# Leg press and hip pain



## DeMello (Jul 13, 2006)

I have been following the Max-Ot program for 6 weeks now. I have made some great gains. Very impressed. I have been getting a sharp pain on my front upper leg after going heavy on the leg press. I seems to be worse after sitting. When I get up it pops a little and then feels fine. It is very annoying. It's like a sharp nerve type pain. Does anyone else have this?? Is my for wrong?? What could I be doing different? I usually start off with squats so I know I am warmed up.


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## CowPimp (Jul 13, 2006)

Don't do anything that causes pain for a little while.  You don't have to leg press...


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## PWGriffin (Jul 14, 2006)

DeMello said:
			
		

> I have been following the Max-Ot program for 6 weeks now. I have made some great gains. Very impressed. I have been getting a sharp pain on my front upper leg after going heavy on the leg press. I seems to be worse after sitting. When I get up it pops a little and then feels fine. It is very annoying. It's like a sharp nerve type pain. Does anyone else have this?? Is my for wrong?? What could I be doing different? I usually start off with squats so I know I am warmed up.




Don't leg press....besides....it's not a really good exercise anyway.  I've read that when you bring your legs in deep it lifts your lower back off the pad, rounding it (not good)  And with all the weight that most people use ( I was using 1200lbs at one time) coming down and holding ur breath even slightly at the bottom builds a TREMENDOUS amount of pressure.  After reading that I remember the feeling of my face almost exploding.  heh...

S Q U A T S


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## DeMello (Jul 14, 2006)

Maybe I'll substitute lunges for the press machine. I was just trying to stick to the Max-OT training. No more leg press.

1,200 lbs my goodness man!!!!!!!!!


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## PWGriffin (Jul 14, 2006)

heh, yeah....I was about 30 pounds heavier than I am now...the goal was to stack out the leg press and have my trainer riding it on top...that would've been the coolest heh...

But don't be impressed....it's all an illusion of strength...I'm prolly average at best.


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## Mudge (Jul 14, 2006)

PWGriffin said:
			
		

> Don't leg press....besides....it's not a really good exercise anyway.  I've read that when you bring your legs in deep it lifts your lower back off the pad, rounding it (not good)  And with all the weight that most people use ( I was using 1200lbs at one time) coming down and holding ur breath even slightly at the bottom builds a TREMENDOUS amount of pressure.  After reading that I remember the feeling of my face almost exploding.  heh...



You have read this? You dont need to crush your chest doing leg presses. If you dont know how to breathe properly doing leg presses then you dont know how to breathe properly on any movement. Do you do bicep curls until a plate leaves a mark in your delt because you are trying to go further than you need? I hope not.

The leg press is an excellent movement, and I have used near 1400 pounds for 25 repetitions with no problems at all. My face didn't explode, my knees are fine, and I keep my ass in the seat with no problems.


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## mike456 (Jul 14, 2006)

If it brings you pain don't do it, there are a shitload of better exercise options out there anyway.


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## PWGriffin (Jul 14, 2006)

Mudge said:
			
		

> You have read this? You dont need to crush your chest doing leg presses. If you dont know how to breathe properly doing leg presses then you dont know how to breathe properly on any movement. Do you do bicep curls until a plate leaves a mark in your delt because you are trying to go further than you need? I hope not.
> 
> The leg press is an excellent movement, and I have used near 1400 pounds for 25 repetitions with no problems at all. My face didn't explode, my knees are fine, and I keep my ass in the seat with no problems.




Why we hate it:
1.  It's a completely nonfunctional movement.  It's hard to think of a real-life action in which your back is anchored and you push out with your feet to move an object.
2.  It's sneakily dangerous.  Once your hips come off the pad, you're puting your lower back in jeopardy, according to Stuart McGill in his book _Low Back Disorders_
3.  It's too damned easy.  Bodybuilders love this exercise because they can load up the machine with half the plates in the gym.  (it's not unusual, in a hard-core gym, to see guys leg-pressing more than 1,000 pounds for reps).  But if any of these guys could squat even half of that, I'd be surprised.  So you get the worst of several worlds: You get to lift a whole lot of weight without actually accomplishing anything.
4.  Most guys will hold their breath as they're lowering the weights, which, given the fact your legs are coming up toward your chest, almost certainly means you're creating an off-the-charts surge in blood pressure.



That's an excerpt from "the new rules of lifting"  by lou schuler and alwyn cosgrove.  It starts by saying that ideally, you start and end each rep with your knees at 90 degrees...but in reality most lifters go deeper, causing their hips to come up off the pad, rounding the lower back....

McGill suggests that if you have lower back problems that prevent just doing squats (which are much more beneficial anyway) to just do uni-lateral leg presses...that apparently keeps the back from rounding and takes a great deal of pressure out of the lift...



And about breathing properly during any lift...I have always exhaled at the end of the concentric phase...so during a leg press...I should be inhaling as I bring the weight down to my chest right??  That's what I did....and I felt a lot of pressure....perhaps I am breathing improperly...please educate me.


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## Mudge (Jul 14, 2006)

PWGriffin said:
			
		

> Why we hate it:
> 1.  It's a completely nonfunctional movement.  It's hard to think of a real-life action in which your back is anchored and you push out with your feet to move an object.



I did it just this monday, guess I'm the oddball here. Then again I'm not afraid to use my body to get the job done, thats what I'm built for.


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## CowPimp (Jul 14, 2006)

I just wanted to say that I second unilateral leg presses as a good option.  Honestly, I never even took into consideration the added prevention of lower back rounding, but from a practicality standpoint you don't have to spend 10 minutes of your workout loading and unloading the damned plates.


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## PWGriffin (Jul 15, 2006)

Mudge said:
			
		

> Then again I'm not afraid to use my body to get the job done, thats what I'm built for.



Hell I did em for 98.5% of my lifting career.  That's just what I read.  I think there are other better exercises though...

But what is that statement supposed to mean??  I don't understand what you're trying to say here.


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## Mudge (Jul 15, 2006)

Because some other people in my company would have said fuck it, get someone else to do it.

I can move good weight around, so I have no problem doing so.


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## DeMello (Jul 16, 2006)

What's a unilateral leg press?????


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## shiznit2169 (Jul 16, 2006)

DeMello said:
			
		

> What's a unilateral leg press?????



It's the same thing as a leg press but you are pressing with one leg. Hence the prefix "uni" which means one.


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## Duncans Donuts (Jul 16, 2006)

I think leg presses are way safer than squats...you're right, at 90 degrees most people will have enough flexibility to not curl their glutes and hips, keeping the disc pressure minimal.  If you do them right they're fine.


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## CowPimp (Jul 16, 2006)

Duncans Donuts said:
			
		

> I think leg presses are way safer than squats...you're right, at 90 degrees most people will have enough flexibility to not curl their glutes and hips, keeping the disc pressure minimal.  If you do them right they're fine.



There's something about the leg press that just doesn't feel as rewarding as a squat though.  Also, I think front squats are a safer squat alternative if you still want to do some heavy squatting.


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