Variations

• Varying level of descent: The lower you go, the more difficult the press becomes because it recruits a growing number of muscle groups. How ever, the level of descent must take into account not only the muscles you want to focus on but also your morphology. The longer your legs are, particularly your thighs, the more dangerous it is for your lower back and your knees if you go very low. An unfavorable leg-to-torso ratio will result in your having to lift your buttocks off the seat to keep lowering the foot platform, which increases the tension on your spine.

Varying foot placement: You can adopt just about any foot position you wish to better target the muscle group you want. Following are foot placements and the muscles they recruit:

o High on the platform: glutes and hamstrings (spares the knees)

o Low on the platform: quadriceps (this posi tion is tougher on the knees)

o Together: quadriceps

o Wide apart: adductors

Tips

• The wider your stance or greater your step is, the more your glutes and hamstrings have to work. Leaning your torso forward a little has the same effect.

. Lifting your low back off the seat increases the range of motion of the exercise and enhances the recruitment of your glutes. However, although this may seem like a great idea, it will endanger your lower back. So, we do not recommend it.

Warning: Just as with the squat if you have a recurvatum (hyperextension) at the knee level (you can straighten your legs so far that your knees are pushed backward), do not straighten your legs at all because the load can damage your knees in that precarious position. Worse, your legs could bend backward under the load, which would result in very serious injuries.

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