addition to supporting your spine, most leg press machines have safety catches, so you lock off the weight and stop it from descending too far.
This means you can train to failure without the risk of getting crushed under a heavy load.
#4. Versatility
You can use a leg press for almost any training goal, from building endurance to developing muscle mass to getting stronger.
There are also several ways to use most leg press machines, including partial reps, drop sets, 1 ½ reps, forced reps, and training one leg at a time.
Leg pressing need never be boring!
#5. You can emphasize different muscles
While leg presses work your entire lower body, you can influence which muscles are most active by moving your feet.
For example, a narrow stance with your feet toward the bottom of the footplate works your quads harder, while a high, wide stance hits your glutes and hamstrings more.
#6. Increase your lower body training volume
Your lower back is involved in most free weight leg exercises.
In many cases, lower back fatigue can be what brings your leg workout to an end.
Adding leg presses to your lower body training means you can keep on pounding your legs despite any lower back fatigue.
The extra volume can be beneficial for muscle growth.
#7. Post-injury rehab
Most leg presses allow you to use very light weights.
This may be beneficial if you are returning from injury and aren’t ready for heavier loads.
In addition, the guided movement means you can focus on lifting and lowering the load and not balancing it.
#8. Low impact
The leg press is a low-impact exercise that puts less stress on your joints, making it a great option for people who have joint problems.
Leg Press Machine Drawbacks
While the leg press is a safe and effective exercise, in the name of fairness, it’s only right we also mention the drawbacks of this particular machine:
Not very functional
A functional exercise is one that replicates everyday or athletic movement and will carry over to your activities outside of the gym.
For example, squats and deadlifts are very functional exercises, as both are common movements that people often perform several times a day.
However, leg presses are much less functional.
After all, when was the last time you had to lie on your back and push a heavy weight up using your legs?
While leg presses will undoubtedly strengthen your lower body, that strength may not transfer well to activities outside of the gym, e.g., running and jumping.
Not as safe as many people believe
Some people are lulled into a false sense of security by leg presses.
They assume that, with all that back support, leg presses are entirely safe, and they’ll never injure themselves.
Sadly, this is not the case.
Bending your knees too deeply or rounding your lower back can cause serious problems, especially if you’re using heavy weights.
So, while leg presses are pretty safe, they’re not completely accident-proof and still need to be performed correctly.
Big and expensive
Leg press machines can be costly, and they have a large footprint.
As such, they may be impractical for home gyms.
In addition, they can only be used for one exercise: leg presses.
In contrast, a squat rack, barbell, and bench take up about the same space, potentially cost less, and are far more versatile.
So, unless you’ve got the space and budget, you may need to file leg press machines under “nice to have” rather than must-have.
Of course, if you train in a commercial gym, this last drawback won’t affect you.
How to Do Leg Presses
Leg press machines come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to know how the machine you are about to use works.
After all, despite being a pretty safe exercise, accidents can still happen.
As such, you should check the instructions or ask for guidance whenever you use a new leg press machine.
With that in mind, the following how-to instructions are for a standard sled-type leg press:
- Load the leg press with an appropriate amount of weight.
- Start light if you are unfamiliar with this exercise or the machine you are using.
- Sit on the seat, making sure your butt and lower back are fully supported.
- Place your feet on the footplates.
- They should be between shoulder and hip-width apart.
- Grip the weight release handles and press the platform up.
- Flip the weight releasers away to free up the platform.
- Bend your legs and lower your knees toward your chest, taking care NOT to round your lower back, which could cause serious injury.
- Press the weight back up, stopping just short of locking your knees.
- Continue for the required number of reps.
- Reengage the weight release handles, lower the platform down, and relax.
Leg Press Benefits – Wrapping Up
In closing, the leg press machine is a great way to incorporate lower-body strength training into your workout routine.
It offers excellent choices for those who want to target their glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
The machine is a great exercise option if you’re looking to build strength and endurance in your legs.
And it is also an excellent choice if you have injuries or limitations that prevent you from doing other lower-body exercises.
On the other hand, a lot of so-called exercise experts are quick to dismiss the leg press, stating that it’s not functional.
While that’s undoubtedly true, there are far more benefits to drawbacks to the leg press, and it’s potentially a very valuable exercise.
Does that mean you should give up squats, lunges, deadlifts, step-ups, Bulgarian split squats, etc.?
Absolutely not!
While leg presses are effective, they should be seen as a supplement to and not a replacement for freestanding and free-weight leg exercises.
They’re good, but not THAT good!
So, there is no need to fear or avoid the leg press exercise.
They might not be as functional as squats, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you want a leg workout that doesn’t require lots of core strength, balance, or coordination.
