Leg press and hack squat machines
Pre-Covid at the gym, I would do a lot of barbell deadlifts and squats. My heaviest squat was 200lb for probably 3 reps (1.5x body weight).
I remember when I miss too many days at the gym, I would get restless leg syndrome and have a hard time falling asleep until I would isolate a leg muscle and tense it all up.
Then when Covid restrictions were lifted, I felt that squats and deadlifts just weren't loading my legs enough. But I'd be afraid of loading them too heavy. Even when I'd go lighter, like around body weight, squatting 10 to 15 reps for three or four sets would be really taxing on my cardio but not my legs. I already bike to the gym so I really don't need extra cardio especially on the squat when I might fall over.
That's when I decided to get on the leg press and leg curl machines. The leg curl and one of the leg press machines are cables to lift the weight. So whatever weight you've got pinned, that's the weight you are lifting.
But on the leg presses where you have to manually load up with barbell plates, the load you press is NOT the weight you load. You are pressing at an angle while the plates you are lifting are verticle. A little trigonometry would get you the actual load you are pressing. Something like 60 to 70% plus the carriage, slider or plaform. However, depending on the manufacturer and the model, the carriage, slider or platform on a leg press or hack squat may also have a significant weight you can't ignore. One google search comes up with a starting resistance of 60lb on the hack squat -which is the load on your legs at an angle. Another gives 80lb weight- which is the vertical load.
I know it seems nit picky but I want to be able to set a benchmark on my machine exercises to be confident when I return to my barbell squats. Let's say, if I can push 200 lb for 15 reps on a hack squat, I should be confident to squat around there for up to 8 to10 reps.
The other day, I squatted deep in the hacksquat with the empty carriage. It felt heavier than squatting with an empty bar. I'll progress by adding small weights but if I go too slowly, I won't be getting the stress my legs need to avoid the restless leg syndrome. I can continue with the leg press machines but there's an inherent danger of going too deep and too heavy eventually hurting my lower back.
Does anybody else go onto so much detail?