Leg Press - Magnitude of Leg Press Lifts

Magnitude of Leg Press Lifts

Since the leg press stabilizes the lifter and moves weights in a direction that is not vertical, it is possible for strength trainers to press very heavy weights (compared to the weight used for other exercises). The actual effective weight on the legs on a typical 45 degree leg press machine is equal to sin(45°)*the loaded weight, for example a machine loaded with 450 pounds plus the sled (118 pounds in this example) is effectively 402 pounds of force on the legs. Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman is featured in videos wherein he leg presses 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) for a full eight repetitions. To compare, the world record for the squat is 992lbs (450kg) raw and 1,250lbs (568.18 kg) in a multiply squat suit.

An AskMen.com article states that it is not uncommon for men to leg press over 500 pounds (226 kg), with some men going over 1,000 pounds (454 kg) using a limited-range of motion. Former US Secretary of State and septuagenarian Madeleine Albright claims she is able to leg press in excess of 400 pounds (181 kg). However, a true leg press requires the full range of motion. Typically a person cannot do much more than double the weight of their standard one-repetition, full-range leg-press when attempting limited-range strength straining (e.g., if they can do 500 pounds full-range they could do no more than 1,000 pounds for limited range training).

Read more about this topic:  Leg Press

Famous quotes containing the words magnitude of, magnitude, leg, press and/or lifts:

    My time has come.
    There are twenty people in my belly,
    there is a magnitude of wings,
    there are forty eyes shooting like arrows,
    and they will all be born.
    All be born in the yellow wind.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.
    John Updike (b. 1932)

    A good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon—or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes, but keeps his course truly.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    If behind the erratic gunfire of the press the author felt that there was another kind of criticism, the opinion of people reading for the love of reading, slowly and unprofessionally, and judging with great sympathy and yet with great severity, might this not improve the quality of his work? And if by our means books were to become stronger, richer, and more varied, that would be an end worth reaching.
    Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)

    She lifts the shadows from my blackest griefs, and makes even my darkest days serene ones.
    Jean Racine (1639–1699)