Key takeaways:
A leg press machine trains large muscle groups in your legs, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
The leg press exercise is perfect for beginners because you can increase weight safely and with control.
Other leg press benefits include stronger legs, more muscle power, and better athletic performance.
Your legs are the foundation of your body, and having a strong lower body is critical to keeping that foundation stable. You can build lower body strength using your body weight, free weights, or machines for resistance.
The leg press is one of the best machines to increase lower body strength. It's a seated machine that challenges you to push weight away from your body using your legs. Learn more about leg press benefits — and how to add the exercise to your workouts.
What are the benefits of leg presses?
Leg presses are a worthy addition to your exercise plan.
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“The leg press provides a safe, simple alternative for knee dominant loading, similar to a squat,” said certified personal trainer Jesse Grund. “[It's] a great place for a lot of people to start, and a safe way for more advanced lifters to overload the muscles and promote growth.”
Consider these leg press benefits when planning your next leg day workout.
1. Leg presses strengthen lower-body muscles
Leg presses are a great way to isolate lower body muscles. The quadriceps, for example, get a major workout during leg presses.
Pushing weight away from your body with a leg press machine can help strengthen the following muscles:
Quadriceps (front of the thighs)
Hamstrings (back of the thighs)
Glutes (buttocks)
Calves (back of the lower leg)
“The leg press machine can be extremely effective when it comes to strengthening your lower body,” said Master iFit trainer John Peel. “With the correct form, angle, and load, there’s a leg press machine geared toward anybody looking to improve strength.”
2. Leg presses build muscle mass, power, and endurance
Like all resistance exercises, leg presses build muscle mass by putting the muscles under stress. This healthy stress damages your muscle cells. As your body repairs the damage, your muscle cells get bigger. This process of growing your muscles is called muscle hypertrophy.
Leg presses may also increase lower body muscle power. Muscle power is the ability to exert force quickly. According to Nicole Lewis, a certified personal trainer and professional bodybuilder, leg presses can increase hip and leg muscle mass and strength.
And stronger hip and leg muscles may help you generate more muscle power and explosiveness when exercising, said Lewis.
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Lewis explained that leg presses can also help build muscle endurance, which is the ability to contract a muscle repeatedly over a period of time. Try doing more leg press reps with a lighter load and minimal rest to boost endurance.
3. Leg presses support strong bones
Experts recommend resistance exercises like leg presses to keep your bones strong. Whenever you place a weighted load on your muscles, it increases stress on your bones.
“The increased stress and pressure makes the bones work harder,” said Peel. This may help increase bone mass and density and prevent bone loss. “Denser bones are stronger and less likely to break,” said Peel.
Strong bones are especially important as we get older and start to lose bone density. Muscle-strengthening exercise is one of several proven ways to keep your bones healthy.
4. Leg presses offer beginner-friendly exercise
If you're new to resistance training, the leg press is a great exercise to add to your routine. The machine provides a fixed range of motion not found in free weights, like barbells or dumbbells. It also provides stability, so you don't need as much balance and coordination to practice leg presses.
That makes the leg press a safe and controlled movement, said Peel. “Once you get the mechanics down correctly, you can progress in weight, tempo, and reps.”
5. Leg presses provide versatile exercise
Leg presses aren't just for beginners. This versatile strength-training exercise can be tailored to your fitness goals. The three main types of leg presses include:
Horizontal: With this standard leg press, you sit upright while pressing weight horizontally.
Vertical: During a vertical leg press, you lie on your back while pressing weight up and away from your body.
Incline: You sit at an angle, such as a 45-degree angle, while pressing weight away from your body during an incline leg press.
“Each [leg press variation] provides a different stimulus and allows for a different variety of movements,” said Grund.
“Like many other lower body exercises, you can change it from bilateral (two legs) to unilateral (single leg),” Grund continued. “[You can also] change foot position to change the demand on the lower body.”
For example, a study found that pointing your feet outward during a leg press may help build muscles on the inner sides of your calves. Pointing your feet inward may help build muscles on the outer sides of your calves.
6. Leg presses may help with injury recovery
Physical therapists and other healthcare professionals may recommend leg presses to help you recover from hip or knee injuries. The weighted machine offers supported low-impact exercise that’s easy on the joints. So, there's a lower risk of improper form and lower back strain. You can isolate the leg muscles and gradually add resistance as you get stronger.
According to Grund, leg presses may help with injury recovery because of the SAID principle (specific adaptation to imposed demands). This principle states that your body will adapt to the stressors placed on it. In other words, your muscles and joints may adjust to the specific resistance of leg presses and get stronger over time.
For example, if you need to strengthen your knee extensors (quadriceps) after injury, it's essential to rebuild strength with targeted exercises like leg presses, said Grund.
A small study found that a maximal strength training program that included leg presses helped with rehabilitation after a total knee replacement.
7. Leg presses boost athletic performance
Consider adding leg presses to your workouts to improve athletic performance for other compound exercises and movements. These can include squatting, deadlifting, and sprinting.
“It's one of the most effective ways to build strength, power, and speed, all while protecting your lower back and other areas of the body that take on a heavy load while training,” said Peel.
Because you can use both or one leg, the exercise can also help correct muscle imbalances.
Doing single-leg presses allows you to target and improve functionality and strength on one side of your body. That's crucial for efficient, powerful movement in any sport or workout, said Peel.
How do you perform a leg press?
Ready to do leg presses? Try starting with 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, with moderate weight. Consider adding weight after each set and decreasing the reps, said Lewis. This can help you boost muscle power and strength.
Here's how to do a leg press safely:
Step 1: Sit in the leg press machine and place your feet shoulder-width apart on the platform. Make sure the seat is adjusted so your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. You can move your feet higher (glutes and hamstrings) or lower (quadriceps) on the platform to activate your muscles differently.
Step 2: Hold the handles next to the seat and keep your back against the backrest. Squeeze your abdominals and glutes to engage your core.
Step 3: Release the safety and slowly bring the platform or weights toward you with as much range as you can.
Step 4: Pause briefly at the bottom of the movement.
Step 5: Exhale and push the platform away from you without locking your knees.
Step 6: Inhale and bend your knees to return to the starting position.
Step 7: Repeat for the desired number of reps.
What exercises best complement a leg press?
Once you are comfortable performing a leg press, you can do other lower body strengthening exercises. The following exercises require free weights and more balance and stability.
Dumbbell split squat
Unlike leg presses, a dumbbell split squat adds upper body weight and challenges your balance and stability.
Step 1: Stand tall with your arms straight at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand (palms facing inward).
Step 2: Stagger your stance by stepping your right foot forward about 2-3 feet.
Step 3: Squeeze your abdominals to engage your core.
Step 4: Bend your knees and lower your body into a lunge position.
Step 5: Keep lowering until your right knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your left knee is just above the floor. Or, squat down as far as your range of motion allows.
Step 6: Press through your right foot to extend your hip and return to the starting position.
Step 7: Complete the desired number of reps.
Barbell squat
The barbell squat is an advanced weightlifting exercise that challenges you to hold a barbell on your back while squatting. Like the leg press, it activates the hamstrings, quads, and glutes.
Step 1: Place a barbell on a squat rack just under shoulder height. Make sure the J-hooks secure the barbell in place.
Step 2: Grip the barbell slightly more than shoulder-width apart with your palms facing forward and step under it.
Step 3: Position the barbell across your shoulders and pull your shoulders down and back as if you were going to break the barbell in half.
Step 4: Step back to take the barbell off of the J-hooks. Keep your feet hip to shoulder-width apart.
Step 5: Bend your knees and drive your hips back until your thighs are parallel to the floor or as far as your range of motion allows.
Step 6: Push through your feet to return to the starting position.
Step 7: Complete the desired number of reps.
The bottom line
The leg press is a versatile exercise that can increase lower body strength, power, and endurance. You perform a leg press on a machine that provides support and guides you through a fixed range of motion. That makes the low-impact exercise an excellent choice for beginners who want to build up to more advanced resistance exercises.
You can slowly add weight as your fitness improves. Leg presses are a worthy addition to your leg day exercise plan, no matter your fitness level.
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References
American Council on Exercise. (n.d.). Back squat.
American Council on Exercise. (n.d.). Seated leg press exercise.
Flex Lewis | Straight Outta the Lair Podcast. (2015). 60 seconds with Flex | Vertical leg press [video]. YouTube.
Husby V. S., et al (2018). Randomized controlled trial of maximal strength training vs. standard rehabilitation following total knee arthroplasty. European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2018.
Krzysztofik, M., et al. (2019). Maximizing muscle hypertrophy: A systematic review of advanced resistance training techniques and methods. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Mahaffey, K. (n.d.). General adaptation syndrome in fitness explained. National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Martín-Fuentes, I., et al. (2020). Evaluation of the lower limb muscles’ electromyographic activity during the leg press exercise and its variants: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. (2023). Exercise for your bone health.
Nunes J. P., et al (2020). Different foot positioning during calf training to induce portion-specific gastrocnemius muscle hypertrophy. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
Opex Fitness. (2021). Dumbbell split squat [video]. YouTube.
PureGym. (2022). How to do a seated leg press [video]. YouTube.
PureGym. (2023). How to do a 45 degree leg press [video]. YouTube.
