Leg Press

Muscles worked by the Leg Press

Primary

GlutesGluteus MaximusQuadsQuadriceps Femoris

Secondary

HamstringsHamstring Muscles

Also called: glute, glutes, gluteus maximus, buttocks, butt, quad.

Equipment

Leg Press

Also called: leg press machine, 45 degree leg press, horizontal leg press, plate-loaded leg press, sled leg press.

How to do the Leg Press

1. Sit in the leg press machine with feet shoulder-width apart on the platform.
2. Release the safety catches and lower the platform by bending your knees.
3. Push the platform back up until legs are nearly straight.
4. Do not lock your knees at the top.
5. Repeat.

Form tips

• Keep your lower back and hips pressed into the seat.
• Lower only as far as you can without your hips tucking under.
• Drive evenly through your whole foot, not just your toes.

At a glance

Leg Press in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Horizontal Leg Press
• Banded Figure-4 Stretch
• Barbell Back Squat
• Barbell Glute Bridge
• Barbell Hip Thrust
• Barbell Lunge
• Barbell Reverse Lunge
• Bench Bulgarian Split Stretch

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "leg-press",
  "name_en": "Leg Press",
  "name_de": "Beinpresse",
  "name_es": "Prensa de Piernas",
  "description_en": "A machine-based compound movement for the quads and glutes.",
  "description_de": "Eine maschinengestützte Grundübung für Quadrizeps und Gesäßmuskeln.",
  "description_es": "Un movimiento compuesto en máquina para cuádriceps y glúteos.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "leg_press",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "gluteus_maximus",
    "quadriceps"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "hamstrings"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "knee_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "leg-press",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Sit in the leg press machine with feet shoulder-width apart on the platform.",
    "Release the safety catches and lower the platform by bending your knees.",
    "Push the platform back up until legs are nearly straight.",
    "Do not lock your knees at the top.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Setze dich in die Beinpresse mit den Füßen schulterbreit auf der Plattform.",
    "Löse die Sicherungen und senke die Plattform durch Beugen der Knie.",
    "Drücke die Plattform zurück, bis die Beine fast gestreckt sind.",
    "Strecke die Knie am höchsten Punkt nicht vollständig durch.",
    "Wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Siéntate en la prensa de piernas con los pies a la anchura de los hombros sobre la plataforma.",
    "Suelta los seguros y baja la plataforma doblando las rodillas.",
    "Empuja la plataforma hacia arriba hasta que las piernas queden casi rectas.",
    "No bloquees las rodillas en la parte superior.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep your lower back and hips pressed into the seat.",
    "Lower only as far as you can without your hips tucking under.",
    "Drive evenly through your whole foot, not just your toes."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte den unteren Rücken am Polster, statt ihn unten abzurollen.",
    "Lass die Knie in Linie mit den Fußspitzen arbeiten.",
    "Drücke gleichmäßig über die ganze Fußsohle, vor allem über die Fersen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén la zona lumbar pegada al respaldo en todo momento.",
    "Baja solo hasta donde la cadera no se despegue.",
    "Alinea las rodillas con las puntas de los pies."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/leg-press-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/leg-press-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "leg-press");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.