Dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, clubbells, cables, medicine balls and sledgehammers; these training tools are a must have for every person who is serious about getting fast results with strength, endurance, power and body composition. What about machines? Are they useful in the gym environment? Do they get you results like free weights?

How about I dissect this subject on machine training and explain why the leg press is one of the best machines to use for fast results with your physique.

There are 3 main reasons why we should use machines. Here they are as follows:

1) During a musculoskeletal rehab program

Lets say you have a football player who has just injured his rotator cuff in the shoulder. You would not expect him to move straight onto big lifting such as a bench press or military barbell press; or a dancer who has just slipped a disc in the lower back. Barbell squatting and deadlifitng would be out of the question also.

However machines can be a low risk alternative for muscle activation and movement in the joints. Yes, of course machines will not activate important stabilizers, as well as the core due to the fixed position. Lets face it, if they are a client, with a serious goal and you’re their coach, you need to start somewhere and progress. Machines give you that opportunity.

Note: If your going to deal with a client that has an injury or suffers pain, make sure your qualified to train that particular client.

2) To strengthen a structural imbalance

One of the biggest reasons that people plateau with gains in strength and size is that a particular muscle used during that lift is weak. For example, a client of mine may be lacking results in the bench press and through specific testing; I find out that the triceps are the weakest muscle, which causes a poor lockout at the top of the lift. My goal? Strengthen the triceps through isolation training; this may call for some machine work.

3) Body composition

One of the tricks of the trade I use for effective fat loss and body transformation is the lactic acid technique, which involves using both free weights and machines to bring about high lactic acid levels in the body. This brings me to the point why the leg press is one of the most effective machines to bring about fast fat loss.

Let me explain!

The quads (thigh muscle) and the glutes (bum muscle), are largest muscles in the body. When trained correctly they create a powerful fat burning and hormonal response. Growth hormone and testosterone are the primary anabolic and fat burning hormones stimulated during lower body training. The leg press can be used at the end of your lower body workouts to create this effective hormonal cascade that will bring about fast fat loss.

The best leg press finishers for fat loss  

Want to truly shock your body in fast fat loss! Try these two leg press routines at the end of the workout, but don’t expect to be walking for a while at the end of these!

6-12-25 drop set on the leg press

This finisher begins with selecting a weight that you can maximally do 6 reps on, (don’t expect it to be much by the end of your workout) bang out one set of the 6, then immediately drop the pins to a weight where you can complete 12 reps, a 20 kg drop in weight would be a safe number. Once you have a completed a set of 12, immediately drop the pins to a weight that you can complete 25 reps on! This is where it gets hard! Another 20 to 25 kg drop would be safe for the 25 reps.

Here is an example of how it should look:

  • Set 1-100 kg for 6 reps on a 4010 tempo

  • Drop your weight immediately!

  • Set 2-80 kg for 12 reps on a 3010 tempo

  • Drop your weight immediately!

  • Set 3-60 kg for 25 reps on a 2010 tempo

Complete 2-3 sets of this, see if you can walk!

2 minutes non stop on the leg press

Brutal and unforgiving for the beginner gym member, yet exciting and thrilling for the fitness freak! When done properly, expect fat loss and lower body growth.

2 minutes on the leg press is one of my favorite finishers on the lower body. Its simple! Choose a decent weight, not too heavy, not too light; you may have to play around at the start to see what you can cope with. Take your time and execute the leg press non stop for 2 minutes straight. Remember what I said, NON STOP! That means you cant stop, if you have to stop half way through the set, you either chose a weight to heavy or you are wimp who cant handle hard training!

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