Single-Leg Press
குவாட்ரிசெப்ஸ்
What moves the load, and what it costs
3.5MET
Quadriceps is the prime mover, with the glutes, hamstrings assisting. Finds side-to-side differences that the two-legged version hides, and lets you train around a niggle on one side.
Cue: Centre one foot on the platform and press without letting the hips rotate.
ஆதாரம்·2024 பெரியவர்களுக்கான உடற்செயல்பாடுகளின் தொகுப்பு·FILED UNDER WEIGHTS, 8–15 REPS·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files single-leg press under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 3.5, 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 single-leg press is filed under Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance.
- Take the category's MET value — 3.5. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 3.5 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 Single-Leg Press: 3.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal/min
ஆதாரம்·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| QuadricepsRectus femoris and the three vasti | Prime mover | 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. |
| Glutesகுளூட்டியஸ் மேக்சிமஸ், மீடியஸ் மற்றும் மினிமஸ் | துணை / நிலைப்படுத்தும் தசை | இடுப்பை நீட்டுகிறது (மேக்சிமஸ்), மேலும் அதை விலக்கி நிலைப்படுத்துகிறது (மீடியஸ் மற்றும் மினிமஸ்). உடலின் மிகவும் வலிமையான ஒற்றைத் தசைக் குழு. |
| HamstringsBiceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus | துணை / நிலைப்படுத்தும் தசை | Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully. |
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. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · SQUAT
- Sit with your back and hips flat against the pad — no gap at the lower back.
- Place the feet shoulder-width on the platform, mid-foot and heel loaded.
- Centre one foot on the platform and press without letting the hips rotate.
- Release the safeties and lower the platform under control until the knees reach about 90 degrees, or as deep as you can go without the hips curling off the pad.
- Press back out without snapping the knees into a hard lock.
- Keep the hands off the knees and on the handles.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Letting the lower back round off the pad at the bottom.
That is the injury mechanism on this machine, and it is entirely avoidable — stop the range where the hips stay down.
Slamming into lockout.
Leave a few degrees of bend at the top and keep the tension on the legs.
Loading it with every plate in the gym because the number is big.
The leg press flatters everyone. Use a range and a tempo you would be happy to be filmed doing.
Regress it, or progress it
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 compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | ஓய்வு | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 வினாடி | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 வினாடி | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 நிமிடம் | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
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: Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance — 3.5 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 3.5 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 4.29 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.
ஆதாரம்·2024 பெரியவர்களுக்கான உடற்செயல்பாடுகளின் தொகுப்பு·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 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 at all to hand: Broad 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 single-leg press work?
Single-Leg Press is a compound movement in which the quadriceps is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, hamstrings. 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 single-leg press good for beginners?
ஆம். இந்தத் தளத்தில் தொழில்நுட்பச் சிரமத்திற்கு இதற்கு 5 இல் 2 மதிப்பீடு — ஒன்று அல்லது இரண்டு அமர்வுகளில் கற்றுக்கொள்ளக்கூடியது; தவறாகச் செய்தாலும் காயத்தின் அபாயம் குறைவு. மிகக் குறைந்த நியாயமான சுமையுடனும், 8–10 என இரண்டு அல்லது மூன்று செட்களுடனும் தொடங்குங்கள்.
What can I do instead of the single-leg press at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the broad 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 single-leg press should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, 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 single-leg press 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 ஆதாரங்கள் 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.
ஆதாரம்·வெளியிடப்பட்ட உடற்பயிற்சிக் குறிப்புகள்·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
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