How Many Calories Are Burned Doing the Leg Press

Many people lift weights and perform resistance-based exercises because they know it can help them develop muscles around their bodies. However, many people do not know that these anaerobic exercises also burn calories, albeit not as much as their sibling aerobic exercises. On this note, this article will examine how many calories are burned doing the leg press exercise. 

The Leg Press

This is a great lower body builder and is one of the popular alternatives to the barbell squat as they engage the same muscles. The leg press machine recruits several lower body muscles, and you can employ them to develop your glutes, quadriceps, calves, and hamstrings. A unique benefit you can enjoy from the leg press is that the machine eliminates the stress a barbell creates on your back, making it easier on your back. Likewise, the leg press is a safer alternative to the barbell squat as it eliminates incidences of falling with the bar. I recommend the Rogue Iso Leg Press 35 if you prefer the leg press machine.

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The Leg Press Calories Burned Calculator

How Many Calories Do You Burn With the Leg Press?

Before getting into this, you should know that several factors determine how many calories you burn with the leg press. For example, your body weight, exercise intensity, and leg press weight affect how many calories you burn during the exercise. 

Within a 30-minute leg press session, you would lose around 90 calories as a 125-pound person. On the other hand, a 155-pound person would lose 112 calories, while a 185-pound person would run through 133 calories. 

However, no one spends 30 minutes on the leg press machine, so in determining how many calories are burned doing the leg press, you should consider this as you would only be burning a tiny part of these amounts. For example, you should be looking at burning 9 to 18.5 calories in three minutes, depending on your body weight. This calories burned doing the leg press

Because of how your body works, it does not stop burning calories when you complete your leg press program. This is because it continues to burn calories long after you complete your workout. This can help you burn more calories with the leg press, especially if it is intense. Furthermore, because muscles also burn calories by their mere existence, you also stand to lose more calories in the long run from all the muscles you have built through the leg press.

How to perform the leg press 

To perform the leg press, you have to first sit on the leg press machine. Your starting posture will see you seated at a decline position with your face close to the ground and your feet being much higher. The idea is to use your feet to push against the platform at the top of the machine. As you extend your leg, you push the platform away from you, working your legs in the process. After fully extending your legs, wait briefly before you return your legs to the starting position to prepare for the next rep. You may benefit from using shock-absorbing shoes for the leg press, and I recommend the Nike Romaleos 4 – Men's.

Average weight for the leg press

Much like how the number of calories you burn doing the leg press depends on various factors,  several factors also influence what weight you can press on a leg press machine. As a result, it is helpful to learn your limits with regard to these factors. When just trying out the exercise, the average weight for males is around 100 – 150 pounds. However, after gaining some time with the machine and you become an intermediate leg press user, the average leg press weight in that category switches to about 250 – 300 lbs. 

Furthermore, becoming an advanced lifter means your competition gets steeper, and the average increases. As a result, the level’s average weight is between 350 – 580 pounds. However, as an elite leg press user, your average weight climbs to about 700 – 800 lbs. 

For women, the average leg press weight starts at around 91 lbs for beginners before climbing about a hundred percent to 181 for novice leg press users. As a female intermediate leg press user, the average weight in that category hovers around 310 lbs. The average leg press weight for advanced and elite leg press users is 472 and 659 lbs, respectively. 

It is vital to know that various factors influence how much weight you can press, including how old you are, how much you weigh, your experience, muscle mass, and general fitness level.

Tips on improving your leg press

Rest well

Resting well is vital to any weight training program you do. Many studies have established a positive relationship between increased strength and muscle mass. As a result, as good rest is vital for your body to fix damaged muscles and build new ones, you require good and healthy sleeping patterns. Many experts suggest that you sleep about eight hours every day, so your body has sufficient time to fix your muscles. 

Remain consistent

Consistency is another necessary aspect of weightlifting. Your body will only adapt to new levels of stress you introduce to it if you consistently work it. However, as the body is primed to break down muscles if you are not using them – because muscles require a lot of energy to sustain, stopping your exercises for extended periods can see you lose the muscles and strength you have gained. 

Adopt an all-around leg training program

Most exercises can help you build overall strength across several muscles, as most exercises are compound exercises. That is, they engage multiple muscles. Because of this, you should incorporate other lower-body workouts in your weight training regime. This will eventually increase your leg strength and improve your efficiency and weight with the leg press.

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