Vertical Leg Press Machine

[Mike]

I'm thinking of buying a vertical leg press machine for my house and
was interested in other opinions. Anyone have thoughts on this one?

http://www.americanfitness.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1414



Mike

[TLN Phil]

Hey Mike.

A vertical leg press is a great compliment to a home gym if you have
the space to include one. You are hard-pressed (no pun intended) to
find one in commercial gyms any more. They started going extinct in
the late '80's--probably a combination of safety liability and the
fact that they are more challenging than the 45 degree horizontal leg
press (I love guys that brag about being able to leg press 1000
pounds, but can't squat their own body weight!).

I've always liked vertical leg presses and have one in my home gym.
They are good for leg presses, but I really love to use a vertical leg
press for calf raises. The squeeze and burn you can put on your
calves is worth every penny to owning one.

The model you provided a link for looks pretty good, but the angle
that it puts your neck in is not favorable. It will definitely put
undo stress on your neck, which should be neutral and more parallel to
the weight rack. It does not look like it, but if the neck pad is
adjustable, you could correct this issue.

I found another model on eBay that appears to offer better ergonomics:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Body-Solid-Power-Line-Vertical-Leg-Press-Squat-Station_W0QQitemZ160242129551QQihZ006QQcategoryZ28067QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A couple of things to be aware of with vertical leg presses:

1. I suggest covering the pin holes that you are not using on the
upright slider shafts. The hand grips (if provided) are not always
optimally placed make it way too easy to inadvertently have a finger
or skin from your hand pressed into these holes. Can you say
"guillotine'?

2. When not in use, always have the leg press in its lowest position
with pins out. Otherwise, you are asking for trouble (especially if
there is weight on the rack and you have small children running about
the house!)

3. You may need to lubricate the weight rack shafts with white grease
or silicon spray. My vertical leg press was not very smooth until I
performed this step.

Regards,

TLN Phil

[Mike]

Thanks for the great info, Phil. It's a big help!

On May 25, 12:51 pm, TLN Phil <tln.p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Mike.
>
> A vertical leg press is a great compliment to a home gym if you have
> the space to include one.  You are hard-pressed (no pun intended) to
> find one in commercial gyms any more.  They started going extinct in
> the late '80's--probably a combination of safety liability and the
> fact that they are more challenging than the 45 degree horizontal leg
> press (I love guys that brag about being able to leg press 1000
> pounds, but can't squat their own body weight!).
>
> I've always liked vertical leg presses and have one in my home gym.
> They are good for leg presses, but I really love to use a vertical leg
> press for calf raises.  The squeeze and burn you can put on your
> calves is worth every penny to owning one.
>
> The model you provided a link for looks pretty good, but the angle
> that it puts your neck in is not favorable.  It will definitely put
> undo stress on your neck, which should be neutral and more parallel to
> the weight rack.  It does not look like it, but if the neck pad is
> adjustable, you could correct this issue.
>
> I found another model on eBay that appears to offer better ergonomics:
>

> http://cgi.ebay.com/Body-Solid-Power-Line-Vertical-Leg-Press-Squat-St...

>
> A couple of things to be aware of with vertical leg presses:
>
> 1.  I suggest covering the pin holes that you are not using on the
> upright slider shafts.  The hand grips (if provided) are not always
> optimally placed make it way too easy to inadvertently have a finger
> or skin from your hand pressed into these holes.  Can you say
> "guillotine'?
>
> 2.  When not in use, always have the leg press in its lowest position
> with pins out.  Otherwise, you are asking for trouble (especially if
> there is weight on the rack and you have small children running about
> the house!)
>
> 3.  You may need to lubricate the weight rack shafts with white grease
> or silicon spray.  My vertical leg press was not very smooth until I
> performed this step.
>
> Regards,
>
> TLN Phil
>
> On May 18, 1:58 pm, Mike <MikeD...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I'm thinking of buying a vertical leg press machine for my house and
> > was interested in other opinions.  Anyone have thoughts on this one?
>
> >http://www.americanfitness.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1414
>

> > Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -