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Quad exercises

Vertical leg press

What is a vertical leg press?

A vertical leg press is a machine exercise in which you lie on your back and push a footplate straight upward. It trains the quadriceps and glutes as you straighten your knees and hips. This guide uses a purpose-built vertical leg press with safety stops.

Two views of a woman lying on a flat pad beneath a vertical leg press, with her feet on the underside of the platform. Her legs are nearly straight on the left and bent on the right, with the quadriceps shaded red.

How do you perform a vertical leg press?

Set up

  1. Set the machine's safety stops to limit the sled's downward travel, following its instructions. Start with a light load and check how its locks operate.
  2. Lie on the pad with your head and back supported. Place both feet securely on the platform about shoulder-width apart and hold the handles.

Execution

  1. Push the platform up enough to release its locks, keeping your knees slightly bent.
  2. Lower the sled slowly by bending your knees and hips. Stop before your pelvis rolls away from the pad or your heels lift.
  3. Press through your whole feet to raise the platform, keeping your knees in line with your toes without snapping them straight.
  4. After the final repetition, engage the locks and check that the sled is supported before moving your feet.

Common mistakes

  • Lowering beyond your supported range

    If your pelvis rolls up, you have lowered farther than you can keep your back supported. Shorten the descent.

  • Finishing without checking the locks

    The sled must be securely supported before your feet leave the platform. Use the machine's locking procedure on every set.

Where it fits in a session

Include this exercise where it fits your planned lower-body session.

Choose a load that lets you control the descent and finish each repetition with the same range. Record the machine and its load because different leg press designs are not directly interchangeable.

Muscles worked

Front
Front — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
Back
Back — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Primary

Secondary

Select a muscle name to locate it.

Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Variations

  • Anatomical illustration of a 45-degree sled leg press, shown as two frames side by side. In both, a grey muscle-anatomy figure lies back on the angled seat of a plate-loaded sled machine with a weight plate on the carriage and both feet flat on the footplate. On the left the legs are almost straight at the top of the push, the sled high on the rails; on the right the carriage has come down and the knees are bent past a right angle, thighs close to the chest. The muscles of the thighs are highlighted in red along their whole length, the upper inner thigh at the hip most strongly; the buttocks are pressed against the pad and are not visible.
    Leg pressMoves a sled along angled rails rather than straight upward.
  • Anatomical illustration of a man lowering and pressing a hack squat sled, with the front thighs and glutes highlighted.
    Hack squatUses shoulder and back pads while your feet remain on a fixed platform.

Frequently asked questions

Can I do this on a Smith machine?

This guide is for a dedicated vertical leg press. Do not copy its setup with a Smith-machine bar; the platform, restraints and locking system are different.

How low should I lower the platform?

Lower only as far as you can keep your heels on the platform and your pelvis supported by the pad. Set the safety stops for your machine and your controlled range.

Track your progress over time with RepCount

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