Smith Machine Leg Press
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Lie on your back on the floor under the Smith machine bar, or on a mat set at the right height.
- Set the safety catches so the bar cannot descend past your chest.
- Place both feet on the underside of the bar, about hip-width apart.
- Unhook the bar and press until your legs are nearly straight.
- Lower by bending the knees toward your chest, keeping the lower back flat.
- Press back out, and re-hook the bar before taking your feet off it.
Common mistakes
- Setting the safeties too low, or not at all. A bar coming down onto your chest with your feet above it is the failure this setup has to be built around, and the catches are what make the movement performable rather than an ambition.
- Letting the hips curl off the floor at the bottom. That is the range ending; going further rounds the lower back under a loaded bar.
- Placing the feet high on the bar so it wants to roll. The bar is round and the feet are the only thing holding it; flat feet in the middle keep it where it belongs.
- Taking the feet off before re-hooking. The bar is above your body at the end of the set, which makes the order of operations part of the exercise.