Take inspiration from Vicky Kaushal: Add leg press to your fitness regime

Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal recently took to Instagram where he posted a video that showed him performing leg press exercise. Read on to know the many benefits of this workout.

By: Paras Hemrajani | Edited by: Paras Hemrajani | | Updated: November 29, 2019 3:55 pm

Leg press is one of the simplest exercises that you can perform in a gym. This is why people often over-do it and then suffer from cramps © Instagram/vicky kaushal

Come winters and you are bound to be tempted to give your gym a miss. To help you overcome your laziness, Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal, of ‘Masaan’ fame, recently posted a video on his Instagram handle where he is seen performing leg press with heavy weights. The actor is seen as a fitness inspiration for his previous transformation for the movie ‘Uri’.

HOW TO DO A LEG PRESS EXERCISE

Leg press is one of the simplest exercises that you can perform in a gym. This is why people often over-do it and then suffer from cramps. It is basically done to stimulate key leg muscles. Here is how you should perform it.

Sit in the leg press machine.
Place both your feet on the metal plate.
Place you back muscles on the padded support.
Bring the plate closer to your chest, folding your feet.
Add weight and push the plate forward with your legs.

There are five different ways of performing leg press exercise, depending on your stance. A basic stance is where the feet are placed at the center of the plate, with normal distance between them. A wide stance is where the feet are placed widely apart, and a narrow stance is one when your feet are closer to each other. A high feet stance is where the feet are placed higher on the plate and in low feet stance you place your feet on the bottom half of the plate. Depending on your stance, you will derive benefits of the exercise. Here are some of the health benefits of performing leg press.

BENEFITS OF LEG PRESS

Defined legs and a tight butt are always on any fitness goal list, maybe just below biceps and six-pack abs. There is no better exercise to perform than leg press when it comes to working your quads, glutes, calves and feet. Here are some of the benefits of leg press exercise.

Helpful in warming up

Starting your day with leg press is the best thing you can do for your quads, glutes, calves and feet muscles. Warming up different muscles will help you get ready for specific exercises that you have planned for the day. Make sure you don’t over-exercise as that would empty your energy bag.

Improve performance in other exercises

Leg muscles are almost always involved in any exercise and doing leg press strengthens these leg muscles. This, in turn, will help in breaking plateaus in other movements like squat exercise.

Leg press improves your running speed

Regular leg press routine strengthens the power and endurance of your legs, which helps in improving running speed. It also helps you jump higher and improves landing stability. Strong leg muscles are better equipped to handle shocks caused by landing, running or external injuries.

Reduces injury risk

Hamstring and groin sprain are perhaps the most common sports injury an athlete has to face. By strengthening your leg muscles, you are reducing your injury risk and improving your performance, especially in contact sports like football and basketball.

Published : November 29, 2019 12:54 pm | Updated:November 29, 2019 3:55 pm

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