Leg Press Standards: How Much Should You Leg Press?
Leg press standards by bodyweight: the average man leg presses 500 lb and the average woman 333 lb on a 45-degree sled. See what is good and check your level.
Leg press climbing but legs not growing? Find out why.
Standards scale with bodyweight.
Plates on a 45° sled, as you would log it.
1 if it was a true max.
Enter your bodyweight and one hard set to see your level.
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How much should you leg press? On a 45-degree sled, a man who has trained for about two years presses roughly 2.9 times his bodyweight: about 515 lb at 180 lb. Among people who log the lift on Strength Level, the average is 500 lb for men and 333 lb for women. Leg press numbers vary a lot between machines, so compare yourself on the same one. Check your level above.
What are the leg press standards by bodyweight?
These are Strength Level's sled leg press standards for plates loaded on a 45-degree sled (Strength Level). Intermediate beats half of the people who log the lift.
| Bodyweight | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man, 150 lb | 297 lb | 433 lb | 596 lb |
| Man, 180 lb | 366 lb | 516 lb | 692 lb |
| Man, 200 lb | 409 lb | 567 lb | 751 lb |
| Man, 220 lb | 450 lb | 615 lb | 806 lb |
| Woman, 130 lb | 189 lb | 304 lb | 445 lb |
| Woman, 150 lb | 215 lb | 336 lb | 484 lb |
For a 180 lb man, 405 lb (four plates a side) is novice and beats about 28% of logged lifters; 675 lb is intermediate at about 77%.
How much can the average man leg press?
It depends on the machine and the man. In a clinic sample of 8,762 men with an average age of 42, the seated leg press average was 137.5 kg (303 lb), about 1.7 times bodyweight (Ruiz et al., 2008). That was a variable-resistance machine, not a plate-loaded sled, so the numbers are not directly comparable with the table above. Men who train and log the sled average 500 lb.
Why do leg press numbers vary so much?
Because machines differ. Sled angle, whether the empty sled's weight is counted and how deep you go all change the number. A shallow quarter rep lets you move far more weight than a full-depth rep. LiftDecode's rule: count only reps where your knees come close to your chest, and compare only numbers from the same machine.
Does a bigger leg press mean bigger legs?
Only if the reps are deep and hard. Muscle grows from the work, not the number on the plates: across 15 studies, each extra weekly set added about 0.37% to muscle growth (Schoenfeld et al., 2017). For size, three or four hard sets of 8–15 deep reps usually beat chasing a heavy single.
What if your leg press is stuck?
If the weight has not moved in six weeks, check depth first, then whether your sets stop well short of failure and whether you give your legs enough weekly sets. Find out what is holding your legs back.
FAQ
How much should I leg press for my weight?
About 2 times bodyweight is novice and 2.9 times intermediate for men on a 45-degree sled; for women, about 1.4 and 2.2 times.
Is a 500 lb leg press good?
For a man around 180 lb it is just under intermediate on a standard sled. For a 150 lb man it is between intermediate and advanced.
Does the leg press count the sled weight?
Gyms and apps differ on whether the empty sled counts. Know how your number is measured and keep it the same every time.
Written and maintained by LiftDecode. Training and nutrition education for healthy adults, not medical advice — if you have a health condition or an injury, talk to a professional who can examine you.