Narrow-Stance Leg Press
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Sit in the leg press with your back and hips flat against the pad.
- Place your feet on the platform close together, roughly hip-width or narrower, in the middle of the plate.
- Press the platform out until your legs are nearly straight and release the safety catches.
- Lower the platform by bending the knees until they reach about ninety degrees, or as far as the hips stay down.
- Keep the knees tracking over the feet rather than falling in or out.
- Press back out through the whole foot without locking the knees hard.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips curl off the pad at the bottom. The narrow stance runs out of range sooner than a wide one, and the lower back rounding under the platform is the point to stop rather than the point to push through.
- Placing the feet low as well as narrow. Narrow and low together puts the knees a long way forward under a heavy platform; keeping them in the middle of the plate keeps the shin angle reasonable.
- Expecting it to build the outer thigh. A narrow stance changes how the hip is positioned and how deep the knee can bend; it does not aim the load at one side of the quadriceps.
- Locking the knees hard to rest between repetitions. On a loaded platform above you, a snapped-straight leg is the joint holding the weight rather than the muscle.