REPS

The design of the leg press has some major flaws, but many of the flaws can be corrected by adding bands to the lift. The advantage of using bands with the leg press is that they accommodate resistance. This means after you have lowered the load and you reverse the direction and begin to push the load out of the hole, the bands continually provide more tension as the sled nears the top of the lift. Most people in the gym will generally perform partials on the leg press due to the fact that if the load is heavy at the top of the lift, then it will generally be too heavy in the hole. As most of you know, the leg press is generally set at a 45 degree angle + or - 3 degrees depending on the brand of the leg press. The 45 degree angle allows many to train with a higher load than they would on the squat due to the way gravity acts on the sled versus the squat bar. Since gravity is pushing vertically straight down on the weight and since the sled is at a 45 degree angle this greatly reduces the load placed on the quadriceps. For example, if you had 1000 pounds on a 45 degree leg press it only correlates to 707 pounds vertically. You can arrive at this by the following equation: (Sin 45) (1000lbs) =707lbs. Secondly, since the angle is at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 degree angle the speed of descent is also reduced! A simple analogy of this would be that of a roller coaster! Anyone who has ever ridden on a roller coaster knows that in a 90 degree free fall (first picture) the speed of descent is much higher than at a 45 degree downgrade (second picture).

The speed at which gravity pushes the weight makes a great difference on the degree of soreness as well as the total muscle fiber trauma on the eccentric range of the lift! In the squat, gravity pushes directly downward on the load with a very high speed of decent, while with the leg press the speed of decent is less due to the 45 degree angle. When adding bands to the leg press it allows faster eccentric speeds to be reached due to the fact that the bands do not fall at the speed of gravity like normal free weights. Exercise that use bands actually travel at a faster speed than gravity on the lowering portion of the lift! With the addition of bands the load on the leg press is not only pushed downward by gravity, but it is also thrown down by the band tension! Remember a given load on a leg press merely falls in relation to gravity and its degree of incline. A band does not contract at the speed of gravity, but it is actually pulled together faster! Due to the added speed of decent that the bands create the lifter must increasingly try harder to reduce the speed of decent. This is why I commonly hold a hand up if needed to brace my knee in the hole in order to prevent the likely hood of injuring my self. Since both the concentric and eccentric portions of the lift are more difficult due to the addition of bands it is important to realize that the intensity and magnitude of the lift increases dramatically and thus the total volume of work must be reduced form previous sessions. Bands should also not be used for more than 6 consecutive workout as they are tough on joints!

Many superior strength coaches have overcome the short falls of the leg press by inventing their own superior designs. These variations of the original leg press use gravity to overcome the existing faults of the leg press. Many of these machines go by the name of Plyo Swings due to improved design features.

Vladimir Zatsiorsky was the first individual I know of that implement the Plyo Swing in Olympic caliber athletes. Under Zatsiorsky's reign the Russian athletes won numerous Olympic medals during multiple Olympic Cycles or Games before he defected and relocated to the United States. In recent years, Louie Simmons and West Side Barbell Club have had tremendous success using the Plyo Swing with over 15 power lifters that have totaled over 2500lbs.

As far as the load is concerned, the easiest way to determine the load at the top and bottom portion of the lift is to add one band to an unloaded sled and use a scale to determine how much tension the band adds in the top and bottom portion of the lifts. This can be seen in the pictures below.

To increase band tension at the top and bottom you can either add more bands or use a single or double choke when attaching the band to the leg press machine. In this picture a singe choke or loop is used to attach the bands to the leg press. A double choke would use two loops to attach one band thus resulting in a shortened band and more band tension.

Thanks for looking,

Eddie

REPS

I use these band and they are the cheapest and are made in China:

Iron Woody Fitness Bands Flex Bands Stretch Bands Order Page



Jump Stretch makes these one and are used by the WestSide guys.

Elite Fitness Systems[/QUOTE]

Extremistpullup

Good Idea.

I live in a new neighborhood where they cut out the curbs for new houses. I was thinking if I bought a leg press I would get a few concrete curbs and load them on top of the sled.

Kevsworld

I've never thought of using band w/leg press. I'll try it some time.