Sled Push
quadriceps
What moves the load, and what it costs
4.3MET
Quadriceps is the prime mover, with the glutes, calves, abs assisting. All concentric work, which means it builds conditioning and leg drive with very little muscle soreness the next day.
Cue: Lean into the handles with straight arms and drive with short, powerful steps.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·सर्किट ट्रेनिंग या वर्गात नोंद·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files sled push under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 4.3, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so sled push is filed under सर्किट ट्रेनिंग, मध्यम श्रम.
- Take the category's MET value — 4.3. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 4.3 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Sled Push: 4.3 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 5.27 kcal/min
स्रोत·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Quadricepsरेक्टस फेमोरिस आणि तीन वास्टी | Prime mover | गुडघा सरळ करतो. रेक्टस फेमोरिस खुब्यावरूनही जातो आणि तो वाकवतो, त्यामुळे स्क्वॅटमध्ये त्यावर लेग एक्स्टेंशनपेक्षा वेगळ्या प्रकारे भार येतो. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius आणि minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | हिप ताणतो (maximus), आणि तो बाजूला नेतो व स्थिर ठेवतो (medius आणि minimus). शरीरातील सर्वात बलवान एकच स्नायुगट. |
| पोटऱ्याGastrocnemius and soleus | Synergist / stabiliser | पाऊल खाली नेतात (प्लांटरफ्लेक्शन). गॅस्ट्रोक्नेमिअस गुडघ्यावरूनही जातो, त्यामुळे पाय सरळ असताना तो सर्वाधिक काम करतो; गुडघा वाकलेला असताना सोलिअस ते काम घेतो. |
| AbsRectus abdominis | Synergist / stabiliser | धड पुढे वाकवतो आणि, त्याहून उपयुक्त म्हणजे, ते मागे ताणले जाण्यास विरोध करतो. क्रंच आणि प्लँक दोन्ही यावर भार देतात — पण वेगवेगळ्या प्रकारे. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Machine. Held for time, not counted in reps — the set ends when the position breaks, not when the clock does.
PATTERN · CARRY
- Set the handles in position — at the sides, in one hand, in the front rack or overhead, depending on the version.
- Stand tall: ribs down, shoulders back and down, trunk braced.
- Lean into the handles with straight arms and drive with short, powerful steps.
- Walk with short, deliberate steps, keeping the torso completely upright.
- Do not let the load swing or the body lean away from it.
- Set the weight down under control rather than dropping it.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Leaning away from a single-sided load.
The point of a one-sided carry is to stay vertical. If you are tipping, go lighter.
Long, rushed strides.
Short steps, tall posture, controlled pace.
Shrugging the shoulders up to the ears.
Keep them packed down and back.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Nothing on this site regresses it further: this is already near the entry point of its pattern. Take load off, shorten the range, or slow the tempo — in that order.
Progress — the next demand
इथल्या प्रगतीक्रमात हा सर्वात वरचा आहे. नवीन व्यायाम शोधायला जाण्याआधी वजन वाढवा, हालचालीची व्याप्ती वाढवा, गती कमी करा किंवा एका हाता-पायावर करा.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a held position is measured in seconds, and the set ends when the position breaks.
| Goal | Sets | Hold | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning the position | 2–3 | 15–20 sec | 45–60 sec | Stop the set when the position breaks, not when the timer does. |
| Building capacity | 3–4 | 30–45 sec | 60 sec | Add time before you add load, up to about a minute per set. |
| Strength (loaded) | 3–4 | 20–30 sec | 90 sec | Past a minute of easy holding, add resistance rather than more seconds. |
| Fat loss / circuits | 3–4 | 30–40 sec | 20–30 sec | Short rests keep the heart rate up; the position still has to hold. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: सर्किट ट्रेनिंग, मध्यम श्रम — 4.3 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 4.3 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 5.27 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Nothing here trains the same prime mover through the same pattern. Swap the pattern rather than the muscle, and accept the session will look different.
Nothing at all to hand: Squat Jump is the closest match — same prime mover, same pattern, no kit.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the sled push work?
Sled Push is an isometric hold in which the quadriceps is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, calves, abs. Straightens the knee. Rectus femoris also crosses the hip and flexes it, so it is loaded differently in a squat than in a leg extension.
Is the sled push good for beginners?
Yes. It rates 2 out of 5 for technical difficulty on this site — learnable in a session or two; low injury cost if it goes wrong. Start with the lightest sensible load and two or three sets of 30–40 sec.
What can I do instead of the sled push at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the squat jump, which trains the same prime mover through the same movement pattern. It will not load you as heavily, so use higher reps and slower tempo to make up the difference.
How many sets and reps of the sled push should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 30–45 sec with 60 sec rest. For strength, 2–3 sets of 15–20 sec with 45–60 sec rest. In your first month, 3–4 sets of 30–40 sec, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the sled push burn fat from the quadriceps?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the quadriceps builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
स्रोत·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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