Hips peeling off the seat
Reduce depth or load until your lower back and hips stay against the pad.
Squat · Plate-loaded machine
Hammer Strength Leg Press
A plate-loaded leg press where you push a sled or footplate away from you while seated or reclined. It trains the quads and glutes heavily with little lower back or balance demand. Good for all levels as a main or second leg movement.
- Primary
- Quads
- Secondary
- Glutes
- Starting rep range
- 8–12 reps
- Target effort
- 1.5 reps in reserve
- Progression
- 10 kg jumps
Muscles worked
The quads straighten the knees and the glutes extend the hips. A lower foot position biases the quads; a higher and wider position brings in more glutes.
How to set up
- Sit with your back and hips flat against the pad.
- Place your feet about hip to shoulder width on the middle of the platform.
- Grip the handles and brace your abs.
- Release the safety stops and straighten your legs.
How to do each rep
- Lower the sled by bending your knees toward your chest.
- Go as deep as you can while keeping your hips on the seat.
- Press through your whole foot to return to the start.
- Stop just short of locking out the knees.
Common hammer strength leg press mistakes
Knees caving in
Push your knees out in line with your toes.
Partial reps with heavy loads
Lower the weight and use a full, controlled range.
Sets, reps, and progression
Surpass starts the hammer strength leg press at 8–12 reps with about 1.5 reps in reserve. As a compound lift it usually belongs early in the session, when you are fresh.
Add reps before plates, then add 10-20 lb at a time. When heavy sets stall, add a pause at the bottom or switch foot position for a new stimulus.
Know what to lift next time
Surpass shows what you lifted last time beside a target for this set, and adjusts it from your reps and RIR. Free on iPhone, no account needed.
Hammer Strength Leg Press alternatives
These train the same main muscles. Swap when the equipment is busy, something hurts, or progress has stalled for several weeks.
Questions
Is the leg press as good as squats?
For building the quads and glutes, it works very well. Squats train more balance and full-body strength, but the leg press is easier to push hard safely.
Where should I place my feet on the leg press?
Middle of the platform, hip to shoulder width, is a good default. Lower targets the quads more; higher brings in more glutes.