leg press sled

**rangers97** · 14-Jun-05, 11:21 AM

Does anyone know what the leg press sled weighs? Like if I put 420 lbs of weight on it (what I did on my last leg day), what am I actually pushing, obviously the sled weighs something. I know there are different types, but how about the one where you can add plates to the top of the machine as well, I've seen that kind in pretty much every gym I've been in...

and before anyone says anything about it, YES I squat!!! LEg press is my secondary exercise

rookie · 14-Jun-05, 11:40 AM

i dont think it weighs much, if you put no weight on you could probably kick it to the point where i t cant go anymore. with the angle its at and what not i think its probly under 10lbs.

rbuchman · 15-Jun-05, 11:04 AM

make your best estimate without any wieght then add a little wieght to get a good feel, do this with your hands if you want.

Leg presses wieghts are a relative number. The wieght doesn't really translate to a different type i.e. within the last month on 4 different styles of machine I did 505, 970, 1015 and 1300, so I really wouldn't worry about how much the sled wieghs since you can only compare that value to someone lifting on the exact same machine.

What really sucks is the gym I go to (World's pretty serious since they have 150 lb dumbells) only has one spindle/side on the sled leg press which limits the wieght to 720, I rigged it by adding a olympic bar on top (competely stable) but got yelled at b/c "the machine is not made to take that much" when I've seen the exact same model with 2 spindles a side and one on top and it has the bolt holes for more.

**rangers97** · 15-Jun-05, 12:26 PM

wow, you found a world gym with 150 lb dumbbells?? thats great cause the one i used to go to only went up to 100. They had only one leg press machine, 1 squat rack and one power rack. needless to say a lot of almost arguments/fights broke out between me and the 135 lb teenagers doing 60lb barbell curls in the squat rack...whatever i dont go there anymore...

you are right about every machine being different i guess. It's just funny how some exercises you always add in the bar cause you know what it weighs, ie bench press, squats, etc...when I say I bench 275, that is including the bar, but when you leg press if you say 275, that means 275 lbs of plates plus the sled...same thing with a t-bar row...the apparatus itself has to weigh something, but if you say you did 180 on it, that means 180 in plates plus the machine so you are doing more without knowing it

gcs118 · 15-Jun-05, 12:46 PM

For machines it's generally considered they weigh "nothing" for the sake of numbers I guess. I mean even if you use a cable stack, you don't calculate the resistance and then add that to the weight you have it set at. It's really negligible...and people will always understand you mean plates + machine/sled weight.

rbuchman · 15-Jun-05, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangers97

needless to say a lot of almost arguments/fights broke out between me and the 135 lb teenagers doing 60lb barbell curls in the squat rack...whatever i dont go there anymore...

I hear that, squats shrugs and only when it's empty bench (so you don't need a spot) are the ONLY things a squat rack should be used for. I hate it when someone is to lazy to lift a 65 lb curl and wonder why I don't just deadlift a 500 lb shrug.

**rangers97** · 15-Jun-05, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbuchman

I hear that, squats shrugs and only when it's empty bench (so you don't need a spot) are the ONLY things a squat rack should be used for. I hate it when someone is to lazy to lift a 65 lb curl and wonder why I don't just deadlift a 500 lb shrug.

I will even go so far as to say that its ok to do curls in the squat rack IF:
a. the gym isn't crowded
b. you are doing more weight than the pre-made curl bars hold

almost every single gym has the premade bars that usually go up to 100 or 110 lbs. If you fall under 110lbs, use the damn curl bar! Of course if you need to curl over that, then maybe it can be an exception. I myself have on occasion used the squat rack recently for curls, but I am doing 115lbs and my gym only goes up to 105 on the premades. Of course if it looks like it is busy, I will go to one of the million bench press benches and take the bar off of that and use that.

it is sorry to see the state of lifting in a lot of gyms where they pay double or sometimes even triple the attention to bench pressing as opposed to legs. My gym has 5 regular bench press benches, 3 incline bench presses, 2 decline benches, 3 bench press machines, 2 plate loaded incline machines. But it has 2 squat racks, 2 leg presses, 1 leg extension, 1 leg curl and 2 calf machines. Oh not to mention they have at least 3 preacher curl machines!!! PREACHER CURLS!! more than squat racks!!! I don't get it....very sad