QuadsMachineBeginner

How to Do a Seated Leg Press

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A seated leg press is a leg machine where you sit with your back on a pad and press a platform away with your feet. Set the seat so your knees bend to 90 degrees or more, put your feet shoulder-width in the middle and press. It mainly trains the quads. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 10-15
Median 10-rep weight 255115 lbkg men 16575 lbkg women
Muscles Quads, glutes, adductors
Setup Seat set so knees bend 90 degrees or more
Seated Leg Press bottom and top positions
  1. 1Bottom. Every rep starts here. The seat is set so your knees bend to 90 degrees or more with the plates resting, back flat on the pad.
  2. 2Top. Press through your whole foot until your legs are almost straight, then let the stack back down without touching the plates.
Watch 2 video demonstrations
Video 1 of 2
Technique

How to do a seated leg press

  1. Sit down, put your feet on the platform and move the seat until your knees bend to at least 90 degrees with the plates resting. Your lower back should stay flat on the pad.
  2. Place your feet shoulder-width apart in the middle of the platform, toes turned out slightly, and hold the side handles.
  3. Press through your whole foot until your legs are almost straight. On a stack machine the first rep starts from this bottom position; there is nothing to unrack.
  4. Stop just short of locking your knees, then let the platform come back over 2 seconds.
  5. Stop each rep just before the plates touch the stack and press again. Set the weight down only after the last rep.
Setup

Seated leg press foot placement

Feet lowMore quadsYour knees bend further at the same seat setting. Move up if your heels lift.
Feet highMore glutesYour hips bend more and your knees less. The hamstrings hardly change.
Feet wide, toes outSame quads, more roomA comfort choice if your hips pinch at the bottom. Quad work stays the same.
Feet narrowNot the outer quadA narrow stance does not target the outer thigh. Keep it only if it feels better.

Foot height is the setting that changes the muscles. Low feet drew more quad activity and high feet more glute activity in heavy sets (Da Silva 2008), and foot height did not change the forces on the knee (Escamilla 2001). Turning the toes out changed nothing in that study, and neither stance width nor toe angle changed muscle activity on an inclined press (Martín-Fuentes 2022). Start shoulder-width in the middle, then move your feet lower for quads as far as your heels stay flat.

Seat setup

How to set the seat, and how deep to go

On a seated leg press the seat sets your depth. Where the plates rest is the bottom of every rep, so moving the seat closer makes each rep deeper and moving it back makes it shallower.

Set it so your knees bend to at least 90 degrees and your lower back stays on the pad. That is enough for the quads: in trained lifters, single-leg presses to 100 degrees of knee bend grew the quads as much as presses as deep as each lifter could go (Larsen 2025). Going deeper helps the glutes and adductors, which grew more from full squats than half squats (Kubo 2019).

If the backrest adjusts, try both ends. On an inclined press, a more reclined back (125 degrees between seat and backrest) drew more outer quad activity than an upright one at 90 degrees, and glute activity did not change (Marchetti 2023).

Back lifting off the pad

Your seat is too close. At the bottom your hips run out of room and your pelvis tucks under. Move the seat back one notch, or move your feet a little lower.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you seated leg press?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 255 lb (115 kg) for 10 reps on the seated leg press, and the median woman 165 lb (75 kg).

Men, typical 255 lb for 10 reps
Most lift
200 to 320 lb
Top 10% lift
395 lb or more
Starting out
under 200 lb
Women, typical 165 lb for 10 reps
Most lift
120 to 220 lb
Top 10% lift
265 lb or more
Starting out
under 120 lb
Men, typical 115 kg for 10 reps
Most lift
90 to 145 kg
Top 10% lift
180 kg or more
Starting out
under 90 kg
Women, typical 75 kg for 10 reps
Most lift
55 to 100 kg
Top 10% lift
120 kg or more
Starting out
under 55 kg
PercentileMenWomen
25th265 / 200 lb160 / 120 lb
Median340 / 255 lb220 / 165 lb
75th425 / 320 lb295 / 220 lb
90th530 / 395 lb355 / 265 lb
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 4,880 men and 2,425 women who log the seated leg press on Gravitus, computed Oct 14, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
PercentileMenWomen
25th120 / 90 kg72.5 / 55 kg
Median155 / 115 kg100 / 75 kg
75th192.5 / 145 kg132.5 / 100 kg
90th240 / 180 kg160 / 120 kg
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 4,880 men and 2,425 women who log the seated leg press on Gravitus, computed Oct 14, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Seated leg press numbers do not compare with a 45 degree sled or between brands. A stack runs through cables, cams or levers that change how heavy each plate feels, while a 45 degree sled counts sled and plates you only push about 71% of. Depth changes the number too: pushing force at 30 degrees of knee bend was more than three times the force at 100 degrees (Hahn 2011). Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine and seat notch.
Anatomy

Muscles worked

QuadricepsStraighten the knee. The vastus lateralis and medialis are the most active leg press muscles, and their activity rises as the knee bends (Martín-Fuentes 2020).
Primary
GlutesExtend the hip. They work harder with your feet higher and the seat closer.
Secondary
AdductorsHelp extend the hip at the bottom. They grow more with deeper reps (Kubo 2019).
Secondary
HamstringsSteady the knee and hip. The squat drew about twice the hamstring activity of the leg press (Escamilla 1998).
Stabilizer
Calves and coreHold the ankles and trunk steady. The back pad does most of the trunk work.
Stabilizer
Compare

Seated leg press vs 45 degree leg press vs hack squat

Seated leg press45 degree leg pressHack squat
Loaded withWeight stackPlates on a sledPlates on a sled
First rep startsAt the bottom, pressingAt the top, loweringAt the top, lowering
Depth set bySeat positionHow far you lowerHow far you lower
Best forBeginners, fast weight changesHeaviest loads, most volumeDeep quad work
Verdict

No study has compared them head to head, so pick the one you can set up well and load. The seated press is not a lighter workout: 5 sets of 10 on a horizontal press tired the quads as much as Smith machine squats (Kotikangas 2025). Its numbers do not carry over to a sled.

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets
10-15Reps
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), so pick a range where you keep the same seat notch and depth.

Add reps first. When every set reaches 15 clean reps, move the pin down one or two plates and go back to 10. Keep the seat notch the same, or the new number means nothing.

Form

Common mistakes

Variations

Seated leg press variations

Single-leg pressOne leg at a time on the same machine. Over 8 weeks it raised single-leg strength 23% vs 14% for two-leg training, with the same gain in the two-leg press (Sato 2026).
45 degree leg pressThe plate-loaded sled. You unrack at the top and lower first.
Hack SquatStand on an angled sled with your back on the pad. Easy to go deep.
Calf press on the seated leg pressBalls of the feet on the bottom edge, knees straight, push with your ankles.
Leg ExtensionQuads alone, with no hip movement.
FAQ

Questions people ask

Is there a difference between seated leg press and regular leg press?

Yes. A seated leg press usually runs on a weight stack and starts each set from the bottom, with the seat setting your depth. A regular 45 degree leg press is a plate-loaded sled you unrack at the top and lower first. Both mainly train the quads.

Is seated leg press harder than normal leg press?

Not in effort; lifters just log lower numbers on it. A 45 degree sled only resists with about 71% of the sled and plates, while a stack's feel depends on its cables and cams. Compare your logs on each machine, not across them.

Is it better to put your feet higher or lower on leg press?

Lower for quads, higher for glutes. Low feet drew more quad activity and high feet more glute activity (Da Silva 2008). Go as low as your heels stay flat.

Do seated leg presses grow glutes?

Some, not as a main muscle. Put your feet higher and set the seat closer so your hips bend deeply. Deeper reps grew the glutes more than shallow ones in squat training (Kubo 2019).

Is seated leg press a compound exercise?

Yes. It bends and straightens both the hips and the knees, so the quads, glutes and adductors all work.

How much should I be able to horizontal leg press?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 255 lb (115 kg) for men and 165 lb (75 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 320 lb (145 kg) and 220 lb (100 kg) or more.

Gravitus See where your seated leg press ranks

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

Get Gravitus
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. Escamilla et al. 1998. Med Sci Sports Exerc 30(4):556-569.
  4. Martín-Fuentes et al. 2022. Sports Health 14(3):317-327.
  5. Martín-Fuentes et al. 2020. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(13):4626.
  6. Larsen et al. 2025. J Sports Sci 43(10):986-994.
  7. Kubo et al. 2019. Eur J Appl Physiol 119(9):1933-1942.
  8. Marchetti et al. 2023. J Strength Cond Res 37(10):e541-e545.
  9. Hahn 2011. J Strength Cond Res 25(6):1622-1631.
  10. Kotikangas et al. 2025. Eur J Appl Physiol 125(10):2921-2938.
  11. Sato et al. 2026. J Strength Cond Res 40(9):1035-1042.
  12. Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.