If you follow the requirements and don’t use too much weight, there is basically no problem. Just pay attention to the following points:
Although squats and deadlifts are good for training legs, method, but the machine leg press still has its irreplaceable role, because the machine leg press allows you to bear a greater load without having to maintain stability on your own. For those who lack protection and require leg training, this may be the best solution. Good gospel.
But what mistakes should we try to avoid when doing machine leg presses?
1. Squat too deep
When you cannot completely control all the weight with your legs, although your back is supported by the backrest during the squat, if you If you squat too deep, your lumbar spine is weak. When you cannot lift the weight with the strength of your legs, your buttocks will inevitably leave the chair surface. At this time, your lumbar spine will be in danger
< p>So we usually use the bottom point of the squat without leaving the chair surface when lifting weights, so as to ensure the training effect and the safety of the lumbar spine. You can squat deeper but you shouldn't squat that deep.2. Squatting too shallowly
Within the range of squatting, some people squat too deep and some people squat too shallowly. If it is too deep, there is a risk of injury, and if it is too shallow, it can reach The stimulation effect is less than ideal. This is the same as when we do squats. If you only complete a quarter of the whole process, then the muscles involved in the work will inevitably not fully contract and stretch. This is inconsistent with our good development of muscles. Contradictory.
So when squatting, we can neither squat too deep nor squat too shallow. To what extent? Generally, the knee joint is about 90°, and the thigh is parallel to the pedal surface. That’s it when.
3. When squatting, the feet are not completely on the pedals
This is a very common mistake. Many people will leave the pedals with their heels when they squat, but Whatever the reason, you should be aware that if your heels are too high, too much weight will be concentrated on your knees, and excessive knee shear forces will cause discomfort and even pain to your knees.
Generally speaking, improving the mobility of the ankle joint, finding a suitable foothold, and using a reasonable weight will prevent your heels from leaving the pedals, thereby preventing knee injuries.
4. Knee pinching
This is a typical increase in the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury of the knee joint. "Knee pinching" is usually caused by the outer joint of our hip joint. It is caused by weak abductor muscles, especially the weakness of the gluteus medius, so in order to avoid this situation, we usually need to do more leg abduction exercises with elastic bands and posterior chain exercises, such as deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts and Single-leg deadlifts, etc., during exercise, put a ring resistance band on the knee of the leg and maintain the tension of the elastic band, which will help remind and improve the "knee pinching situation"
5. Internal and external horoscopes The position of your feet
If you are not sincere about the dog leash, it is a bad habit developed by your usual walking or sitting posture. You may have heard that in terms of leg extension and leg curling, Turning your feet inward or outward can help you direct stimulation to emphasize the quadriceps or hamstrings respectively. But in this case, if it is used in one action, it may not be applicable in another action.
Leg extensions and curls are open-chain exercises, meaning your feet are not anchored to a solid surface. However, when you do machine leg presses, which are a closed-chain movement, your feet are immobilized, and overturning your feet can put pressure on your knees. For most people, the best starting position is shoulder-width apart and turned slightly outward so that there is only a slight adjustment in foot position.
Of course, there are ways you can still use foot position to transfer targeted muscles from one area of ??the thigh to another. The low foot position focuses more effectively on the quadriceps because there is less hip extension and greater knee flexion, while the high foot position hits the glutes and hamstrings better because there is more hip extension and less knee flexion.
6. Knee locks
Whether it is the knee joint or the elbow joint, we always exercise strength during training and the joints do not lock, because once the joints lock, the muscles will The tension will disappear, which is inconsistent with us stimulating the muscles and making them grow well. In the exercise of machine leg press, we usually keep the knee joint at an angle of about 10° when the legs are extended to ensure the stimulation effect.
These errors are not limited to machine leg press movements. Many leg trainings have the above errors. I hope everyone can doubt and detect them in real time in future leg training. Insufficiencies and movement risks during movements to avoid reducing the effectiveness of training and causing injuries.
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The above advice is not alarmist. If the weight used is small, its own "emergency" means will keep you safe. Once the weight exceeds your own "emergency" capability, it is no exaggeration to describe it as the Sword of Damocles.