Can’t thank you enough for this. I’ve been going heavy on leg press for 10+ years and have never really felt my quads. Took 2 plates off my working sets and my quads are cramping between sets haha
I started working out with a guy that shared some of these same tips. He also has us do a high volume set on our pump day. Started with two plates, yeah that seems light. Two sets of ten to warm up...then a set of 100...if you cannot make it all the way to 100...stop and rest 10 to 20 seconds then go again as long as you can...repeat until you get to 100. Huge pump...impossible to describe the feeling well because it's worse than "it hurts". At first you feel pathetic because weight so low and you're lucky to get to 50 reps...but after 8 weeks, you'll be much much stronger and you will see growth.
It's amazing how much adjusting exercises to really work the target muscles can just shred them. You may have to suppress the ego a bit but the gains start piling on.
0:14 Opening remarks 0:40 Mistake #1 - Putting your feet too high 2:49 Mistake #2 - Pad angle too high 4:19 Mistake #3 - Depth being lacking 6:52 Mistake #4 - Feet too close or too wide 8:18 Mistake #5 - Letting your lower back round 10:38 Mistake #6 - Going too heavy or too light 12:24 Mistake #7 - Forcefully locking out the knees 15:47 Closing remarks - INDIVIDUALIZE
I was getting lower back pain so I stopped going down as far as I can, somewhere I read to only go till your knees are 90° now I don't know if I've been doing it wrong
But Bribie that can damage your knees. Most of us are quad dominate so we should do more Glutes and hamstrings to stop the knee leg imbalance. That helps us with other exercises, sports and nice looking legs & prevent leg & knee problems!
One minute in and already fixed my biggest leg day issue. Feet too high, pelvis tucks a little too much at the bottom, lower back goes every time. Watching this 24hrs too late though haha laying here with ice on my back 24hrs after hurting my lower back on leg press. Great video!! My back thanks you
Confession time. I have never been a fan of the leg press, for myself or the people that I used to train. I always viewed it as a squat substitute. I watched this video because other videos from Dr. Mike helped me realize that I had a big blind spot in my knowledge. I love these tips and adjustments. The overall mindset he brings is huge too. I'm taking notes for myself and to help others. Thank you.
@@PickleThePig Well, that not really true, Sally. All of us can learn and improve. There have been many pro bodybuilders, powerlifters and trainers who have preformed exercises wrong for decades and still made great progress. So, speaking for myself, I'm always looking to learn and improve even if making a few tweaks by taking a few tips from this video helps. Clearly, my form and practices are not prefect like yours.
All the mainstream gyms like 24 hour fitness, crunch, dont have Adjustables. Just local gyms in my experience of traveling the country and trying different gyms.
@@martinez209 my Planet Fitness has a leg press with adjustable pad. It is only high/low but I guess that’s still adjustable. It seems odd to me to not be able to adjust it ..
@@analogcrunch4716 here you go sweetheart. I don’t think you watched the full video. Mistake #7 12:24 if you’re calling me an ego lifter might as well call the Doc one too. 😉😉😉
You can choose to focus more on quads which requires more knee flexion OR you can choose to focus more on glutes which doesn't require the knees to bend as much and the feet can be higher.
This is how I fucked up my back once. I had my feet and the pad too high. My lower back arched and the small stabalizer muscles of the lower back experienced too much force. I heard a really loud crack and a very sharp pain. Fortunately, I was using warm-up weight so I could still rack it, but when I got home I collapsed from the pain. It took 2 months to be able to go to the gym again and about 6 months to completely lose the pain in my lower back. Still when I perform exercises in an inproper manner my back quickly reminds me of what happened. It also makes you remind how unimportant it is to look "cool" by lifting heavier weight than the average person at your gym. Set aside your ego and first work on your technique before thinking of increasing the weight, because if you don't it could scar you for life.
Holy damn, sorry you went through that. I had the same experience twice for about three-four weeks at a time. Was horrible af had to stay in a fixed position for a whole day.
@@tiana8247 hey sir I did that yesterday and like the pain is not that much is just when I bend it hurts a little which am guessing it was not like your pain
Great video 👍 I've been asking several trainers about the best pad angle and they all said it didn't matter, and I always thought that it didn't make sense, why would you have the option to adjust the pad if at the end it wouldn't matter 🤷🏻♀️
Exactly. These machines are designed by bio-mechanical engineers as much as mechanical engineers. Companies that build this kind of equipment do that not only for product quality but also to minimize lawsuits over injury. They know you have to allow the user to dial in their own body, but he's right about starting in the lowest position.
I heard a trick once to find the best foot position for the squat and legpress. Jump up as high as you can and when you land immediately jump again. Two or three times. Pause before jumping one of the times and look down at your feet. That's how your body generates power through your feet and pushes away. For me, it's a pretty narrow stance and one of my hip sockets must be shaped funny because my right foot turns out a smidge more than my left. Squatting was never comfortable for me, but when I mirror this it is.🙌
The leg press might be the most egotistical lift in the gym. I rarely see anyone do a full range of motion, but I see a ton of people load up the weight and do baby reps.
wow, that's one of the most well explained videos I've ever seen, the guy avoids technical jargon and always focus on the main point with no digression. he's a good example of what every teacher should aim to be.
I always thought the rule was ninety degrees. That's the case with Bulgarian split squats, and with a few other exercises, I think, but this video was really helpful.
After my torn knee ligament injury my doctor and physical therapist recommended me Leg Press to regain strength in Knee muscles and prevent knee surgery during covid-19. I have no pain right now and I am doing fine.
Excellent presentation except for the mistaken belief that this should primarily be a quad exercise instead of a full thigh/hip exercise (esp mistaken focus for those that don't squat or deadlift (well). The glutes, adductors/abductors and hams can and should grow huge from well-done angled leg presses ( esp for higher 15-20 reps with full depth and controllable weight). Secondly, the higher sled angle also offers advantages, too, as the leverage angle distributes weight differently and higher than the lower 45 degree angle, actually emphasizing the quads more, so alternating foot position from workout to workout or over cycles is not a bad idea if hitting quads is indeed a trainee's goal. Finally, a very thick towel can be more comfortably used as a lower back support when foam is lacking ( as it usually will be).The back will inevitably come off the machine for most people when the range of motion is deep enough bc most people lack the flexibility or the lower back strength to stay in place when going back low enough with the knees/ hips, so having something in place to keep the back from compressing should be an expected requirement. This becomes an even more important consideration as the the weight grows higher in poundage and if the trainee is older or lacks a strong lower back (most people who leg press don't squat, deadlift or trap lift or even do back extensions), the potential danger for low back injury grows as well.
Leg pressing like this burns my quads like crazy! I spent years without doing the leg press when I was super focused on powerlifting training. When I was low bar squatting I mostly was just focusing on moving the weight and staying alive. I think I missed out on some great quad gains by skipping leg press.
New to the gym. Started going a few months ago. I feel confused periodically when using the machines. My gym has diagrams of everything and QR codes to access videos to train. However, sometimes they don't work. I love how simply you explain things and how non-threatening your instructions are. I was in today and doing seated leg press and calf extensions and was questioning my technique. This definitely helps with one of those. I will be watching more of your videos in the future. Cheers!
Thank you for this video. I’ve just realised I’ve been doing the leg press wrongly. My feet are lower than the pad, but the back is as high as possible, . I have adjusted for back rounding, but my legs only come back to 90 degrees. Thank you. I’m changing my technique next workout. Michael
If you're doing leg press as a Squat accessory then you do want the glutes involved. Of course targeting the quads is also fine if you need more quad work, but it's just more time efficient if you can work your glutes at the same time.
Whoa, Whoa! Don't mess with my "Pad" bro! :) Thanks Mike was actually really helpful love these common machine use tutorials I actually wonder often if I'm using mechanics properly. Love to see "incline hammer press" , and Shoulder press machines.
Thanks for these tips, especially having the pad angle too high. Made some changes and could feel so much more tension in the quads and adductors. Back on the growth train...
Great tips but totally agree with that it all depends on the person's body type. I have long legs and putting it low like this aggravates my knees. Also wish I had this leg press. It looks so solid.
Thank you for your training techniques. I’ve been doing this wrong for years and my goal is to increase leg strength and development. I will stay tuned in thank you.
i have ehlers danlos so the leg press is a very trick machine for me. i used to over extend at the top and round my back… would round my back at the bottom … i stopped leg pressing entirely (on my chiros multiple suggestions) but some of the things i thought would fix it, were never explained by any trainer … however… mike addressed all of those in this video. i’m ready to try it again.
@@gioplease6848 I do see where you’re coming from but I don’t know about the term misleading, he is quite open about the technique adjustments being to specifically target the quads over hamstrings and glutes. He mentions it several times, it’s intended to be a quad exercise as opposed to an entire lower body exercise. Which is fine if that’s what you want out of it but I don’t think misleading would be the appropriate term
@@dr.weeniehutjr the reason it’s misleading is because he’s saying “7 leg press MISTAKES and how to fix them” when in reality it’s not a mistake. Leg press is meant to work quads, glutes , hamstrings, and a little bit of calves. It’s a compound exercise not a Quad exercise. He could’ve just explained what the different foot placements do instead of calling it a mistake. A lot of people lack hamstrings and putting your feet up help hit that area.
@@gioplease6848 while you’re not wrong at all that people need to hit hamstrings in their leg training, I think hinge work like RDLs and Good Mornings to directly target hamstrings would be a better bang for your buck than sacrificing potentially better quad gains in your leg press technique to hit them in a less than optimal manner. In the leg press the range of motion of the hips is almost zero and to effectively stimulate the hamstrings you’d want to work them through at least a decent range of motion in order to get the best results. I mean take it with a grain of salt which you obviously have; you can leg press however you like, it’s just a matter of differing opinions on how this exercise should be programmed.
But there are 3 muscles we target when doing leg press, inner thighs, glutes and quadriceps if you're ruling out other movements kindly also share other options of doing the other muscles apart from guards alone?
Butt wink/lower back rounding is a good tip! I never noticed it since I was sitting. I then tweaked my back and couldn't walk right for a couple months, much less workout. My feet were high and weight heavy. It felt great until it didn't lol. Listen to this video! All good tips for LgPs!
you're right. there's a risk of injury when putting feet too low bc in the lowest point of motion heels want to rise off the platform. middle position is the best for quads
I love working with the leg press. It's one of my favorite exercises! However, I do keep my feet in the middle... I will try to adjust my feet as you have demonstrated and bring them lower. I'll drop my weight and give it a shot! Will follow up to let you know how it went. Thanks for the tip!😊😊😊😊😊😊
this is superior information in terms of yt fitness, one thing tho is a lot of people lack the mobility and that’s why their leg press is shit (me) any advice to increase ankle mobility?
Yup, best thing is long pauses (10-120s) at the bottom of leg press, or preferably squat. Just sheer amount of total time in that position. One popular method is 30m a day total in an unweighted squat (you can watch TH-cam or whatever at the same time).
Interesting. Can someone explain to me why my leg press rom is poor (even with no weight on the press) I can barely get depth. But with a normal bodyweight squat I can get very low, so I feel my ankles are not the issue
Thank you for the informative videos! I personally think that rowing / BB, T bar, meadows, etc. would be very useful, as there seems to be a disconnect between typical instruction videos & biomechanical way to understand how the movement should be performed- especially with torso angle & bar path.
I love the slight pause at the bottom before pushing the weight back up. I had ugly 220kg leg press. Cut down to 140kg with the tips shared, quads are on fire.
Great vide Dr Mike! Can we get a video going over common mistakes of chest flyes with both cables and machines? I feel that's a common one that people screw up
Had all the boxes checked and have exceptional mobility. Still had abductor pain and low back round. Rolled up a hoodie and BOOM. So much ankle flection and quad burn. Thanks again for saving the day Mike
@@adamsmith4195 they probably just view it as a high sfr exercise to target the quads. If you want to target glutes or hams primarily there are probably other better options.
@@adamsmith4195 I'm glad somebody else thinks this. I like his tips but I had a big question mark over the idea that you do this only for quads. I generally try to tweak compound exercises to focus on the posterior chain where I am weakest.
@@KenE252525 The leg press is not a compound exercise. How are you supposed to activate hams in this? You're not flexing your knees and you're not extending your hips. The only other muscle you could target with the higher position are glutes.
@@SpaghettiToaster It's definitely compound. Think about it. Not extending the hips??? How could that be possible? Only on a leg extension machine. If you don't believe me, sit on the leg press and try to press without moving your hips. Watch the video again. There is extension at hip, knee and ankle, that's why it's compound.
I've never heard from any "expert" that the leg press was specifically to develop quads. I've even seen tutorials from true pros who show you how to target glutes more specifically. And yes, I've done these myself, varying my feet placement high/low, narrow/wide, to target different parts of my legs.
Right from the very beginning I have trained only with Barbells and was very skeptical about Machines. But I have hit a plateau and found out from Greg Nuckols's Articles that in order to increase my lifts I need to increase my muscle mass but still I was not hitting movements like Leg press or hack squats for Quad Hypertrophy for I had a lot of doubts. Thanks to the video I will be starting to implement Leg presses and other machine movements in my Training.
And everything I'm doing wrong on this machine right here in one video. Can't wait to apply these fixes. I need to spend a week in this guys gym. I could probably build muscle twice as fast in half the time knowing how to dial in my workout like this. I can't really do squats because my hip was screwed back together after a car accident and I don't have the stability for it so I picked up one of these machines and really counting on getting some gains from it.
That is my favorite leg press machine i've ever used. It just felt so comfortable. It has 2 pads and that always felt great. Never used another one that was that comfortable.
I used to only do free weights for legs and tried out the leg press because of RP. Seems like the leg presses in my gym suck and I can't even properly apply the advice from this video on them.. But hey one of the leg press machines is good for calf raises.. while the dedicated calf raise machine sucks. We also don't have a hack squat machine... I guess I'll try out Smith machine squats.
Yeah, full ROM mantra. I get a way better pump from the half reps. But I focus on the middle half of the ROM, never lock out and never let the knees too close to the body. Less stress on the joints, and constantly in muscle tension. With full ROM, just like with squats, I get tired before my muscles do.
Thank you so much for this dude . I was trying too understand why my lower back it killing me days later after my workout and no one really could help me understand why . But this video DID HELP ME ! I know understand and can say I will continue too do leg press
Thank you I have been using the leg press "machine" but havent really felt enough resistance, and im repping at 220... at 12-15 rep 3 sets I should be feeling more resistance. I am excited for when I go tomorrow to see what issues I have. I know one is my legs are too high but I am definitely thinking the back could be adjusted along with spreading my feet. If not i'll be using this free weight variant. Definitely will reduce it quite a bit need to re-calibrate the weight for this exercise. Gonna do a rep or two naturally and rewatch this, saved to a play list. All these issues are incredibly simple and intuitive when you think about it from a physical stand point.
Very good video! I like your presentation style... Good vibe and no silly attempts to be clever like so many youtube videos. Great instruction, thanks!
Awesome stuff Brother!!! Breaking it down barney style, love it... I watch videos to refresh stay focused and you do an amazing job!!!! Great knowledge in simple terms!!!
![[Full] 4 ต่อ 4 Celebrity EP.910 | 22 ก.ย. 67 | one31](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4TR3MVpOiw8/mqdefault.jpg)
Can’t thank you enough for this. I’ve been going heavy on leg press for 10+ years and have never really felt my quads. Took 2 plates off my working sets and my quads are cramping between sets haha
I started working out with a guy that shared some of these same tips. He also has us do a high volume set on our pump day. Started with two plates, yeah that seems light. Two sets of ten to warm up...then a set of 100...if you cannot make it all the way to 100...stop and rest 10 to 20 seconds then go again as long as you can...repeat until you get to 100. Huge pump...impossible to describe the feeling well because it's worse than "it hurts". At first you feel pathetic because weight so low and you're lucky to get to 50 reps...but after 8 weeks, you'll be much much stronger and you will see growth.
In 10+ years you haven't tried lower weights? Interesting
It's amazing how much adjusting exercises to really work the target muscles can just shred them. You may have to suppress the ego a bit but the gains start piling on.
@@pinbota or in the span of 3652 days thought to themselves 'maybe the way i'm doing this isn't working properly'
0:14 Opening remarks
0:40 Mistake #1 - Putting your feet too high
2:49 Mistake #2 - Pad angle too high
4:19 Mistake #3 - Depth being lacking
6:52 Mistake #4 - Feet too close or too wide
8:18 Mistake #5 - Letting your lower back round
10:38 Mistake #6 - Going too heavy or too light
12:24 Mistake #7 - Forcefully locking out the knees
15:47 Closing remarks - INDIVIDUALIZE
Thanks man
*Whats for you guys the most "usefull" part/tip where Mike talks about?*
@@Beats-By-Anthony the first 2 tips are the most important i think
NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CLOACKS
mvp 🙌🏽
Wow. Literally followed these tips, went for depth and dialed my weight back, and now my quads are on fire! Awesome vid and tips!
I was getting lower back pain so I stopped going down as far as I can, somewhere I read to only go till your knees are 90° now I don't know if I've been doing it wrong
@@user-tr2dh4xx6u bullshit.
this is my PROBLEM haha my quads hurt so much i keep pausing it but im trying to make it glutes LOL
Finishing with knees outside the chest instead of on the chest really lit up my quads, thanks Dr Mike
But Bribie that can damage your knees. Most of us are quad dominate so we should do more Glutes and hamstrings to stop the knee leg imbalance. That helps us with other exercises, sports and nice looking legs & prevent leg & knee problems!
@@terrytari1891those of us who are hamstring dominant still need advice, too. 😢
One minute in and already fixed my biggest leg day issue. Feet too high, pelvis tucks a little too much at the bottom, lower back goes every time. Watching this 24hrs too late though haha laying here with ice on my back 24hrs after hurting my lower back on leg press. Great video!! My back thanks you
I was always questioning why my back always hurt every time I did the leg press. My goodness. This all makes sense
So true! Lowerback soreness, now I know!
Confession time. I have never been a fan of the leg press, for myself or the people that I used to train. I always viewed it as a squat substitute. I watched this video because other videos from Dr. Mike helped me realize that I had a big blind spot in my knowledge.
I love these tips and adjustments. The overall mindset he brings is huge too. I'm taking notes for myself and to help others. Thank you.
I was making every single one of those mistakes each time I performed leg presses but not anymore. Thanks, Dr. Mike.
All of them? Wow you do not know how to train.
@@PickleThePig Well, that not really true, Sally. All of us can learn and improve. There have been many pro bodybuilders, powerlifters and trainers who have preformed exercises wrong for decades and still made great progress. So, speaking for myself, I'm always looking to learn and improve even if making a few tweaks by taking a few tips from this video helps. Clearly, my form and practices are not prefect like yours.
@@timmiet47321 don't worry king, you're 100% right
Professor Mike, if I may
@@PickleThePig I see you comment a lot Pickle, were you picked on a lot when you were a lil girl? Do you need friends?
This guy makes more sense and covers more stuff.. Clearer than all other youtubers ive seen. Thank you
Never been lucky enough to go to a gym where you can adjust the pad angle on the leg press 😔
All the mainstream gyms like 24 hour fitness, crunch, dont have Adjustables. Just local gyms in my experience of traveling the country and trying different gyms.
@@martinez209 my Planet Fitness has a leg press with adjustable pad. It is only high/low but I guess that’s still adjustable. It seems odd to me to not be able to adjust it ..
Haven't used a leg press in years because of this. I'll stick to squats!
@@floridagirlr6648 really? Actually I don't think I've ever tried a Planet fitness but thats good to know homegirl. Good lookin out!
me fookin neither
Ouch just thinking about people who hyperextends gives me chills
Called full rom try it ego lifter
@@analogcrunch4716 here you go sweetheart. I don’t think you watched the full video. Mistake #7 12:24 if you’re calling me an ego lifter might as well call the Doc one too. 😉😉😉
@@analogcrunch4716 Also, Did you like your own comment? 🤣
@@analogcrunch4716 that's not full rom lmao, it's begging to never run again 🤣
@@analogcrunch4716 you can stop just short of full lockout and it's not ego lifting lmao
This is great I'd love a video explaining the mistakes people make when they do heavy standing overhead dumbell tricep extensions (What a mouth full!)
YES! Second that. I've seen some crazy high numbers on that lift and I've no idea how.
This is such a simple video. After 7 years of daily strength training videos and almost daily training I managed to learn something new.
Back scratchers.
You can choose to focus more on quads which requires more knee flexion OR you can choose to focus more on glutes which doesn't require the knees to bend as much and the feet can be higher.
Yeah, he said his first sentence and I was like - wait! I'm doing them with my feet pretty high up for more ham and glute engagement/growth!
Food 4 thought...I always thought feet high glutes feet low quads...
This is how I fucked up my back once. I had my feet and the pad too high. My lower back arched and the small stabalizer muscles of the lower back experienced too much force. I heard a really loud crack and a very sharp pain. Fortunately, I was using warm-up weight so I could still rack it, but when I got home I collapsed from the pain. It took 2 months to be able to go to the gym again and about 6 months to completely lose the pain in my lower back. Still when I perform exercises in an inproper manner my back quickly reminds me of what happened. It also makes you remind how unimportant it is to look "cool" by lifting heavier weight than the average person at your gym. Set aside your ego and first work on your technique before thinking of increasing the weight, because if you don't it could scar you for life.
This just happened to me 8 weeks ago. Still in the rehab process and wow its set me back. And I thought I was so mindful of my back rounding!
Holy damn, sorry you went through that. I had the same experience twice for about three-four weeks at a time. Was horrible af had to stay in a fixed position for a whole day.
@@tiana8247 hey sir I did that yesterday and like the pain is not that much is just when I bend it hurts a little which am guessing it was not like your pain
Hey, what exercises and stretches did you do to recover?
The “McGill big 3” worked for me to correct my lower back issues 👌
Great video 👍 I've been asking several trainers about the best pad angle and they all said it didn't matter, and I always thought that it didn't make sense, why would you have the option to adjust the pad if at the end it wouldn't matter 🤷🏻♀️
Exactly. These machines are designed by bio-mechanical engineers as much as mechanical engineers. Companies that build this kind of equipment do that not only for product quality but also to minimize lawsuits over injury. They know you have to allow the user to dial in their own body, but he's right about starting in the lowest position.
Your explanations here are amazingly in depth as well as extremely reassuring and comforting if that makes sense. It's a sign of a wonderful coach.
I heard a trick once to find the best foot position for the squat and legpress. Jump up as high as you can and when you land immediately jump again. Two or three times. Pause before jumping one of the times and look down at your feet. That's how your body generates power through your feet and pushes away.
For me, it's a pretty narrow stance and one of my hip sockets must be shaped funny because my right foot turns out a smidge more than my left. Squatting was never comfortable for me, but when I mirror this it is.🙌
The leg press might be the most egotistical lift in the gym. I rarely see anyone do a full range of motion, but I see a ton of people load up the weight and do baby reps.
Why are these videos not more popular? Best instruction series out.
I love the way this trainer presents.. so informative and easy to understand. Thank you so much
On leg day too, perfect
Same here🔥
I did squats other day with pause reps and my legs have been fucked so good luck let us know how you feel lol
wow, that's one of the most well explained videos I've ever seen, the guy avoids technical jargon and always focus on the main point with no digression. he's a good example of what every teacher should aim to be.
Thank your for fixing my leg press. I can actually feel the stimulus/quads fire up.
I always thought the rule was ninety degrees. That's the case with Bulgarian split squats, and with a few other exercises, I think, but this video was really helpful.
After my torn knee ligament injury my doctor and physical therapist recommended me Leg Press to regain strength in Knee muscles and prevent knee surgery during covid-19. I have no pain right now and I am doing fine.
Dr. Mike, man you present information so well. I really appreciate it.
Excellent presentation except for the mistaken belief that this should primarily be a quad exercise instead of a full thigh/hip exercise (esp mistaken focus for those that don't squat or deadlift (well). The glutes, adductors/abductors and hams can and should grow huge from well-done angled leg presses ( esp for higher 15-20 reps with full depth and controllable weight). Secondly, the higher sled angle also offers advantages, too, as the leverage angle distributes weight differently and higher than the lower 45 degree angle, actually emphasizing the quads more, so alternating foot position from workout to workout or over cycles is not a bad idea if hitting quads is indeed a trainee's goal. Finally, a very thick towel can be more comfortably used as a lower back support when foam is lacking ( as it usually will be).The back will inevitably come off the machine for most people when the range of motion is deep enough bc most people lack the flexibility or the lower back strength to stay in place when going back low enough with the knees/ hips, so having something in place to keep the back from compressing should be an expected requirement. This becomes an even more important consideration as the the weight grows higher in poundage and if the trainee is older or lacks a strong lower back (most people who leg press don't squat, deadlift or trap lift or even do back extensions), the potential danger for low back injury grows as well.
Leg pressing like this burns my quads like crazy! I spent years without doing the leg press when I was super focused on powerlifting training. When I was low bar squatting I mostly was just focusing on moving the weight and staying alive. I think I missed out on some great quad gains by skipping leg press.
That's a beautiful piece of equipment. I've never seen a leg press like that...ever.
That's nebular leg press . definitely a great piece of equipment .
My old gym had one now the gym I use I swear doesn’t get anything new like they need new equipment!
putting the feet high is not a mistake, it allows me to engage a lot of hamstring and glute, almost like a lowbar squat
Yeah but if you are trying to target the quads, you will get less knee flexion.
it rounds your back
New to the gym. Started going a few months ago. I feel confused periodically when using the machines. My gym has diagrams of everything and QR codes to access videos to train. However, sometimes they don't work. I love how simply you explain things and how non-threatening your instructions are. I was in today and doing seated leg press and calf extensions and was questioning my technique. This definitely helps with one of those. I will be watching more of your videos in the future. Cheers!
Genuinely the best gym tutorial i have ever seen on youtube. This instructor is absolutely amazing.
Thank you for this video. I’ve just realised I’ve been doing the leg press wrongly. My feet are lower than the pad, but the back is as high as possible,
. I have adjusted for back rounding, but my legs only come back to 90 degrees. Thank you. I’m changing my technique next workout. Michael
These videos are great. Other channels, programs, people charge for this kind of info and insight. Glad I found this, wish it was sooner.
This is just an excellent video. Before using the Leg Press machine in any gym, it should be mandatory to watch this.
If you're doing leg press as a Squat accessory then you do want the glutes involved.
Of course targeting the quads is also fine if you need more quad work, but it's just more time efficient if you can work your glutes at the same time.
Excellent tutorial & explanations. Thanks!
Whoa, Whoa! Don't mess with my "Pad" bro! :) Thanks Mike was actually really helpful love these common machine use tutorials I actually wonder often if I'm using mechanics properly. Love to see "incline hammer press" , and Shoulder press machines.
Wow, what a master class. Thanks so much. This will definitely help me clean up my leg press.
Thanks for these tips, especially having the pad angle too high. Made some changes and could feel so much more tension in the quads and adductors. Back on the growth train...
Best leg press video I've seen
High angle isnt a mistake. Some people have knee issues and prefer it higher angled to put less pressure on the knees.
Great tips but totally agree with that it all depends on the person's body type. I have long legs and putting it low like this aggravates my knees. Also wish I had this leg press. It looks so solid.
Thank you for your training techniques. I’ve been doing this wrong for years and my goal is to increase leg strength and development. I will stay tuned in thank you.
i have ehlers danlos so the leg press is a very trick machine for me. i used to over extend at the top and round my back… would round my back at the bottom … i stopped leg pressing entirely (on my chiros multiple suggestions) but some of the things i thought would fix it, were never explained by any trainer … however… mike addressed all of those in this video. i’m ready to try it again.
I believe the some people put the feet in higher position to avoid an injury on the knee
And it hits the hamstrings and glutes more when you put your feet higher. But Dr Mike only cares about quads so a lot of his leg tips are misleading 🙃
@@gioplease6848 I do see where you’re coming from but I don’t know about the term misleading, he is quite open about the technique adjustments being to specifically target the quads over hamstrings and glutes. He mentions it several times, it’s intended to be a quad exercise as opposed to an entire lower body exercise. Which is fine if that’s what you want out of it but I don’t think misleading would be the appropriate term
@@dr.weeniehutjr the reason it’s misleading is because he’s saying “7 leg press MISTAKES and how to fix them” when in reality it’s not a mistake. Leg press is meant to work quads, glutes , hamstrings, and a little bit of calves. It’s a compound exercise not a Quad exercise. He could’ve just explained what the different foot placements do instead of calling it a mistake. A lot of people lack hamstrings and putting your feet up help hit that area.
@@gioplease6848 while you’re not wrong at all that people need to hit hamstrings in their leg training, I think hinge work like RDLs and Good Mornings to directly target hamstrings would be a better bang for your buck than sacrificing potentially better quad gains in your leg press technique to hit them in a less than optimal manner. In the leg press the range of motion of the hips is almost zero and to effectively stimulate the hamstrings you’d want to work them through at least a decent range of motion in order to get the best results. I mean take it with a grain of salt which you obviously have; you can leg press however you like, it’s just a matter of differing opinions on how this exercise should be programmed.
@@dr.weeniehutjr The leg press is not at all good for hamstring hypertrophy.
The best video on utube on how to use the Smith machine properly 👏
But there are 3 muscles we target when doing leg press, inner thighs, glutes and quadriceps if you're ruling out other movements kindly also share other options of doing the other muscles apart from guards alone?
Thank you very much, good explanation.
Very insightful video, very helpful.
This man is so cute lol, loves his profession - great tips! I'm pumped for the morning to tweak my routine.
Thanks
You the best Dr Mike!
Butt wink/lower back rounding is a good tip!
I never noticed it since I was sitting.
I then tweaked my back and couldn't walk right for a couple months, much less workout.
My feet were high and weight heavy.
It felt great until it didn't lol.
Listen to this video! All good tips for LgPs!
This is by far the best explanation I got to improve my mistakes, Thank you!
Putting my feet lower on the platform kills my knees
you're right. there's a risk of injury when putting feet too low bc in the lowest point of motion heels want to rise off the platform. middle position is the best for quads
@@vanillacoke4517 I also feel my quads working when I use the middle portion of the leg press.
exact same, was about to write that
Start light with feet in that lower position and build up slowly. The stronger you can get in that knees over toes position the better.
Same.. I notice placing the feet wider helps reduce knee pain.
I love working with the leg press. It's one of my favorite exercises! However, I do keep my feet in the middle... I will try to adjust my feet as you have demonstrated and bring them lower. I'll drop my weight and give it a shot! Will follow up to let you know how it went. Thanks for the tip!😊😊😊😊😊😊
Had knee pain doing the low foot placement. Driving through heels makes it feel so much better. Pushing too much through the toes
this is superior information in terms of yt fitness, one thing tho is a lot of people lack the mobility and that’s why their leg press is shit (me) any advice to increase ankle mobility?
Try plate aided dorsiflexion it does a great job
Practice more, pause on the deepest position you can hold with good technique and practice some more
Yup, best thing is long pauses (10-120s) at the bottom of leg press, or preferably squat. Just sheer amount of total time in that position. One popular method is 30m a day total in an unweighted squat (you can watch TH-cam or whatever at the same time).
Ido Portal 30/30 squat drill.
Interesting. Can someone explain to me why my leg press rom is poor (even with no weight on the press) I can barely get depth.
But with a normal bodyweight squat I can get very low, so I feel my ankles are not the issue
Thank you for the informative videos! I personally think that rowing / BB, T bar, meadows, etc. would be very useful, as there seems to be a disconnect between typical instruction videos & biomechanical way to understand how the movement should be performed- especially with torso angle & bar path.
Bring back this into music it BANGS
Very thorough! Thank you! Most videos only cover a couple things about doing this properly and you pretty much touched on everything you need to know!
I love the slight pause at the bottom before pushing the weight back up. I had ugly 220kg leg press. Cut down to 140kg with the tips shared, quads are on fire.
Great vide Dr Mike! Can we get a video going over common mistakes of chest flyes with both cables and machines? I feel that's a common one that people screw up
This advice has really fixed my leg press, noticed my gains already, what a burn
I'm so glad I came across this video.
I miss this intro music in the newer videos.. soo good.
Had all the boxes checked and have exceptional mobility. Still had abductor pain and low back round.
Rolled up a hoodie and BOOM. So much ankle flection and quad burn. Thanks again for saving the day Mike
Just earned a sub. Cant wait till the gyms reopen to change my feet position. thank you.
Thanks Dr Mike. After watching this video I made those adjustments and definitely feel the difference doing this set the correct way.
Thank you Doctor,
You helping people a lot, through your videos
This is perfect for me cause I was wondering why my depth was off thank you brother now next leg day I’m going to do this and drop weight thank you
Love this guy and these videos 😍
do MORE of these. amazing knowledge sharing!
This is the best channel to explain exercise techniques , great effort thnx alot Dr
My knees hurt too with a lower position. A higher position to me targets both the frontal thighs and hamstring equally
Honestly silly to say that quads would be the only muscle anyone would want to target with the leg press
@@adamsmith4195 they probably just view it as a high sfr exercise to target the quads. If you want to target glutes or hams primarily there are probably other better options.
@@adamsmith4195 I'm glad somebody else thinks this. I like his tips but I had a big question mark over the idea that you do this only for quads. I generally try to tweak compound exercises to focus on the posterior chain where I am weakest.
@@KenE252525 The leg press is not a compound exercise. How are you supposed to activate hams in this? You're not flexing your knees and you're not extending your hips. The only other muscle you could target with the higher position are glutes.
@@SpaghettiToaster It's definitely compound. Think about it. Not extending the hips??? How could that be possible? Only on a leg extension machine. If you don't believe me, sit on the leg press and try to press without moving your hips. Watch the video again. There is extension at hip, knee and ankle, that's why it's compound.
I learned so much I can't figure out where to start. Feet positions and the rounding of the back are the fix for me.
Dude your explanations is so thorough 💯Thanks alot
Works great and is a lightweight portable Exercycle
Nice speech and thank you😘😘
Thank you so much dr.Mike & RP!! I really appreciate it!!
I've never heard from any "expert" that the leg press was specifically to develop quads. I've even seen tutorials from true pros who show you how to target glutes more specifically. And yes, I've done these myself, varying my feet placement high/low, narrow/wide, to target different parts of my legs.
thank you dr. mike , exactly what i needed
Someone mentioned you on Reddit and I’m glad I subscribed. Because WOW.
Right from the very beginning I have trained only with Barbells and was very skeptical about Machines. But I have hit a plateau and found out from Greg Nuckols's Articles that in order to increase my lifts I need to increase my muscle mass but still I was not hitting movements like Leg press or hack squats for Quad Hypertrophy for I had a lot of doubts. Thanks to the video I will be starting to implement Leg presses and other machine movements in my Training.
And everything I'm doing wrong on this machine right here in one video. Can't wait to apply these fixes. I need to spend a week in this guys gym. I could probably build muscle twice as fast in half the time knowing how to dial in my workout like this. I can't really do squats because my hip was screwed back together after a car accident and I don't have the stability for it so I picked up one of these machines and really counting on getting some gains from it.
Imagine if they taught people this when they actually join the gym ! Great vid as always!
That is my favorite leg press machine i've ever used. It just felt so comfortable. It has 2 pads and that always felt great. Never used another one that was that comfortable.
I used to only do free weights for legs and tried out the leg press because of RP. Seems like the leg presses in my gym suck and I can't even properly apply the advice from this video on them.. But hey one of the leg press machines is good for calf raises.. while the dedicated calf raise machine sucks. We also don't have a hack squat machine...
I guess I'll try out Smith machine squats.
Thanks for talking about full ROM in your videos, felt the muscles in my legs after a longtime on leg press using full rom👍
Yeah, full ROM mantra. I get a way better pump from the half reps. But I focus on the middle half of the ROM, never lock out and never let the knees too close to the body. Less stress on the joints, and constantly in muscle tension.
With full ROM, just like with squats, I get tired before my muscles do.
Thank you so much for this dude . I was trying too understand why my lower back it killing me days later after my workout and no one really could help me understand why . But this video DID HELP ME ! I know understand and can say I will continue too do leg press
Man the like to dislike ratio is amazing. I honestly learned soo much in the small amount of videos I have seen
Thank you I have been using the leg press "machine" but havent really felt enough resistance, and im repping at 220... at 12-15 rep 3 sets I should be feeling more resistance. I am excited for when I go tomorrow to see what issues I have. I know one is my legs are too high but I am definitely thinking the back could be adjusted along with spreading my feet. If not i'll be using this free weight variant. Definitely will reduce it quite a bit need to re-calibrate the weight for this exercise. Gonna do a rep or two naturally and rewatch this, saved to a play list.
All these issues are incredibly simple and intuitive when you think about it from a physical stand point.
I was like 20 mins is too long but this was really informative thanks doc
Very good video! I like your presentation style... Good vibe and no silly attempts to be clever like so many youtube videos. Great instruction, thanks!
Thanks Mike. You the man. Took a lot of fine tuning tips out of this.
Yo, as someone who re-herniated a disc with leg press about a month ago, I cannot thank you enough!
Awesome stuff Brother!!! Breaking it down barney style, love it... I watch videos to refresh stay focused and you do an amazing job!!!! Great knowledge in simple terms!!!
I love this channel! Always great helpful advice with some humor!!! 🔥🔥
Best leg press video. Thanks. I always put my feet high.