Believe it or not, changing the positioning of your feet and toes, and changing the width apart on the leg press machine will greatly impact your weight training, and will give you the maximum results you are looking for. Different leg (foot) positions on a leg press will work different muscles, and just a slight tweak in your footing position can add a great impact, and give you the ultimate leg workout possible. Depending on which muscles you are looking to work, a more narrow or wider stance will really affect the muscles worked, and how deep of a strain you will get. Therefore, knowing the proper foot placements, will really enhance your leg routine, and give you the most definitions in all leg muscles, not just one or two.

Leg press machines basically work the same muscles as a squat exercise, however, fewer “assistance” muscles are required for support and stabilizing your body; in turn, requiring less balance and allowing you to direct your attention to really strengthening the leg muscles. There are several positions to take on the leg press to work every muscle in the leg.

First, for quadriceps (front of the thigh), performing knee extensions are a great strength builder. This will also lengthen the muscle, and tighten the overall strength in your legs.

Next, for the gluteus maximus and the hamstring muscles in the legs (outer and inner muscles located in the back of the thigh), a great exercise is hip extensions. Making a slight change in the foot position on a leg press footplate will shift the emphasis of the targeted muscles.

The “normal position” for leg press is having your feet shoulder-width apart, and set on the middle of the footplate. There are four basic modifications to this “normal position”: high, wide, close, and low. First, the high position, requires moving your feet higher up on the plate which will place more emphasis on the back of your legs, in turn working out the glutes and hamstring muscles. A wide position works the inner legs, this will strengthen the inner thighs, and places more stress on these muscles than when the feet are closer together. The third shift is the close leg press; this narrow stance increases the outer muscles in the thighs. And lastly, the wide shift will target the adductor muscles more so than with a “normal position.” – Slight alterations will really maximize your leg press routine.

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