Ok just wanted to get a feel on what people think the correct ROM is on a 45 degree leg press machine. I have always tried knees to chest or further by placing knees wider but hear that some think knees to chest is too far since it will likely cause your tailbone area to come off of the backpad.
Also, when I do knees to chest I can only take half breaths since when I inhale fully it simply hurts: does anyone else do this?
This is really going to depend on your flexibilty and build. I would say you should go as deep as you can before your tailbone is about to come up of the seat, but it is impossible to say how deep this will be as a blanket statement. If your tailbone starts coming up early, you will want to work on your flexibilty, but never push beyond your current flexibilty because that is asking for an injury on the leg press when the weights get heavy.
[quote]bruno082985 wrote:
This is really going to depend on your flexibilty and build. I would say you should go as deep as you can before your tailbone is about to come up of the seat, but it is impossible to say how deep this will be as a blanket statement. If your tailbone starts coming up early, you will want to work on your flexibilty, but never push beyond your current flexibilty because that is asking for an injury on the leg press when the weights get heavy. [/quote]
x2. What I do is jam my back/butt onto the chair and “pull” my body down using my hands (holding onto the handle bars on the sides). I also keep my shoulder blades retracted.
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary steps, but doing the above forces me to keep my back tight and my ass/tailbone on the seat. Might not necessarily be what works for you.
I’d start out with really low weight and work the ROM. Push the ROM as much as you can (feel the stretch), and once you absolutely cannot go down anymore without compromising your form, push the weight back up. I usually do this to loosen up because like bruno said, you’re going to hurt yourself if you push beyond your flexibility.
Don’t put yourself in an anatomical disadvantage. Simply put, like the guy above said, do however much you can without your hips coming off the pad. It’ll depend on your make and build, and to a fair point, what part of the legs you’re targeting.
When I’m shooting for my quads I go low-and-inside on my foot position, this keeps my legs closer to my body and I can use a bigger ROM. When I aim for the hams / glutes (high-and-far apart,) my hips usually come off quicker because my legs are so high up anyway. Ya dig?
User specific
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A big factor in your ROM is going to be foot placement, and how you have the back support adjusted. For me, I prefer to set the back rest all the way down. Seems to allow more ROM without the lower back rounding too much.
Like you say, wider foot placement allows the knees to go to the side of the chest, but I don’t seem to get the best quad involvement with this. Too much glute/inner thigh for me.
I use a very narrow, low foot placement (heels just off the platform, feet about 6-8 inches apart). With that type of placement it’s all quads. The knees may not travel up and down as much but it increases the lower leg ROM which is what you want for quads.
I would say use as much ROM as possible without impeding your breathing. I can’t imagine doing leg presses with half breaths. I’m not sure you can do knees-to-chest without rounding your back. Stretching your hip flexors will help keep your back from rounding some.
[quote]jo3 wrote:
x2. What I do is jam my back/butt onto the chair and “pull” my body down using my hands (holding onto the handle bars on the sides). I also keep my shoulder blades retracted.
[/quote]
This works well, I do the exact same thing.
I tilt the back rest all the way forward and find in this position knees to chest isn’t a very large ROM at all. I need the seat all the way forward because if it’s tilted back, significant weight will begin to push me out. I haven’t done a LP in a while, but it seems the nature of the machine would keep your tailbone pressed back.
jo3 / cueball = I actually do teh exact same thing of “pulling” oneself down. However, I can never take full breaths with knees to chest which I guess may just be a personal thing that I need to work on.
[quote]jo3 wrote:
[quote]bruno082985 wrote:
This is really going to depend on your flexibilty and build. I would say you should go as deep as you can before your tailbone is about to come up of the seat, but it is impossible to say how deep this will be as a blanket statement. If your tailbone starts coming up early, you will want to work on your flexibilty, but never push beyond your current flexibilty because that is asking for an injury on the leg press when the weights get heavy. [/quote]
x2. What I do is jam my back/butt onto the chair and “pull” my body down using my hands (holding onto the handle bars on the sides). I also keep my shoulder blades retracted.
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary steps, but doing the above forces me to keep my back tight and my ass/tailbone on the seat. Might not necessarily be what works for you.
I’d start out with really low weight and work the ROM. Push the ROM as much as you can (feel the stretch), and once you absolutely cannot go down anymore without compromising your form, push the weight back up. I usually do this to loosen up because like bruno said, you’re going to hurt yourself if you push beyond your flexibility.[/quote]
I completely agree with this. If you start to feel your lower back coming up off the back then its time to rethink that ROM.
Just to add in, for me I can go full ROM with single limb leg press so something else to consider perhaps?
Its interesting that when you watch pros do leg press, their ROM is pretty limited. Is this how they always did it or just since they got big legs?
So if youre about moving the weight on the sled a certain distance then concern yourself with ROM. Otherwise let the muscle do the talking and let you know when it’s being hit and shredded.
Yeah I also do the whole retract shoulder blades and place my ass down and back so it’s in a set position. Than I just acknowledge not letting my ass round and I’m good to go. I usually get pretty deep with a decent amount of weight. I also use a somewhat narrow stance. I have found this best for quads. Also another trick is to not fully lockout and keep as much tension as possible on legs. Makes every rep even more brutal.
as far as possible, or until it feels like your going to push your colon out …