Quinn8it

Ok... Here we go.. I guess I'll take the bait...

Actually I don't hate Leg Press- and I'm not as religiously devoted to Starting Strength as you might think.
I have done a bunch of leg-press, both single and double... I also recomend leg press to certain people who ask me for training advice- admittedly people who I worry won't take the time to learn to squat correctly- but it's a decent way to train legs- and it's not a Smith Machine- which I do hate.

That said- here are my issues with Leg Press.

1) the 2 fixed surfaces, at the foot and at the back, forces the machines plane of movement with no allowances for size or other morphological differences. This is the main fault with all "machines" and it's no different on the LP. The fixed plane causes potential joint injuries and does not bring in stabilizing muscles. The squat is a very natural movement.

2)the LP is amazing at accomplishing its goal of isolating the major muscles of the leg. Almost too good! The nature of the movement, the fact that little or no other supporting muscles are necessary, puts the lifter in a position of being able to add lots of weight. This can really stress the knee and hips, especially as you get into heavy load situations where form may slip- and injuries can happen. On the other hand- a back squat requires that you be able to mount the load on your shoulder, pick it up, walk backwards with it and keep it in place while you execute the reps, and then walk it back into the J-cups... It takes a lot of development to do that- and that makes your whole body stronger in the process- it also keeps your weight range in check.

3)the tendancy when doing LP, and iirc especially when doing the 1 leg version, is that the knee has to take a weird line out in order to get enough travel on the sled. This tends to put a heavy emphasis on the Hip Joint- as it's a highly unnatural movement, especially for cyclist.. I don't want hip issues.. Maybe that's just me.

4) people have trouble not throwing the weight at the top. Somewhere out there someone said Cyclist should lift "explosively" and that translated to throwing the sled in a way that it either loses contact with the feet, or just unweights- the impact that follows is horrible for the knees and likely the ankles and hips as well.

At the end of the day- the LP is a short cut a lot of people (not everyone) want to take, because it takes Zero technical Skill and allows them to get to a place where they are pushing big loads. Ask people about their gym day and you'll hear about the insane number of 45lb plates they loaded on the Leg Press- as far as I can tell, anyone with a pulse needs 5-7 plates on each side to get a workout... It's more impressive than squatting 225 with just 4 45's on the bar.. It also takes less skill and yields less dividends..

Contrary to what a lot of you might think- I am a fairly conservative lifter. I take small incremental jumps in weight, I reset to reinforce form and allow extra adaption often- I rarely miss a squat, or put myself in a position where I could get injured. I believe in playing the long game with weights- I like being brutally strong and appreciate the patience and attention it takes to get there, and I plan on being strong and lifting weights forever.