Before doing the famous bench press, read the article carefully. Thus, you will learn the nuances of the technique and the secrets of quick pumping of the legs. The machine leg press is a heavy, super effective yet relatively safe multi-joint leg muscle exercise that engages the hip, knee, and ankle.
Its implementation consists in bending and extending the legs, which are under the weight of the platform. The leg press includes the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, soleus, and many other smaller muscles.
Reasons to love the leg press
- There is no axial load on the spine, unlike the squat. The reversal of lower back muscle engagement makes the exercise ideal for people who have had an injury, have spinal problems, or have a weak back.
- Accentuated study of various muscle groups of the lower extremities: you can shift the main load to the adductor / abductor muscles or "kill" the buttocks.
- Comparatively simple technique of execution: correctly performing a squat with a large weight is many times more difficult than a leg press. Even a beginner can master the correct bench press technique in just a couple of sessions.
- Active burning of calories. Depending on the tonnage raised, the leg press uses 20 calories or more in a couple of minutes. In addition, with exercise, the banal metabolic rate increases and the body burns more fat throughout the day.
- Increases libido in men by stimulating the pelvic organs.
Bench Press Technique
Although the trauma of the exercise is minimal, but with a negligent attitude to the technique of execution, it still takes place. Therefore, it is worth considering step by step the implementation of this exercise:
- The first step is to place the correct weight on the platform. Although the load in the bench press is much more permissible than in the squat, the main thing is to really assess your capabilities.
- Find a comfortable position in the machine and place your feet on the platform slightly wider than your shoulders, slightly turning your toes out.
- Leaning against the platform, squeeze it with your feet up, removing the load from the stoppers and lowering the stopper.
- Then start slowly lowering the platform down until you get a right angle at the knees (when emphasizing the load on the quadriceps muscle of the thigh, the angle may be greater).
- When you reach the desired angle, start pushing the platform by extending your knees.
This cycle of movements is repeated the required number of times. The effectiveness of the leg press, like any other exercise, will be higher if you perform it to almost complete muscle failure (through "I can not").
Features of the leg press
- The upper back and buttocks should be pressed and not lifted from the support until the end of the set. The head should also be fixed in one position: pressed against the walls and looking straight ahead.
- Feet should always be firmly on the platform, without the slightest separation of the heels throughout the entire set. The weight should be pressed with the whole feet, without lifting the heels from the platform and a hint of lifting the weight with the socks.
- You need to work within the amplitude, maintaining the tension of the quadriceps throughout the entire set. At the bottom, the knees do not rest on the chest, and at the top, the legs do not straighten to the end (this minimizes the load on the joints).
The position of the feet on the platform can be changed, thus giving the load to different muscle groups. The more the socks are turned to the sides with a wide stance of the legs, the more active the buttocks and muscles of the inner thigh (adductors, inguinal) will work. If the socks are placed close to each other, the load will fall on the outside of the quadriceps.
To grind your glutes and hamstrings, place your feet as high as possible on the platform. To reduce the load on the fifth point and increase the quadriceps, the legs are recommended to be fixed lower. Leg press is the best multifunctional leg exercise after squatting. An athlete who wants to increase in volume, gain overall muscle mass, or simply work on drawing the relief of the lower body should certainly include this exercise in their workouts.
Video about exercises, how to pump up your legs:
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