No, leg press is a completely different animal - and even different between leg press machines depending on the leverages/gearing/pulleys going on. I probably wouldn't try to max out a leg press anyhow, just seems a recipe for injury if done incorrectly. 3x8 is probably good. When I was in college we did some unilateral work on the leg press machine, now that is tough!
Yeah, each of the leg press machines I've used at work gyms over the years has felt different. Heck, even the leg press machine I used as a teenager in our swim team lifting program was really just a plate holder, while all the ones I've used since then have had weight stacks, in addition to feeling different from one to the other.
I lift three times a week, one day focused on heavy lower body with bodyweight core exercises, one day a mix of progressive lower body or progressive upper body (I alternate by week) and cardio, and one day that's heavy upper body with bodyweight core exercises.
Speaking of the leg press machine, I don't have any room for growth on it. On my max days, I do both sets of 3x8 on the machine's max of 480, and on the progressive days I stick with 1x8 at 440, 1x8 at 460, and 1x8 at 480.
I've done some unilateral stuff in the past, but due to my jacked up left knee, I have to cut way down on weight if I'm doing any weight-added unilateral stuff that's not in the controlled movement range of a machine.
I haven't done any research on lifting. I just default back to the same exercises that I did in our lifting program from my teenage swimming days, making some substitutions for the closest machine approximation to free weight exercises I used to do that I don't have access to anymore. I'm sure lifting science has changed in the 15+ years since I lifted back in the day, but it worked for me then and seems to be working for me now! :D
No, leg press is a completely different animal - and even different between leg press machines depending on the leverages/gearing/pulleys going on. I probably wouldn't try to max out a leg press anyhow, just seems a recipe for injury if done incorrectly. 3x8 is probably good. When I was in college we did some unilateral work on the leg press machine, now that is tough!
Yeah, each of the leg press machines I've used at work gyms over the years has felt different. Heck, even the leg press machine I used as a teenager in our swim team lifting program was really just a plate holder, while all the ones I've used since then have had weight stacks, in addition to feeling different from one to the other.
I lift three times a week, one day focused on heavy lower body with bodyweight core exercises, one day a mix of progressive lower body or progressive upper body (I alternate by week) and cardio, and one day that's heavy upper body with bodyweight core exercises.
Speaking of the leg press machine, I don't have any room for growth on it. On my max days, I do both sets of 3x8 on the machine's max of 480, and on the progressive days I stick with 1x8 at 440, 1x8 at 460, and 1x8 at 480.
I've done some unilateral stuff in the past, but due to my jacked up left knee, I have to cut way down on weight if I'm doing any weight-added unilateral stuff that's not in the controlled movement range of a machine.
I haven't done any research on lifting. I just default back to the same exercises that I did in our lifting program from my teenage swimming days, making some substitutions for the closest machine approximation to free weight exercises I used to do that I don't have access to anymore. I'm sure lifting science has changed in the 15+ years since I lifted back in the day, but it worked for me then and seems to be working for me now! :D
