Dépense estimée selon votre poids
Mouvement polyarticulaire · 4 s par répétition
| Répétitions | Dépense estimée |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0,53 kcal |
| 10 | 5,3 kcal |
| 20 | 10,5 kcal |
| 50 | 26,3 kcal |
| 100 | 52,5 kcal |
Estimation à partir des équivalents métaboliques (MET) du Compendium of Physical Activities. La charge, le tempo et la durée des repos font varier le résultat du simple au double : à lire comme un ordre de grandeur, pas comme une mesure.
Why do leg press
The leg press lets you load your legs heavy without the weight sitting on your spine. Your back stays flat against the pad, your feet drive a platform, and the movement comes down to bending and extending the knees and hips.
It's the easiest lower-body lift to learn. A beginner can train properly on it from session one — whereas the squat takes weeks of technique work. And when your lower back has already taken a beating from the rest of the workout? The leg press is still on the table.
Which muscles it works
The quads do most of the work, especially the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and rectus femoris. The rest depends on two things: range of motion and where your feet sit on the platform.
- Quads: prime mover through the full range.
- Glutes and hamstrings: heavily involved with a high foot placement and a deep descent.
- Adductors: kick in with a wide stance.
- Calves: barely touched, unless the machine has a calf press option.
That said, glute and hamstring recruitment stays below what a Romanian deadlift gives you. Don't kid yourself. The leg press isn't a posterior chain exercise — it's a quad exercise that spills over a little onto the rest.
Leg press machines: 45-degree, horizontal or vertical
Three families of machines share the gym floor. They aren't interchangeable.
The 45-degree leg press
This is the most common model, the one you'll find at Technogym, Bodysolid or in most budget gym chains. The seat is angled, the sled runs on rails and loads with plates. The 45-degree angle allows heavy loads with a good safety margin, thanks to the side safety catches.
The horizontal leg press
You sit upright and press horizontally. It's usually a weight-stack machine, so the loads are lighter and easier to fine-tune. It works well for higher-rep sets, coming back from injury, and gyms that are short on space.
The vertical leg press
Lying on the floor, you press the weight straight up. The machine is rare, demanding on the hips, and the range of motion is limited for a lot of body types (stiff hips, long femurs). Keep it as an occasional option.
| Model | Loading | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 45-degree | Plates | Strength, heavy loads |
| Horizontal | Weight stack | Beginner, return from injury |
| Vertical | Plates | Advanced |
| 2-in-1 calf press | Plates | Home gym |
How to do the movement
Set the backrest first so your hips never lift off it. Feet shoulder-width apart, flat on the platform, toes turned out slightly. Drive through your heel and midfoot.
- Lower until your knees hit roughly 90 degrees, without letting your lower back round.
- Don't lock your knees at the top — keep a slight bend.
- Keep the tempo smooth: two seconds down, one to press.
- Feet high on the platform for glutes, feet low for quads.
The single-leg version, one leg at a time, fixes imbalances. Expect around 60 to 70% of your two-leg load per leg, and watch that your hips stay square. Our goal-based training programs bring these variations in at the right point in the cycle.
Leg press vs squat, and lunges vs leg press
The squat is still better for coordination, bracing and carryover to everyday movement. On the flip side, it hits a ceiling fast if technique or ankle mobility get in the way. That's where the leg press lets you keep adding weight without taxing your back.
Same logic against lunges: lunges train balance and single-leg work, the leg press trains pure muscle volume. So do you have to pick? No. On a standard leg day, put squats or lunges first, then the leg press as your second exercise to pile up tonnage. That combination holds up well.
In the gym, the leg press isn't a watered-down squat: it's where you build volume without paying the lower-back bill.
Load, plates and progression
Always load plates in pairs, evenly on both sides, and put the safety catches back before you lower the sled. Every time. A realistic rate of progress is around 5 to 10 lb (2.5 to 5 kg) per week for the first few months, then much slower.
Three to four sets of 8 to 12 reps covers most hypertrophy goals. If you're chasing strength, drop to 5 or 6 reps with two minutes of rest. Tracking your loads session after session is what makes the difference over six months, and that's exactly what MUSCU's progress tracking automates.
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