Smith Machine Leg Press

What it is

This compound movement provides a stable platform for you to press weight with your lower body while lying face up. It primarily strengthens your quadriceps, with significant engagement from your glutes, hamstrings, and calves.

Technique tips

• Place your feet shoulder-width apart in the middle of the bar.
• Drive through your heels and the balls of your feet.
• Extend your legs fully, but avoid locking your knees.
• Lower the bar slowly, bringing your knees toward your chest.
• Exhale as you press the weight up, inhale on the descent.
• Maintain a controlled tempo throughout the entire movement.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.