The leg press machine can look very fixed and uncreative to a beginner. But an advanced lifter knows that by placing your feet in different positions to get more or less activation of certain muscle groups can alter the movement a lot. Each foot placement on the leg press has its own unique advantages and disadvantages and it’s time you learn about them.
The 5 leg press foot placement variations are:
- Middle of the Platform Placement (Regular Stance): Works quads, glutes, hamstrings
- High Foot Placement: Works glutes, hamstrings
- Low Foot Placement: Works quads, calves
- Narrow Stance: Works quads
- Wide Stance: Works glutes, hamstrings, abductors
Unfortunately, lifters often fail to select the correct foot placement required to place emphasis on certain muscle groups. In turn, the result is poor technique, less effective training, unimpressive results, and (possibly) a higher risk of injury.
To avoid these critical mistakes with your leg press feet placements, continue reading and make sure to select the appropriate foot placement based on what muscle groups you wish to target.
Table of Contents
What is the Best Leg Press Foot Placement?
The best foot position on the leg press depends on the muscle you want to focus on and, to a lesser extent, the goals you want to hit.
- Want to target your quads? Keep your feet narrow and lower on the platform.
- Want to target your glutes? Keep your feet wider and higher on the platform.
- Want to hit your hamstrings? Keep your feet wider and higher on the platform.
- Want to hit your calves? Keep your feet lower on the platform. Read below to target the calves with the leg press.
- Want to hit your adductors? Turn your toes out.
- Want to hit your abductors? Turn your toes in.
Your adductor (inner thigh) and abductor (outer thigh) muscles are often neglected but can be hit more easily with different feet placement on the leg press. Excessively turning your toes out like a sumo stance will help target the adductors more, whereas turning the toes inward like you are pigeon-toed will hit the abductors more.
If you need help focusing on other overlooked muscle groups, you may need to look into changing your foot angle. You can learn how to maximize the leg press to hit the glutes more effectively simply by changing how your feet are angled on the platform rather than changing their whole position.
Muscles Used In The Leg Press
The muscles used in the leg press are:
• Quadriceps
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Calves
Before attempting to emphasize one muscle group over another, it’s important to understand how your muscles work during the leg press.
In order to push the carriage back to the top (this is after lowering it towards you), a couple of things have to happen.
First, your knees must extend (straighten) to return the carriage to the starting position. This action is almost entirely handled by your quadriceps, but your calves help out a little bit.
Second, your hips must extend to reverse the hip flexion (bending) that occurs when the platform is lowered toward you. Your glutes and some of your hamstrings are recruited to make this happen.
Remember that with the leg press, there are certain muscle groups that you can target more (or less) by altering your foot position on the leg press and stance width on the platform — let’s get into those right now.
Related Article: 8 Best Leg Exercises That Don't Use Hamstrings
The 5 Leg Press Foot Placements
Let’s now discuss the 5 feet placements in more detail!
| REGULAR | FEET HIGH | FEET LOW | FEET NARROW | FEET WIDE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stance | Feet on the middle of platform, shoulder-width apart | Feet high up on platform, shoulder-width apart | Feet low on platform, shoulder-width apart | Feet on the middle of platform, hip-width apart | Feet on the middle of platform, 1.5x shoulder-width |
| Muscles Worked | Quads, glutes, hamstrings | Glutes, hamstrings | Quads, calves | Quads | Glutes, hamstrings, abductors |
| Pros | Suitable for most lifters and skill levels | Posterior chain is emphasized | Targets quads to a high degree | More weight can be lifted | Excellent glute emphasis |
| Cons | Doesn’t isolate one muscle over another | Leaves out most of quad recruitment | Posterior chain is neglected | Limits the range of motion of movement | Requires high flexibility in adductors (inner thighs) |
1. Regular Stance
The regular foot stance places your feet in the middle of the platform, about shoulder-width apart.
Target Muscles
This stance primarily targets your quadriceps, with an additional focus on your glutes and hamstrings.
How To Do It
- Step inside the leg press and place your feet directly in the middle of the platform
- Feet should be shoulder-width apart or slightly outside shoulder-width apart
- Toes should be slightly flared out in this stance
- As you perform reps, go as deep as possible while keeping your feet flat on the platform
- Ankles should not start to lift
Pro Tip
In order to maximize the strength and hypertrophy development of your quads and glutes, you’ll want to take your reps as deep as possible. Don’t sacrifice range of motion for load.
Drawback
A study by Worrell and colleagues (2001) has shown that the glutes are recruited the most during end-range hip extension (when your hip joint is straight). During the leg press, your hip joints are still at a reasonably flexed angle when you lockout each rep.
For this reason, the leg press probably isn’t the best exercise if you’re looking to hammer your glutes and hamstrings. Instead, choose a deadlift variation. In fact, a hip thrust variation would be most preferable because your glutes will be contracting maximally at the top against the load of the barbell.
Open up my 9 Best Barbell Hip Thrust Alternatives (With Pictures) article in a separate tab, so you can truly activate (and build) your glutes!
2. Low Foot Placement On Platform
This stance places your feet low on the platform, about shoulder-width apart.
Target Muscles
While the leg press already targets your quads, this stance will hit them even harder by allowing your knees to travel further beyond your toes.
How To Do It
- Step inside the leg press and place your feet low on the platform with your heels almost hanging off the bottom
- Feet should be shoulder-width apart or slightly outside shoulder-width apart
- Toes should be slightly flared out in this stance
- As you perform reps, go as deep as possible while keeping your feet flat on the platform
- If you can’t go all the way down without your heels coming up, reduce your range of motion slightly or put on some squat shoes
Pro Tip
Allowing your knees to travel further in front of your toes will require more ankle flexibility than you might be used to.
In this case, it’s acceptable to use a squat shoe with a high heel. This is encouraged as it will achieve the knees-forward position you’re seeking without spending extra time mobilizing your ankles.
Check out my related article on how far your knees should bend forward while squatting.
Drawback
In order for your quads to be targeted more with this stance, you’ll need sufficient ankle mobility. Without this, you won’t be able to get deep enough to recruit your quads maximally.
If you’re struggling with stiff ankles and don’t have a pair of squat shoes, spend more time going through ankle mobilization drills during your warm-up.
Here’s a short, practical video on how to improve your ankle mobility
To find out where your overall warm up routine falls short, read my definitive guide on How To Warm Up.
3. High Foot Placement On Platform
This stance places your feet high up on the platform about shoulder-width apart.
Target Muscles
While the leg press works your glutes and hamstrings already, this stance is where the feet should be on the leg press for the glutes as it requires additional hip extension.
How To Do It
- Step inside the leg press and place your feet high on the platform with your toes almost hanging off the top edge
- Feet should be shoulder-width apart or slightly outside shoulder-width apart
- Toes should be slightly flared out in this stance
- As you perform reps, go as deep as possible while keeping your feet flat on the platform
- Ensure your lower back doesn’t raise completely off the backrest, and reduce your range of motion if this happens
Pro Tip
Adjusting your foot placement certainly assists in shifting the focus to your posterior chain, but you can also use mental cues to pinpoint the muscles you’re trying to target.
During this leg press variation, focus on “pushing through your heels” or think about keeping the weight “heavy in your heels”. Repeating these cues in your mind as you’re doing the exercise will reinforce the idea that your knees shouldn’t travel forward very much — keeping the emphasis on your glutes and hamstrings.
Check out my article on How To Leg Press Using Your Glutes More.
Drawback
While this stance will target your glutes and hamstrings more, it might also work more on your lumbar (lower back) muscles than usual.
This happens because there’s more hip extension occurring, which means that your hip joints are also experiencing more hip flexion (bending) than with the regular stance.
If you have a sensitive lower back or currently have a low back injury, this might not be the best foot placement to use.
My article Is It Okay To Deadlift With a Round Back? addresses the deadlift, but it’s also relevant for any exercise where back rounding might occur (like in the leg press). Check it out next!
4. Narrow Stance
This stance places your feet in the middle of the platform but only about hip-width apart.
Target Muscles
While the leg press already emphasizes your quadriceps, this stance will increase the focus on them.
How To Do It
- Step inside the leg press and place your feet in the middle of the platform
- Feet should be only hip-width apart or slightly outside hip-width apart
- Toes should be slightly flared out in this stance
- As you perform reps, go as deep as possible while keeping your feet flat on the platform
- Try to descend until your thighs make light contact with your stomach on each rep
Pro Tip
Having a narrow stance will inherently limit the range of motion for this exercise since your thighs will likely make contact against your stomach at the bottom.
However, this allows heavier weights to be used. Because of this, don’t hesitate in adding more weight to the leg press carriage.
Check out my article comparing the differences between the leg press vs squat.
Drawback
Athletes who have limited hip and ankle mobility might have serious challenges with this foot placement style.
You either might find your heels rising from the platform or your knees caving. Both of these positions should be avoided at all costs.
Due to the amount of internal rotation (rotating inwards) present, those with immobile hips may need to switch to a different stance variation.
If you also find that your knees are caving in while using this stance, learn how to eliminate this inefficiency for good in my How To Fix Knee Valgus During Squat (7 Tips) article.
5. Wide Stance
This stance places your feet wide out on the platform, well beyond shoulder-width apart.
Target Muscles
Although the leg press already hits your glutes and hamstrings, this stance will recruit them significantly more.
How To Do It
- Step inside the leg press and place your feet in the middle of the platform
- Feet should be about 1.5x your shoulder-width apart, with your feet almost starting to hang off the platform
- Toes should be significantly flared out in this stance, up to 45 degrees outwards
- As you perform reps, use your inner thigh flexibility as your gauge to determine when to stop your reps, as this will vary widely
- Over time, strive to get the tops of your thighs perpendicular to the floor (this would be parallel to the floor if you were performing a squat)
Related Article 9 Best Leg Exercises That Don’t Use Glutes
Pro Tip
With this wide foot placement variation, ensure that you’re driving your knees outwards. This is especially important in the ascending phase, as it helps you maintain an efficient leg press technique.
Allowing your knees to cave inwards puts you at a mechanical disadvantage because the force you’re pushing into the platform is no longer aligned directly with your knees — leading to a slight (but noticeable) loss of power.
Drawback
A downside to the wide stance foot placement is that it necessitates considerable inner thigh muscle flexibility. These primary muscles in the groin area are the adductors; if they’re inflexible, you’ll have difficulty keeping your knees out at the bottom of the leg press.
In addition, lifters with an adductor injury or inner thigh muscles are prone to strains and might want to select a different foot placement for the leg press to reduce injury risk.
Need to improve your adductor flexibility or strength? You can improve both at the same time using the Cossack Squat; read my Definitive Guide on it here.
Who Should Use the Leg Press and Why?
If you want to maximize your lower body development by strengthening your quads and glutes, then you are someone who should use the leg press. Now, you might think, “why not just do a squat?” That’s a valid question, and I would tell you to opt for a squat if you can.
However, there are benefits to a leg press that can complement a squat or, if needed, take the place of a squat. People with back injuries know all too well that a squat takes a lot from them, so a leg press is a huge help as it takes the strain off the back and allows the legs to get max usage.
For athletes like powerlifters, weightlifting doesn’t mean racking up as high a weight as possible all the time. Oftentimes it means strengthening certain movement patterns, getting comfortable with difficult positions, or working a certain muscle group without overloading another group that is exhausted and needs rest. The leg press machine does that for powerlifters as they can load their legs without fear of overtraining their spine (a real concern when constantly lifting max weights) and thus continue to keep their legs strong.
If you are a powerlifter and interested in how to use the leg press for your training, here is an extensive article detailing when, why, and how you should use a leg press.
Alternatives to the Leg Press
There are several exercises that can be good alternatives to the leg press, depending on your fitness goals and equipment availability. Here are a few options:
- Back Squats: Squats are one of the most effective exercises for building lower body strength and can be done with just your body weight, a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebells. They work the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core.
- Lunges: Lunges are another great exercise for targeting the lower body muscles. They can be done with bodyweight, dumbbells, or a barbell. Lunges work the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core.
- Step-ups: Step-ups are a simple but effective exercise that can be done with just a bench or step. They work the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Deadlifts: Deadlifts are a compound exercise that work the entire posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. They can be done with a barbell or dumbbells.
- Bulgarian split squats: This exercise targets the glutes, quads, and hamstrings and can be done with just your body weight or dumbbells.
It's important to note that the best alternative to the leg press will depend on your specific fitness goals and physical abilities. Consult with a certified personal trainer or fitness professional to determine which exercises are best for you.
You’ll find more awesome lower body variations to target your quads and posterior chain in my 9 Best Leg Press Alternatives (With Pictures) article.
What’s The Best Leg Press Foot Placement for Calves?
Though it’s a bit unorthodox, using the leg press machine to train calves is effective, simple, and an easy workaround if your gym lacks calf raise machines.
- Standing with legs straight and feet low on the platform, you can get a great calf workout from the leg press machine.
- You will need to keep the balls of your feet on the platform and let your heels hang off so that you can push your heels as far down and up as possible.
This is an important discussion with the hack squat machine as well. Hack squat foot placements have their own benefits and must be smartly incorporated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you target your quads on a leg press?
A leg press machine with normal foot placement will target your quads naturally. If you want an even greater quad focus, narrow your stance and place your feet low on the platform so that your knees travel far over your toes. Make sure to hit full range of motion with the exercise so that your quads also fully stretch out.
How do you target your hamstrings on a leg press?
To target your hamstrings on a leg press, you must place your feet high and wide on the platform. Some people go so far as to have the toes hanging off the platform but keep the heels on. If you want to hit the hamstrings hard, you can do a single-leg leg press.
Do you push with heels or toes on leg press?
You should push with both the heels and the toes when you leg press. As long as you focus on a standard leg press movement with a normal stance, you should push with the whole foot. However, you can get away with having the toes or heels hang off the platform, but only if you know WHY you are doing it.
Does pointing your feet inwards target the outer quads?
Yes, pointing your feet inwards targets the outer quads better than a normal stance. However, committing to this change in foot angle does not isolate the outer quad as the quads are several leg muscles working together. If you want maximum emphasis on the outer quad, make sure to narrow your stance as well.
Final Thoughts
The best seated leg press feet placement variation for you is largely based on what muscle groups you want to target.
- Want an all-round, powerful stance? Use the regular stance.
- Need to focus on your quads? Pick the narrow stance or place your feet low on the platform.
- Prefer to focus on your glutes and hamstrings at the same time? Put your feet high up on the platform.
- Looking to isolate your glutes? Select the wide stance.
Regardless, make sure to remember that foot positioning for leg press does matter. It is crucial to getting the most out of your workout and to prevent injury from poor stances.
Want to learn how the leg press compared with the hack squat? Check out my article on the Hack Squat vs Leg Press.
What To Read Next:
- Hip Dominant vs Knee Dominant Exercises (Simple Guide)
- Do Powerlifters Do Leg Press? (Yes, Here’s Why)
- Hack Squat Foot Placement: 5 Stances Explained
About The Author
Kent Nilson is an online strength coach, residing in Calgary (AB). When he’s not training, coaching, or volunteering on the platform at powerlifting meets, you’ll likely find Kent drinking coffee or enjoying his next Eggs Benedict.Connect with him onFacebookorInstagram.
