Leg Presses

Valtishia

This question is more for the ladies, but anyone feel free to answer.

Who does leg presses and what kinda weight are you pressing?

I am curious because when I go to the gym (all women's gym), the highest I have seen anyone do was 70 lbs. I started at 175 lbs at the beginning of November... and am now able to do 315 lbs.

I'm not judging anyone who lifts less... I just feel like a little bit of a freak lol. I guess I am looking to hear that it is totally normal and many ladies do the higher weights.

TriciaZ944

You aren't a freak. I think sometimes at the all women's gyms you will find many women think they will get bulky if they lift heavy weights so they do less than what they are capable of. I hear it a lot from friends when I talk about strength training that they don't do it because they will get too big and bulky and look masculine... Which is far from the truth! So keep rocking it out!

Azdak

I find that a lot of beginners freak out on the leg press at first, mostly because that initial "push" with a heavier weight feels overwhelming. I work with one woman in her mid-60s who insisted at first she could only do 60lbs. Now she is up to 260 and still doing 15 reps.

ninerbuff

There are several female clients I have now that are in the 200+ range on leg presses. Before they might do 60lbs.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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dad106

On the leg press machine with selectorized weights, for a warm up I do between 120-135.

On a 45 degree leg press with plates I do between 130-185 currently.. hoping to bump that up soon though!

crepes_

You're definitely not a freak. I work from 175lbs to 255lbs and my legs look/feel awesome. I love being stronger. The ladies at my gym max out at around 90lbs. While I'm not knocking anyone who does lower weights, I just can't see myself going into it and not challenging myself to become stronger. I feel I'd be doing myself a disservice.

debussyschild

I have trouble being able to put enough weight on there so I can reach failure during my set, lol! I've always had strong legs. I think women who only rack 70 lbs on there (I'm assuming you're not counting the weight of the bar that you put them on, which is something like 45 lbs.) don't realize that they need to push themselves. I only reached failure today after I had 70 lbs on each side of the bar (I think that adds up to 185). Good for you for making sure you're getting the most out of your workout. Those other ladies could learn a thing or two from you!

debussyschild

You're definitely not a freak. I work from 175lbs to 255lbs and my legs look/feel awesome. I love being stronger. The ladies at my gym max out at around 90lbs. While I'm not knocking anyone who does lower weights, I just can't see myself going into it and not challenging myself to become stronger. I feel I'd be doing myself a disservice.

Bravo :drinker: Totally agree.

DRetel

I'm slowly working up my weights, but I'm still too chicken to go into the free weight section, so right now I do a seated leg press on this machine... http://www.lifefitness.com/commercial/lfstrength/SignatureSeriesSingleStations/lowerbody/seatedlegpress.html

I'm at 135 lbs right now, up from 100 a few weeks ago. Slow and steady.

Lyadeia

Right now my leg press is at 225 pounds. I do 3 sets of between 8-12 reps.

When I was a total beginner in the gym, I worked with it to find my beginning weight for a few minutes starting out around 60 pounds and finally deciding on 170. Most women vastly underestimate their strength, especially in the legs. I've seen women do upwards of 20 or more reps on this low weight because they think that a bazillion reps with light weight will "tone" their muscles and anything heavier will make them like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's pretty sad, really, the misconceptions a lot of women have concerning weight training.

katherines2230

Right now I'm at 180-200. So you are no freak!

armadillolabrat

I do four sets of leg press between 6-12 reps with heaviest set most recently being 315. Hoping to work my way up to 350. It's my one of my favorite exercises so far although my trainer prefers more emphasis on squats and lunges. The weight you are doing seems fine.

withchaco

The seat adjustment in this particular machine lets you focus on different parts of your lower body, and I'm trying to work on my glutes because they're my weakness. When I'm focusing on my glutes, I can only go up to 180lbs/ 8 reps and it shows... my butt is totally flat! I am jealous of all of you who can go so heavy. Hopefully I can get there soon!

Valtishia

Awesome!! Thank you everyone!! You guys made me feel so much better knowing there are lots of women who do it I knew I could count on the wonderful MFPers YOU guys rock!!!