Are 45-Degree Leg Presses of Any Use?

Are 45 degree leg presses of any use?
My current squat max is 225 for 5 reps. I’ve never really leg pressed before- but decided to do it in the program I’m following now- MAX-OT. Today in my 3rd session ended doing 550 X 7 reps.
I wont be able to even stand up with that weight outta the squat rack.
Is it something I’m better off at doing high reps with- or just stick to squats?
Do leg presses have any advantages in terms of hypertrophy or anything at all?

Regarding my training- its been on-off for a lot of years. I’m lifting again after a 3-4 year break.

Are you 6 foot tall or over?

IMO leg presses are shit, all they do is irritate my lower back.

You can tell if they are benefitting you or not. Don’t just listen to your ego and think ‘wow I’m using 500LB’s’, gains from the leg press don’t really translate over to the squat, at least not for me. If you feel new strength developing and see new muscle then they are obviously benefitting you.
Whilst you shouldn’t give up on an exercise immediately, don’t be afraid to jettison the leg press if it is not producing…

Good luck wit your training.

Agreed. All they’ve even done for me is tear up my lower back/SI joints. For most people, they are a great show lift. Load it up with 1200 pounds and take it down 4 inches or so. I’d agree it’s pretty useless.

Leg presses work well for me!

Jason

*with

i wouldn’t replace squats with them but lk them after. look at some of john meadows stuff, he sticks them in often

I like them as an accessory lift

I love them as an accessory, but if you are interested in powerlifting they are not going to replace squats

Perhaps hack squats instead? I don’t find leg press much help. Now, granted, I did them as an accessory lift on 5/3/1, and I’m not really sure if that helped my squat or not. I don’t do them any more because I run WS4SB.

Luke

Front squats and olympic squats are the only quad dominant exercises that bring up my power squat. Whenever I started adding in leg presses, I would start leaning with my squats when it got heavy.

Thank you all for the suggestions.
buddaboy: Yeah. It makes perfect sense for me to evaluate them in my training and then decide. So I guess I’ll be most probably expermienting with diff reps or else dropping them. Also for calf work- I did 450 X 10 on the leg press but on the seated machine I went upto only 105 X 10.
For everyone who use them as accessory work: how do you do it? higher rep work after squat?
Boldar: thnx for pointing out John Meadows- good article on leg presses by him.

Personally I find hack squats and front squats more than suitable replacements. I don’t leg press at all anymore mainly because it really had no translation to my squat numbers. They were fantastic for putting some mass on the quads though. The 45 degree leg press is horrific on my lower back and I was regularly injured because of it so I dropped them out completely.

Use them if they cause you no issue. I’ve always been a believer if you want a bigger squat, then focus on squat variations.

As a replacement for Squats…NO. In addition to Squats…Yes.
I do not think the 45* press is a good station to MAX on, but used with a specific purpose it is very effective.

they are an accessory lift. high reps to build quad mass. just another tool in the belt