Leg press weight: is what you load what you push?

What changes the force you push

• Sled angle. On an angled sled, only part of the plates' weight acts along the rails. The steeper the rails, the larger that part: it follows the sine of the angle. A flat sled would take almost none of it, a vertical one all of it.
• The sled itself. The empty sled already pushes back before you add a single plate. Manufacturers call it the starting resistance or starting weight, and it adds to every plate you load.
• Pulleys and ratios. On a selectorized leg press the pin picks a stack weight, but cables and pulleys can multiply or divide it before it reaches the footplate. The same number on two machines can feel very different.
• Cams and levers. A cam or a lever arm changes the resistance through the movement, so the force at the start, the middle and the end of a rep is not the same.
• Friction. Bearings and seals add a little while you push and take a little away while you lower. That is why our estimates come with an error band, not a single value.

An angled sled, drawn

What the empty sled weighs, brand by brand

This is the starting resistance (or starting weight, or carriage weight) of every plate-loaded leg press in our catalog whose manufacturer publishes it, quoted word for word with the link and the date we read it. It is already there before your first plate.

Plate-loaded starting weight by brand

No data yet Plate-loaded leg presses whose manufacturer does not publish a starting resistance (no data yet):

Cybex Plate Loaded Leg PressExigo Dual 45 Degree Leg PressExigo Plate Loaded 2.0 45 Degree Leg PressExigo Plate Loaded 2.0 Lever Leg PressExigo Vertical Leg Pressgym80 Pure Kraft 45 Degrees Linear Leg Pressgym80 Pure Kraft Seated Leg Press DualHoist Fitness Dual Action Leg PressNautilus (commercial) Angled Leg Press ProPrime Fitness Leg PressWatson Gym Equipment Plate Loaded Animal Leg Press

One machine worked out: plates added versus force along the rails

Hammer Strength Plate Loaded Linear Leg Press Estimate computed

For this machine we have a mechanical model built only from sourced inputs: the rail angle and the starting resistance from the manufacturer's page, and a bearing friction range from an engineering reference. The table gives the estimated force along the rails, mid-movement, for some plate loads.

F = SR + P·sin(θ) ± μ·(SR·cot θ + P·cos θ)

Read a row as: plates added, then the force along the rails with the sled included. The force is higher than the plates at light loads because the sled is added, and each extra plate counts for less than its label because of the angle. It is an estimate, not a measurement: each row shows its method, its error band and its derivation.

See every row on the machine pageDerivation & sourcesMechanical models

How every figure is labelled

MachineConvert never invents a number. Each figure carries one of three levels, with its source link and the date it was read:

Measured

Read on the machine itself with a force gauge, following the measurement protocol, with a proof (continuous video or photos) and the date.

Manufacturer

Quoted word for word from the manufacturer's official page or document, in the units printed there, with the link and the date it was read. A stack weight says what the plates weigh, not what you feel at the handle.

Estimated

Computed from a mechanical model of the machine (lever, cam or pulley) built from sourced inputs. Each estimate shows its method, its error band and a derivation page, and is marked as not verified by measurement.

MethodologyData rules

Compare two leg presses

The comparator only converts a load between two machines that both have a force curve, measured with a gauge or estimated from a model. Otherwise it answers "No data yet" rather than guessing. Pick your leg press below to see what we know about it.

Open the comparator

Leg press machines in the catalog

Arsenal Strength Reloaded Bilateral Leg PressArsenal Strength Reloaded Linear Leg PressArsenal Strength Reloaded Vertical Leg PressCybex Eagle NX Leg PressCybex Plate Loaded Leg PressCybex Prestige Strength VRS Leg PressExigo Dual 45 Degree Leg PressExigo Plate Loaded 2.0 45 Degree Leg PressExigo Plate Loaded 2.0 Lever Leg PressExigo Recumbent Leg PressExigo Seated Leg PressExigo Vertical Leg Pressgym80 Dual Leg Pressgym80 Pure Kraft 45 Degrees Linear Leg Pressgym80 Pure Kraft Seated Leg Press Dualgym80 Seated Leg PressHammer Strength Plate Loaded Linear Leg PressHammer Strength Select Seated Leg PressHoist Fitness Dual Action Leg PressHoist Fitness Leg PressLife Fitness Axiom Series Leg PressLife Fitness Insignia Series Arc Leg PressLife Fitness Plate Loaded Linear Leg PressMatrix Fitness Aura Leg PressMatrix Fitness Magnum 45-degree Leg PressNautilus (commercial) Angled Leg PressNautilus (commercial) Angled Leg Press ProNautilus (commercial) Impact Seated Leg PressNautilus (commercial) Inspiration Leg PressPanatta Leg Press 45°Precor Angled Leg PressPrecor Leg PressPrime Fitness Leg PressTechnogym Artis Leg PressTechnogym Biostrength Leg PressTechnogym Pure Strength Linear Leg PressTechnogym Selection 700 Leg PressTechnogym Selection 900 Leg PressWatson Gym Equipment Plate Loaded Animal Leg PressWatson Gym Equipment Single Stack Leg Press

Related guides

Technogym weight stacks: Selection, Artis, Pure Strength and moreLife Fitness weight stacks: Insignia, Axiom and plate-loaded machinesHammer Strength starting weight and weight stacks: every catalogued machineIs a hundred kilos on a leg press really a hundred kilos?Panatta starting weight: what every catalogued machine weighs emptyWatson Gym Equipment weight stacks: chest press, leg press, lat pulldown and morePlate-loaded machine starting weight by brand: what the empty machine weighsHow to convert machine weight between gyms and brandsPlate-loaded vs selectorized machines: why the numbers differChest press weight stacks by brand: Technogym vs Life Fitness vs Hammer Strength