How much can you leg press

  • Thread starter Thread starter jagdrag77
  • 44 comments
  • 26,126 views
jagdrag77

jagdrag77

Messages
552
Australia
Australia
Not many people are concerned with leg press but I am as I ride bmx, so lets start off with some numbers.

I'm 20.
Weight: 75kg (165lb)
Max leg press: 220kg (485lb) x four reps.

It'll be interesting to hear some other figures, and please try to include the number of reps đź‘Ť
 
Ahhah yes! No one talks about leg strength, but it's my greatest strength.

I'm probably around 160lbs right now and I leg press 750lbs for 11 reps and 3 sets baby. Let's see someone beat that power to weight ratio. Also that's not including the sled since I don't know how much it weighs.
 
shmogt
Ahhah yes! No one talks about leg strength, but it's my greatest strength.

I'm probably around 160lbs right now and I leg press 750lbs for 11 reps and 3 sets baby. Let's see someone beat that power to weight ratio. Also that's not including the sled since I don't know how much it weighs.
Click to expand...

You have some real strength there mate đź‘Ť

And for three sets of 11 reps? How do you do it?
 
Pics or it didn't happen. :D

I don't think I've ever pressed more than 200 kilos, even when I was in shape.
 
jagdrag77
You have some real strength there mate đź‘Ť

And for three sets of 11 reps? How do you do it?
Click to expand...

I load up tons of plates, than I sit in the chair thing, than I unlock, go down and press up lol. My legs are massive I can spread my fingers as wide as they can go and put my hand on my thigh and my hand will be flat with still some leg muscle sticking out.

Seriously tho to press more weight push as hard as you can each week. The week after do the same thing only push harder for more reps or add weight. Also remember to do a couple warm up sets before pushing your normal working weight. Also switch it up when you stop getting results. So if you push 400lbs lets say and cant push more reps or weight than switch it up. Do squats, lunges, some other leg stuff. These tips apply to everything.

I'll see you back here in a year or two when I go for the mythical 1000lbs. It's my dream.
 
The record at my high school was a guy on our football team at ~950 pounds. He was around 200 pounds at the time. One of my middle school teachers beat that during his college career. He wasn't even 5 foot 6 inches tall, maybe 180 pounds after a cheeseburger, but his leverage was ridiculous. His record was almost 1100 pounds.

As for me, I haven't worked out in years. From my experience at work, it seems I have off days where I can't lift crap and good days where I go nuts. Even still, I bet I could do 250 have I really have no idea. I'm 5' 11" and 140 pounds...any ideas?
 
There's a lot of legs talk in the bench press thread. I think we should just merge it into a general weightlifting thread.
 
Keef
As for me, I haven't worked out in years. From my experience at work, it seems I have off days where I can't lift crap and good days where I go nuts. Even still, I bet I could do 250 have I really have no idea. I'm 5' 11" and 140 pounds...any ideas?
Click to expand...

What shomgt suggested, increasing the weight and reps weekly might work. I highly suggest a protein shake after every work-out though, to replenish the muscles.

My gym has a free program set-up where you talk to a guy about what your goals are in a gym, muscle growth and so forth. Might be an idea?
 
Last edited:
Omnis
There's a lot of legs talk in the bench press thread. I think we should just merge it into a general weightlifting thread.
Click to expand...

Lol this is what my bigger, faster, stronger thread was made for. Talk about your personal achievements in anything and ask other how to improve etc.

Also this guy is so awesome. I'm scared just looking at all the weight
 
Last edited:
shmogt
Lol this is what my bigger, faster, stronger thread was made for. Talk about your personal achievements in anything and ask other how to improve etc.

Also this guy is so awesome. I'm scared just looking at all the weight
Click to expand...

I didn't notice your thread until today, my bad. I don't know how to merge a thread together, maybe someone can help me with that?

And that guy is flipping insane!! His legs :dunce:
 
Last edited:
Omnis
Those are crap. This is what a real leg press looks like.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwJb0ZEsHOM">YouTube Link</a>
Click to expand...

Ahah wtf this guy did so much less weight. I actually know the guy in the vid I showed and he's 6'3" (I think) and natural. So it was pretty impressive when I saw it.
 
shmogt
Ahah wtf this guy did so much less weight. I actually know the guy in the vid I showed and he's 6'3" (I think) and natural. So it was pretty impressive when I saw it.
Click to expand...

That's a 400lb sled. Leg presses are easy when you don't go past parallel. Is your buddy strong? Sure is. But he should go lighter for some more depth.
 
Omnis
That's a 400lb sled. Leg presses are easy when you don't go past parallel. Is your buddy strong? Sure is. But he should go lighter for some more depth.
Click to expand...

50/50 I used to go past parallel and bring my knees close to my chest, but my knees hurt after a while of going heavy like this. 90 degree bend is most you need to go for effective leg work. Also the deeper you go the greater chance you have for your lower back to round. Even the slightest amount of this and you can get seriously injured. Only when I am doing more bodybuilding routine with lighter amount of weight do I go a bit deeper since I know my back won't round.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
If you look at his squat video, he's having a rough time with 315 so... meh
Click to expand...

Damn double post. He has a few squat vids. The most recent one he did like 10 sets and it was all about getting perfect form. He can do walking lunges with 315lbs which is the same as Ronnie Coleman, but I'm not sure his max squat.
 
Interesting new videos guys đź‘Ť

I finally managed to leg press 3x my own weight!! Oh yeah, not only did I manage 225kg, but I maxed out on 230kg for two sets of four reps.

A very good day.
 
Tell that to Oly-lifters. :) If your back is still rounding, get it stronger. Your butt shouldn't leave the pad when pressing.
 
Omnis
Tell that to Oly-lifters. :) If your back is still rounding, get it stronger. Your butt shouldn't leave the pad when pressing.
Click to expand...

Ya it shouldn't. When you go too deep with really heavy weight you have a tendency to have your butt lift a bit. Which is obviously not what you want.

Good job jag. One thing when going really heavy like 1-5 rep range is you need to do more sets. You can do like 3min rest between them if you want, but try doing 5 sets.
 
shmogt
Good job jag. One thing when going really heavy like 1-5 rep range is you need to do more sets. You can do like 3min rest between them if you want, but try doing 5 sets.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, I was kind of wondering if I was doing enough sets anyway. Much appreciated đź‘Ť
 
I'd tell you how much I could leg press if I werent deathly allergic to the gym. Sorry. :trollface:

Actually, I do work out but I don't do max leg press because it seems basically useless in terms of increasing leg strength goes.
 
Schwartz38
Actually, I do work out but I don't do max leg press because it seems basically useless in terms of increasing leg strength goes.
Click to expand...

Actually you'd be surprised mate. The owner of the gym I attend to doesn't play any sport what requires good leg muscles, all he does is leg press and leg curls and for a tiny bloke, he can leg press more then me.

But this is just my two cents here.
 
jagdrag77
Actually you'd be surprised mate. The owner of the gym I attend to doesn't play any sport what requires good leg muscles, all he does is leg press and leg curls and for a tiny bloke, he can leg press more then me.

But this is just my two cents here.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is true but I don't bother finding my max. I prefer more reps/less weight rather than less reps/more weight.
 
Schwartz38
Yes, that is true but I don't bother finding my max. I prefer more reps/less weight rather than less reps/more weight.
Click to expand...

Well it says list max for your reps. Obviously if you are doing 500lbs of 10 reps is better than 600lbs of 1. For building muscle that is.
 
shmogt
Ahhah yes! No one talks about leg strength, but it's my greatest strength.

I'm probably around 160lbs right now and I leg press 750lbs for 11 reps and 3 sets baby. Let's see someone beat that power to weight ratio. Also that's not including the sled since I don't know how much it weighs.
Click to expand...

That power to weight ratio is sure to give you extra performance points that "over rate" you and make you comparable to a Caterham. :sly:
 
Today after pumping the bench press for a good while, I managed to get in some good results on the leg press đź‘Ť

260kg (573lb) for four sets of three reps. (It may not sound like much, but it sure felt like it.)
I then did some leg curls and boy was it hard to walk afterwards, I spent like 15 minutes just stretching and resting :sly:

How is everybody else doing?
 
jagdrag77
Today after pumping the bench press for a good while, I managed to get in some good results on the leg press đź‘Ť

260kg (573lb) for four sets of three reps. (It may not sound like much, but it sure felt like it.)
I then did some leg curls and boy was it hard to walk afterwards, I spent like 15 minutes just stretching and resting :sly:

How is everybody else doing?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if this was just one day but you have to work just as hard at everything for all your different body parts. Leg press works all muscles in the legs but primarily the quads. Bench press hits all upper body but primarily the chest. Make sure to do some sort of deadlift to hit the glutes, hamstrings and upper back just as hard (google and YouTube this like crazy until you know exactly how to perform it). If you don't you will end up like me with super tight joints and weak muscles in certain spots.

Also I know you like going big on leg press but I personally recommend going a bit high reps like 8. Rep ranges is usually 1-5 is pure strength, 6-9 is moderate which promotes muscle growth and strength, and 10-15 which is pure muscle hypertrophy (growth). It goes by volume so 3 sets of 8 is a total of 24 reps. 4 sets of 3 is 9 reps total. The weight is higher but not very much time on the muscles. What I like to do is switch between the rep ranges. Maybe a month of low reps, pure strength than the next month a moderate rep range.

I remember you said you like bmx which is primarily a quad dominant movement. You may think working the quads more will make you stronger but in reality your quads will over develop from pattern overload. Your brain will naturally assume to use your quad muscles for everything. This is not what you want at all as it will start to shut down trying to use your other muscles in your legs. You want to work the opposite muscles instead to make sure they are strong enough to keep up with the quads since the quads are getting so much more work from pedaling. It's same for all sports. A person throwing a baseball will have a overload of chest and shoulder and even tho those and the muscles he uses to pitch the ball they will become to strong and he will actually become weaker of he keeps training them.

Think of your body like two elastic bands. One pulls the other stretches. If you constantly pull one too much it will become tighter while the opposite one will be stretched and no longer have the strength to pull the other band back.

So leg press is great but make sure to hit glutes and hamstrings just as hard. Glutes especially since most people have very weak one due to sitting all the time and you really have to focus on squeezing them.
 
shmogt
I'm not sure if this was just one day but you have to work just as hard at everything for all your different body parts. Leg press works all muscles in the legs but primarily the quads. Bench press hits all upper body but primarily the chest. Make sure to do some sort of deadlift to hit the glutes, hamstrings and upper back just as hard (google and YouTube this like crazy until you know exactly how to perform it). If you don't you will end up like me with super tight joints and weak muscles in certain spots.

Also I know you like going big on leg press but I personally recommend going a bit high reps like 8. Rep ranges is usually 1-5 is pure strength, 6-9 is moderate which promotes muscle growth and strength, and 10-15 which is pure muscle hypertrophy (growth). It goes by volume so 3 sets of 8 is a total of 24 reps. 4 sets of 3 is 9 reps total. The weight is higher but not very much time on the muscles. What I like to do is switch between the rep ranges. Maybe a month of low reps, pure strength than the next month a moderate rep range.

I remember you said you like bmx which is primarily a quad dominant movement. You may think working the quads more will make you stronger but in reality your quads will over develop from pattern overload. Your brain will naturally assume to use your quad muscles for everything. This is not what you want at all as it will start to shut down trying to use your other muscles in your legs. You want to work the opposite muscles instead to make sure they are strong enough to keep up with the quads since the quads are getting so much more work from pedaling. It's same for all sports. A person throwing a baseball will have a overload of chest and shoulder and even tho those and the muscles he uses to pitch the ball they will become to strong and he will actually become weaker of he keeps training them.

Think of your body like two elastic bands. One pulls the other stretches. If you constantly pull one too much it will become tighter while the opposite one will be stretched and no longer have the strength to pull the other band back.

So leg press is great but make sure to hit glutes and hamstrings just as hard. Glutes especially since most people have very weak one due to sitting all the time and you really have to focus on squeezing them.
Click to expand...

It was in a day, a arvo workout. I deadlift occasionally mate, but my back starts to ache after a short while.

I didn't know that rep definition, that's interesting. I'm looking for muscle growth mainly, so I guess I should aim for 10-15 then. I normally switch the number of reps once or twice a week, I've heard the body thrives on variety. I feel as I'm getting stronger, but I still have the same problem most of the time, a sore back. Maybe more deadlifts will change that.

I get what you mean about the same muscles being used over and over, I've actually tried to take that into account, but I think my brain is into a routine now. That image of the body as two rubber bands actually made perfect sense for me, I appreciate it mate đź‘Ť

I'll try your advice and see how it goes, I have to ask though. How do you know all of this information? Do you work in a gym or something?

Cheers :)
 
Last edited:

Latest Posts

Back