Leg press for hypertrophy: how to log and progress it

The common leg press mistake happens before the first rep: the lifter adds the sled to the plates, or copies a number off the machine, and logs a load nobody can check. Leg press for hypertrophy works best with a plain convention: log only the plates you loaded, work in 10 to 15 reps, and rate every working set. For a 90 kg lifter pressing 160 kg of plates, twelve reps at RPE 8 is worth an estimated 246.5 kg for one by the model behind the one-rep max calculator. With a 2.5 kg step, the next load arrives when all three sets reach fifteen.

Every figure below is compute.mjs output, the script that runs the app's own formulas, or it carries a citation to the study it came from.

What the leg press trains

The app's exercise library lists the leg press as a compound squat pattern on a machine, with the quads and glutes as primary muscles and the hamstrings as secondary. Each working set credits the quads and glutes one set apiece and the hamstrings half a set.

The research on muscle activity puts the quads at the centre. A systematic review of leg press studies found the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis the most active muscles, with the rectus femoris close behind, and quad activity peaking near 90 degrees of knee flexion before falling toward lockout [1]. Only one included study measured the gluteus maximus, and the authors call the evidence on foot height, width and rotation unclear [1].

Depth matters less than lifters argue about. Twenty-three trained lifters pressed one leg through about 5 to 100 degrees of knee flexion and the other through their full range, four sets to failure twice a week for eight weeks, and quad thickness grew by a similar amount in both legs [2]. Eight weeks is short. The useful lesson is consistency: a range you hold every rep beats a deeper one that drifts.

How does the leg press compare with the squat? Over ten weeks, groups that squatted only, leg pressed only, or did both trained the lower body twice a week, six sets a session at 8 to 12RM loads [3]. The squat group carried over more to maximal squat strength. On jump and balance tests the groups were not statistically different [3].

How to log a leg press

A two-leg press is a load lift: one line per set, not per-side, not bodyweight plus load. Type the plates you put on the sled and nothing else. The sled's own weight is often unlisted, varies by make, and cannot be weighed in the gym, so any number you add for it is a guess you then repeat forever. Plates-only numbers understate the true load, which does not matter: the estimate only has to be honest against your last session.

Treat each machine as its own exercise. A 45-degree sled and a horizontal press with the same plates are different lifts, and the app keeps a separate history for each exercise, so a number from one never pushes the other's next weight around. The leg press estimate is also not your squat. A 246.5 kg leg press reading says nothing about a 246.5 kg squat.

Rate each working set by reps in reserve: RPE 10 is nothing left, 9 is one rep left, 8 is two [4]. A set saved without RPE is treated as RPE 10, so 160 kg for twelve with the field blank estimates 235.3 kg instead of 246.5 kg. Epley puts the same set at 224 kg and Brzycki at 230.4 kg, because both assume the twelfth rep was the last one available.

Warm-ups never count toward volume. Give the app a week of two leg press sessions, three working sets each with two warm-ups in front of the first, plus three sets of leg extensions, and its volume code returns 9 quad sets, 6 glute sets and 3 hamstring sets. The warm-ups add nothing, as the post on whether warm-up sets count as volume explains. Each extra weekly set was linked to about 0.37 per cent more growth in a meta-analysis of 15 studies, a graded dose-response rather than a threshold [5]. The post on weekly sets per muscle covers how far to push that.

The warm-up ramp for 160 kg

The app builds the ramp from the planned weight of the first working set, the same ramp it builds for a barbell lift. For 160 kg, compute.mjs warmup --kg 160 returns five sets.

The working weight is three 25s and a 5 on each side, from the plate calculator with the bar set to zero. The first row is labelled for a barbell, so on a sled it means a 10 on each side. A lifter coming off squats can skip the first two rows. Keep at least the 135 kg set, because it shows whether the depth you planned is there under load.

What 160 kg for twelve at RPE 8 is worth

Twelve reps with two left means 160 kg was a 14-rep load that day. The model reads the reps-by-RPE chart along its diagonal, reps plus reps in reserve, and lands on 64.9 per cent of 1RM, an estimated max of 246.5 kg. The estimated 1RM guide explains how the chart is read past its published range.

Nobody should test a leg press single. The ladder below, from compute.mjs ladder --kg 160 --reps 12 --rpe 8, gives the heaviest load for each rep count at RPE 10 on that day.

Why 10 to 15 and not 5 to 8? For growth, the load matters less than how close the set ends to failure. Eighteen young men trained each leg on the knee extension with a different scheme for ten weeks, and three sets at 30 per cent of 1RM to failure grew the quads 6.8 per cent against 7.2 per cent for three sets at 80 per cent [6]. A meta-analysis of 21 studies found the same for muscle size across loading ranges, with heavier loads winning only on 1RM strength [7]. On a leg press, 1RM strength is a number you will never use.

How double progression moves the sled

The app has seven progression schemes: Auto, Double, Top set + back-off, Load, Reps, RIR and Manual. A 10 to 15 range runs as Double. The rule holds the load, chases one more rep each session and adds the step once every working set reaches fifteen. The full logic is in the post on double progression.

One setting matters here. The app's step for a machine lift is 1 kg, which suits a pin-loaded stack, not a sled with plates: from 160 kg it suggests 161 kg, which you cannot load. In the program, open the exercise's Fine-tuning and set Weight jump to 2.5 kg. Then sets of 15, 15 and 15 at RPE 8 move you to 162.5 kg (three 25s, a 5 and a 1.25 per side) and reset the target to ten. Sets of 17 or more on every set mean the load was too light, and the rule takes two steps to 165 kg.

Expect the estimate to look wrong for a session. Fifteen at RPE 8 on 160 kg reads 263.3 kg, because the model rates fifteen reps with two left above ten reps with two left whatever the load, and its confidence is low that far out. Compare like with like instead: 160 kg for ten at RPE 8 was worth 235.3 kg, and 162.5 kg for ten at RPE 8 is worth 239 kg. The new load is already ahead.

A deload week never emits an increase, and a load increase never leaks through on a cut. After 35 days off, the same 160 kg for twelve comes back as a 152 kg suggestion. That is not plate-loadable either, so round down to the nearest pair.

Why does a leg press stall?

The quiet stall is a rating that drifts up as the reps climb. Twelve at RPE 10 on 160 kg is worth 235.3 kg, exactly what ten at RPE 8 was worth. A rep ceiling reached by grinding earns a step the legs have not earned. The fifteenth rep counts when it comes with two in reserve.

The loud stall is depth that shrinks as the plates go on. The sled stops a hand short of where it did at 140 kg, the rep still gets counted, and the log shows progress the quads did not make. Mark the bottom with something you can see, such as the carriage against a numbered hole on the rail, and treat any rep short of it as a missed rep.

Moving the seat or the feet between sessions does the same damage. Set the back pad the same way every time, and log a deliberate setup change as a new exercise.

What changes when you swap it

The single-leg press, in the library as a separate exercise, is a per-side lift. It logs left then right, and working volume counts both sides. Start a fresh history for it rather than guessing from the two-leg number.

The hack squat keeps the quads as primary but lists the glutes and hamstrings as secondary, so each set gives the glutes half a set instead of a full one. The back squat keeps the quads and glutes as primary and adds the hamstrings, core and spinal erectors as secondary. Squat training moved squat strength more than the leg press did [3], so swap to it when the squat number is the goal. The back squat progression post covers the barbell version, where the default 2.5 kg step needs no fine-tuning.

Questions

Should I include the sled weight when I log a leg press?

No. Log the plates you loaded and nothing else. The sled's weight is often unlisted and differs by machine, so adding it means logging a guess. What matters for progression is that today's number is comparable with last week's on the same machine, and plates alone are. Keep a separate exercise for each leg press machine you use.

How many reps should I do on the leg press for hypertrophy?

A range of 10 to 15 works well, with each working set ending about two reps short of failure. Growth was similar from light and heavy loads taken to failure in a ten-week knee extension study, so reps matter less than effort. Rate every set, so the rule can tell a hard fifteen from an easy one.

Do leg press sets count toward glute volume?

Yes. The app lists the glutes as a primary muscle on the leg press, so each working set adds one glute set and one quad set, plus half a hamstring set. Two sessions of three working sets give the glutes 6 sets for the week. Warm-up sets add nothing, whatever the load on them.