This morning I was working out at the gym, and I saw a woman doing leg presses. The weight was fairly low and she did not seem to be exerting herself too much, which is fine. What caught my attention, though, was that after she got done doing the leg press, she switched to moving the leg press machine with her ankles and calves, which generally is also fine. The strange (and stupid) thing was how she switched into the second exercise of her superset.
She had her hands behind her head the entire time (think situps), and looked nice and relaxed. She had the weights at their highest point with her legs extended in the press. The supports were not engaged. She then shuffled her feet down so that she could perform the calf presses.
This strikes me as not too swift and rather dangerous. If the weight were a bit heavier and she were a bit tireder, then she could easily have lost control of the weight stack to have it come crashing down on her.
She seemed to be fine and had no troubles, so thankfully nothing untoward happened. In general, however, I need to recommend against doing something that stupid. I really think that the extra 10 seconds to engage the stack on the supports and then push them up again with your feet repositioned are 10 seconds well worth taking.
What are your thoughts? Am I off base, or is she as stupid (or ignorant) as I think that she was? Have you seen anything similar at your gym?
I’ve never actually used a leg press machine. Does the sled travel the full distance if the safety catch is not engaged? Or is there actually something else stopping it?
I’d imagine they’re designed with a minimum height in mind, but as I said, I’ve never used one.
One of my how to articles was on the leg press where you can see the motion of the type she was using. There are also versions where the platform stays still and the seat moves, from the seated variety.
Basically, the leg press platform rests on a couple of stops that keeps it at about mid-way through the move. After loading up the weight, you push the platform to the top, release the safety bars, and then bring the platform down. The platform won’t go all the way to the seat, obviously, but if you are hopping your feet around and lose control, it will come down far enough to hurt you.