Is the Leg Press All That Effective? Is it Causing My Ankle Pain?

Have you ever had one of those nagging pains that you initially brushed off as just another casualty of lifting heavy things for so many years? Then the pain gets worse and it starts to impede other lifts, and then eventually gets in the way of daily activities?

I am in such a predicament. Months ago I started having nagging pain in my Achilles tendon. It grew to travel down to my heel and became rather chronic.

A month or so later my other tendon became tender. I started racking my brain as to what was causing this. Was it the fact that I was standing on my feet all day? Was I going too heavy on calf raises? Was my form in need of refinement on squats?

I tried deleting and adding to my training. In addition, I went to physical therapy and got treatment. After feeling better I stumbled upon a possible cause.

My theory

Years ago I was very adamant about treating my knees well. I would painstakingly try my best to perfect my squats, not go too heavy on leg extensions, and drive through my heels on leg presses. That last one stuck out lately as a possible cause for my ankle pain.

After analyzing my foot placement (it’s crept up on the footplate a lot lately) and where I’m driving the most power to (my heels) I had a hunch it was what I was doing on the leg press.

Here’s how I see it (presently):

• My heels are too high on the footplate. So high, in fact, that my toes are over the top edge.
• I’m driving mostly (if not entirely) through my heels.
• I always go for 20 rep sets on leg presses. As higher reps are great for muscle size and knee protection, I feel it’s too high regarding wear and tear on my ankles.
• Lifting massive amounts of weight and increasing load is rather easy on leg press since not much balance is needed. The extra load might be tolerable for my thighs and hips, but it might be too much for my joints.
• I also have a hunch that the tightness in my lower back and hips is a result of going too heavy on leg presses.

Going forward

I have a pretty hard and fast rule when it comes to exercises that eventually start hurting or just plain don’t work anymore. I cut it from my program completely and will reintroduce it way down the road at some point. When? I don’t know. I go entirely by feel and will bring it back in only when I feel ready.

This does two things:

1. It completely eliminates the perpetrator of my pain or discomfort.
2. It will give me the opportunity to give my joints a rest and a break from the pounding they may have gone through.

So, for the time being, leg presses are out. I’ll still keep squats, leg extensions, Bulgarian split squats, and maybe some static reverse lunges, but leg presses have to go.

I’ll be back in a later post to let you know my results.

Happy lifting!