Quads and glutesMachineBeginner

How to Do a Single-Leg Press

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

ยท Updated Nov 11, 2026

A single-leg press is a leg press done one leg at a time. Put one foot in the middle of the platform, in line with your hip, and lower until your knee passes 90 degrees, stopping before your hip curls off the pad. It trains the quads, glutes and adductors of each leg on their own. Most lifters do 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per leg.

Sets x reps 3 x 8-12 per leg
Median 10-rep weight, per leg 14565 lbkg men 9040 lbkg women
Muscles Quads, glutes, adductors
Foot Mid-platform, in line with your hip
Video 1 of 3
Technique

How to do a single-leg press

  1. Load less than you think you need, and set the safety stops just below the bottom of your rep if they adjust. Sit with your back and hips flat on the pad.
  2. Put both feet on the platform, press it up an inch and release the safety handles.
  3. Move your working foot to the middle of the platform, in line with your hip, toes turned out slightly. Take the other foot off and rest it on the frame or the floor.
  4. Lower over 2 seconds with your knee tracking over your toes, until your knee passes 90 degrees or just before your hip starts to curl off the pad.
  5. Drive through your whole foot until your leg is almost straight. After the last rep, put both feet back on the platform and lock the sled before you switch legs.
Setup

Single leg press foot placement

In line with your hipThe defaultMid-platform, under your hip rather than in the center. The sled pushes straight up your leg and your knee tracks over your toes.
Foot lowMore quadsYour knee bends further at the same depth. Move up if your heel lifts.
Foot highMore glutesYour hip bends more and your knee less. The hamstrings hardly change.
Toes turned outSame musclesFoot angle changed neither muscle activity nor knee forces on the leg press. Turn out only as far as is comfortable.

No study has tested foot placement on the single-leg press, so these come from two-leg presses. Low feet drew more quad activity and high feet more glute activity in heavy sets (Da Silva 2008). Foot angle changed nothing, and foot height did not change the forces on the knee (Escamilla 2001). Start in the middle, then move your foot lower for quads as far as your heel stays flat.

Range of motion

How deep to go on a single-leg press

Lower until your knee passes 90 degrees, and stop the moment your hip starts to curl up off the pad, whichever comes first.

You do not need extreme depth for the quads. In 23 trained lifters, single-leg presses to about 100 degrees of knee bend grew the quads as much as presses as deep as each lifter could go, over 8 weeks of 4 sets to failure twice a week (Larsen 2025). Deeper reps do more for the glutes and adductors, which grew 2 to 3 times as much from full squats as from half squats (Kubo 2019).

Hip lifting off the pad

Stop an inch higher, or move your foot a little wider so your thigh passes beside your ribs instead of into them. Past that point your pelvis tucks under and your lower back rounds while it holds the sled.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you single-leg press?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 145 lb (65 kg) per leg for 10 reps on the single-leg press, and the median woman 90 lb (40 kg).

Men, typical 145 lb per leg for 10 reps
Most lift
95 to 200 lb
Top 10% lift
265 lb or more
Starting out
under 95 lb
Women, typical 90 lb per leg for 10 reps
Most lift
60 to 130 lb
Top 10% lift
180 lb or more
Starting out
under 60 lb
Men, typical 65 kg per leg for 10 reps
Most lift
42.5 to 90 kg
Top 10% lift
120 kg or more
Starting out
under 42.5 kg
Women, typical 40 kg per leg for 10 reps
Most lift
27.5 to 60 kg
Top 10% lift
82.5 kg or more
Starting out
under 27.5 kg
PercentileMenWomen
25th125 / 95 lb80 / 60 lb
Median190 / 145 lb120 / 90 lb
75th265 / 200 lb175 / 130 lb
90th355 / 265 lb240 / 180 lb
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, per leg, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 5,150 men and 2,130 women who log the single-leg press on Gravitus, computed Nov 5, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
PercentileMenWomen
25th57.5 / 42.5 kg37.5 / 27.5 kg
Median87.5 / 65 kg55 / 40 kg
75th120 / 90 kg80 / 60 kg
90th162.5 / 120 kg107.5 / 82.5 kg
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, per leg, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 5,150 men and 2,130 women who log the single-leg press on Gravitus, computed Nov 5, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
These are one-leg weights, as lifters log them. Single-Leg Press pools every machine: a 45 degree sled, a seated stack and a horizontal press all load differently, and on a sled most lifters log the plates without the sled. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine, one leg against the other.
One leg vs two

Single-leg press weight vs your two-leg press

Do not just halve your two-leg number. In a leg press study, two legs pressing together lifted about 12% less than the two legs' one-leg maxes added up (Magnus 2008). That gap shrinks with practice: untrained people showed it and trained weightlifters showed the opposite (Howard 1991). Strength follows what you train, so one-leg training raises one-leg strength most and two-leg training two-leg strength most (Kassiano 2025).

On a plate-loaded sled the sled counts too. One leg pushes the whole sled, so if you log only the plates, your one-leg number looks smaller than the work it is.

For your first session, try about a third of your usual two-leg plates on each leg, then let the reps decide. Log each leg as its own weight, and never double it to compare.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

QuadricepsStraighten the knee. Single-leg presses grew the quads of trained lifters in 8 weeks, at both depths tested (Larsen 2025).
Primary
GlutesExtend the hip. They work harder with your foot higher (Da Silva 2008) and grow more from deeper reps (Kubo 2019).
Primary
AdductorsHelp extend the hip at the bottom, more with deeper reps.
Secondary
HamstringsHelp extend the hip a little. Squat training did not grow them (Kubo 2019).
Secondary
Glute mediusKeeps your working knee from drifting in, with no other leg to share the load.
Stabilizer
CalvesSteady the ankle as you push.
Stabilizer
Compare

Single-leg press vs leg press vs Bulgarian split squat

Single-leg pressLeg pressBulgarian split squat
Weight you logOne legBoth legsOne dumbbell per hand
Balance neededNoneNoneModerate
Shows a side gapYesNoYes
Load on the spineLittle, you sitLittle, you sitLow, weights at your sides
Best forEvening out sides, hard one-leg setsMost leg volume, fastestWhole leg plus balance
Verdict

Pick by goal, not by muscle growth. Over 10 weeks in untrained men, single-leg and two-leg leg press training raised the two-leg press the same, 14.7% and 13.4%, and the single-leg group gained more single-leg strength (Sato 2026). In adolescent rugby players, 5 weeks of single-leg presses raised the one-leg 5-rep max 20.2% against 12.4% for two-leg presses (Zhao 2023).

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3Sets per leg
8-12Reps
1-2Reps left

Stop each set 1 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021). In the trained-lifter study, 4 sets per leg to failure, twice a week, grew the quads in 8 weeks (Larsen 2025).

Start each round with your weaker leg and match its reps on the other side. Add reps first. When both legs reach 12 at the same depth, add 10 lb (5 kg) and go back to 8.

Form

Common mistakes

Variations

Single-leg press variations

Seated single-leg pressOne leg at a time on a weight stack you press from the bottom. Quick to switch legs and change weight.
Horizontal Leg PressSit upright and push the platform straight out, with one leg or two.
Leg press, both legsBoth feet on the sled. The most leg volume in the least time.
Seated Leg PressBoth legs on a weight stack. Its numbers do not compare with a sled.
Bulgarian Split SquatBack foot on a bench, one leg doing the work. Adds balance and needs only dumbbells.
Single-Leg ExtensionQuads alone, one leg at a time, with no hip movement.
FAQ

Questions people ask

Where should your foot be on a single leg press?

In the middle of the platform, in line with your hip, toes turned out slightly. Move it lower for more quads and higher for more glutes (Da Silva 2008). Foot angle does not change the muscles (Escamilla 2001).

What are the benefits of the single leg press?

Each leg does its own work, so a weaker side cannot hide behind the stronger one. It builds as much muscle as two-leg training (Kassiano 2025) and more single-leg strength (Sato 2026). Your back is supported and there is nothing to balance, so you can push each leg close to failure. If one leg is hurt, training the other makes the resting leg stronger too, by 16.4% on average in leg studies (Manca 2017).

Is the single leg press better than the leg press?

Not for muscle size. One-limb and two-limb training grew muscle the same (Kassiano 2025), and both raised the two-leg press the same in a 10-week trial (Sato 2026). Use one leg to see and close a gap between sides, two legs to get more work done.

Is single leg press weight per leg? Should I double it?

Log what one leg pushes and compare it only with your own one-leg log. Doubling it does not give your two-leg number: two legs together pressed about 12% less than two single legs added up in one study (Magnus 2008), and one leg pushes the whole sled.

How deep should you go on a single leg press?

Until your knee passes 90 degrees, stopping before your hip curls off the pad. In trained lifters, single-leg presses to about 100 degrees grew the quads as much as the deepest reps each could do (Larsen 2025).

What muscles does the single leg press work?

Mainly the quads and glutes of the working leg, with the adductors helping. The glute medius keeps your knee in line, and the other leg rests.

How much weight should I single-leg press?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 145 lb (65 kg) per leg for men and 90 lb (40 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 200 lb (90 kg) and 130 lb (60 kg) or more.

Gravitus See where your single-leg press ranks

Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, single-leg press included.

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References
  1. Da Silva et al. 2008. J Strength Cond Res 22(4):1059-1065.
  2. Escamilla et al. 2001. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(9):1552-1566.
  3. Larsen et al. 2025. J Sports Sci 43(10):986-994.
  4. Kubo et al. 2019. Eur J Appl Physiol 119(9):1933-1942.
  5. Magnus and Farthing 2008. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 33(6):1132-1139.
  6. Howard and Enoka 1991. J Appl Physiol 70(1):306-316.
  7. Kassiano et al. 2025. Sports Med 55(4):923-936.
  8. Sato et al. 2026. J Strength Cond Res 40(9):1035-1042.
  9. Zhao et al. 2023. J Hum Kinet 86:235-246.
  10. Manca et al. 2017. Eur J Appl Physiol 117(11):2335-2354.
  11. Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.