Liftworthy
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Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

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Explore/Quads

Leg Press

MachineCompoundEasy to learn
Front
Back
Primary Secondary

Works

Quads, Glutes

Also adductors

You need

Leg press

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
Platform
1Start
Platform
2Bottom
Main musclesAlso working
  1. 1Feet shoulder width, mid platform
  2. 2Lower until your knees come toward your chest
  3. 3Keep your lower back on the pad

Most common mistake

Huge weight, tiny range.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Ranked #3 for cycling
  • Easy to keep adding weight
  • Carries straight over to cycling

Compare with

vs Belt Squatvs Safety Bar Squatvs Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat
A
For cycling
#3 of 16
See the full list →
Research
79
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 791 study
TransferExcellent
Injury protectionGood
PracticalityStrong

Heavy leg strength work has the strongest evidence for better cycling economy and performance.

  • Rønnestad & Mujika, 2014 · Review: Heavy or explosive strength training improves running economy; for cycling, the strongest evidence is for heavy strength training. (Narrative review.)

Research behind these criteria

  • Transfer: Seitz et al., 2014 · Markovic, 2007 · Blagrove et al., 2018 · Rønnestad & Mujika, 2014
  • Injury protection: Lauersen et al., 2014 · van Dyk et al., 2019 · Harøy et al., 2019 · Webster & Hewett, 2018
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

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  • AStep-UpDumbbell
  • AHack SquatMachine

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