Am I doing leg presses wrong?

[Whiteheart]

I started doing these a few weeks ago but Id let the press come all the way down and even with light weight this was pretty hard, But observing other guys doing this I saw they bring it down about 40-60% and sometimes push on their thighs for a little boost during a heavy set, Which is the right way?

[MrSinister]

go down as far as your flexibility allows, foot position is important here.. it just depends on your legs and tendons and of course flexibility.. and u can push with your hands but only as an absolute last resort say last rep or two if u wanna do some forced.. doing it all the time is stupid you're only cheating yourself.

[HawkLifter55]

go down as far as your flexibility allows, foot position is important here.. it just depends on your legs and tendons and of course flexibility.. and u can push with your hands but only as an absolute last resort say last rep or two if u wanna do some forced.. doing it all the time is stupid you're only cheating yourself.

Exactly, the foot position is key, Depending on where they are dictates, at leats for me, how far I can do down. I have used my hands for push, but like he said only when absolutly needed to get it pushed out.

[renglander]

Try not to let your lower back come off the backrest. This will put alot of stress on your lower back. Go as far as you can though.

[chuckgee]

keep ur back and ass on the pad and position ur foot 8-12inches apart as u bring down the weight ur knees should move towards ur outer shoulders. this way gives u a greater ROM and hence hits the muscle better.....another way o f leg pressing is keep ur feet closer together and allow ur knees to move in a straight line while pressing.this way gives u a shorter range of motion but allows u to work the muscle also...i prefer method one ,bcus i get a better feelimg from this workout.

[AndrewH]

I started doing these a few weeks ago but Id let the press come all the way down and even with light weight this was pretty hard, But observing other guys doing this I saw they bring it down about 40-60% and sometimes push on their thighs for a little boost during a heavy set, Which is the right way?

Full ROM is the key, as on any exercise and ‘NO’ you should not push on your thighs, you might as well come down in weight and just use your legs to push and not your hands to help.

[Rey92]

Full range of motion and try to push with your heels to keep the tension in the thighs and activate the glutes and hams. If you don't, you will involve your calves instead...

[Kylewu]

You should have your feet shoulder width apart and make sure your toes are about lined up with your knees.. What I mean by that is when you look at the platform where your feet are placed your feet shouldn't be at the top or clear at the bottom.. Your feet should probably be dead center, and having your legs shoulder width apart will make sure you're properly targeting the areas it's suppose to. Also DO NOT come down clear to the bottom, sure thats seems like the most logical to do right? I mean do the full range of motion. However, this is ONE exercise where you probably shouldn't because of the possibility of tearin either a ACL/MCL. So I'd say come down till you get a good stretch which is usually about 1/2 way down and then back up without locking out your knees. Also never bring your hands off the hand rests unless you're doing ultra light weight. Reason for that is if you got a lot of weight on there it puts a good/decent amount of pressure on the lowerback if your torso doesn't remain on the back pad. If you bring your hands off the bars this will usually insure that you are bringing your lowerback off the pad. So just keep the hands on the handle bars because A) it'll make sure your upper body is stationary during the lift and B) Because if you actually have to press your legs with your hands then the weight is too heavy...Honestly, you should probably never copy someones technique in a gym, because in all seriousness they're probably wrong. I'd look up the proper forms here with all the pictures and demonstration videos they have. I hope this helped you, and if you have any questions PM me or discuss here..Get it done because leg presses can be a bitch!

also there are variations of the press too obviously. Like having your feet close together, feet a little further apart and so forth. So what I said above is just the natural position for a regular leg press, but different feet positioning works different muscles. Everything everybody said above me is true though, great advice guys.

[Drag]

keep ur back and ass on the pad and position ur foot 8-12inches apart as u bring down the weight ur knees should move towards ur outer shoulders. this way gives u a greater ROM and hence hits the muscle better.....another way o f leg pressing is keep ur feet closer together and allow ur knees to move in a straight line while pressing.this way gives u a shorter range of motion but allows u to work the muscle also...i prefer method one ,bcus i get a better feelimg from this workout.

Good info again. Too bad I can't rep you.