7 Reasons to Use Machines on Leg Day

Adding a few sets on the leg press and hack squat on leg day might just make a difference in those lower-body gains. The glutes and quadriceps are two of the body’s largest and most powerful muscles, and isolating them by going heavy on machines can help you level up your workouts. 

And if you have a home gym, investing in Major Fitness’ new AH1 Leg Press & Hack Squat Machine is a smart way to guarantee gains. This space-saving savior combines two of the most efficient leg workouts — the leg press and hack squat — for a killer workout that can fire up your quads, glutes, hammies, and calves. 

To learn more about the benefits, BarBend has teamed up with Major Fitness to give you the lowdown on why you shouldn’t neglect machines on leg day. Read on for the benefits of leg machines and how they can help inch you closer to a squat or deadlift PR.

Machines Isolate Legs More

Performing compound movements like the back or front squat on a rack is a great way to engage your full body and work on that core strength, but machines are the cherry on top when isolating specific muscles. While you can’t spot-reduce, you can spot-gain, and the leg press and hack squat machine are both great for taxing your lower body. 

Unlike free weights, which require multiple supporting muscles to kick in for stability, machines provide that support and stabilization for you, allowing you to concentrate solely on the leg muscles you’re targeting. 

Since leg machines have you driving the weight using only your legs, the rest of your body essentially gets a day off — and that’s especially great when you’re still recovering from a brutal upper-body workout. And because machines can target specific muscles or groups, they’re ideal for bodybuilders, athletes, or anyone recovering from injury in a particular muscle, according to a 2023 study in the BMC Sports Science, Medicine, and Rehabilitation journal. 

They Come With Many Variations

Machines have the added convenience factor of allowing for different variations so you can hit every part of your legs. Targeting different muscles is as easy as changing your foot position.

For example, placing your feet lower on the leg press footplate engages your quads more while keeping your feet farther up targets your hamstrings. If you want to focus on your glutes, place your feet higher up the footplate in a wide stance with your toes pointing outward and push through your heels. 

The same is true for the hack squat machine: Placing your feet higher on the platform makes your workout more glute- and hamstring-dominant, while placing your feet lower activates the quads more.

You can also do reverse hack squats on the AH1 for the glutes. Rather than resting your back on the machine, a reverse hack squat has you facing the backrest with your back unsupported. This position shifts the load onto your glutes and helps build your backside.

To target your calves on the hack squat, simply position your feet lower on the footplate and drive up through your toes. This allows for better ankle flexion and activates the calves while pushing off the platform.

The Form Is Easy to Learn

Machines are easier (and less intimidating) to use than free weights, point blank. Even if you’ve never used a leg machine before, learning how to use one is simple because machines follow a fixed path with little to no variation. Machines come with easy-to-follow instructions and can be more beginner-friendly than working with a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebells. 

While you should always perform any exercise correctly, machines have controlled motion paths that help maintain your alignment and guide your movement, so the onus of proper form isn’t completely on you. This built-in support makes gaining muscle mass and confidence in strength training easier, which means you might progress a bit quicker.

They’re Gentler on the Back and Knees

If you have issues with your back or knees and don’t feel comfortable doing barbell squats, the hack squat machine will become your holy grail on leg day. 

With barbell back squats, you’re standing straight up with the weight across your shoulders, which can compress the spine. Since the hack squat machine requires you to angle your body in a reclined position, there’s less pressure on your back. It also means your legs feel the brunt of the work. Translation: Less back pain and more leg gains.

The hack squat machine also ensures your knees don’t go past your toes when you’re in the lowered position, which helps reduce strain on your joints. Just make sure not to lock your knees when you’re standing upright at the top of the movement to avoid putting too much tension on your joints.

They Can Help You Get Better at Squats and Deadlifts

The leg press is one of the best machines for building quads, hamstrings, and glutes. In a study in the 2023 issue of the Journal of Human Kinetics, researchers had 19 male rugby players train on the leg press twice a week for five weeks and found that the leg press significantly improved lower body strength.  

Going heavy on both the leg press and hack squat and progressively loading the weight you push over time can help you make major gains. All that strength can carry over to your squat and deadlift performance. 

Your quads activate when you squat down and hold it, and then again when you rise up again into a standing position. Since the leg press and hack squat activate the quads, they can help increase your squat numbers. What’s more, the leg press mimics the initial push-off in a deadlift, helping to strengthen the first phase of lifting the barbell from the floor. While it shouldn’t replace deadlifts, the leg press can help people work on their pulling strength. 

You Can Work Unilaterally

Using machines allows you to work unilaterally by training one leg at a time. Adding unilateral work to your leg-day routine has big benefits as it helps you pinpoint — and then correct — any muscle imbalances or weaknesses. 

The same 2023 study in the Journal of Human Kinetics had participants do five weeks of unilateral or bilateral leg press training. Unsurprisingly, it found that unilateral training increased unilateral strength more effectively than bilateral training (i.e., using the leg press traditionally, with both legs working simultaneously). 

If you’ve noticed that one leg is bigger or stronger than the other, you might want to incorporate more unilateral work — and the leg press is one of the easiest, safest, and most straightforward ways to do so.

You Can Safely Train to Failure 

You don’t need to scout the gym for a competent spotter when using machines. Like other machines, the leg press and hack squat offer built-in safety features and control because they follow a fixed path and don’t require many stabilizing muscles to kick in and support your movements. The AH1, for example, features three lockout positions that help ensure safety and adapt to different user heights.

Using free weights requires stability and balance, whereas machines offer a guided range of motion. This means there aren’t any weights to drop, and you’re less likely to lose control. You can go extra heavy on leg machines and train to failure without a spotter. Aside from going heavy, you can also add drop sets or rest-pause sets to up the intensity of your workouts. 

As long as you’re upping your intensity, whether by adding weight or increasing your rep range, that counts as progressive overload, so you’ll be on your way toward building more muscle mass. 

What Are You Waiting For? 

Machines are a great tool for big-time gains on leg day. They isolate your muscles, are easy to master, gentle on the joints, and can help your overall lower-body strength. To reap the benefits, though, you’ll need world-class equipment, and that’s where Major Fitness comes in. 

With the Major Fitness AH1 Leg Press & Hack Squat Machine, you’ll get two elite leg machines on one piece of equipment. Blast your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves without having to fumble around with different setups or taking up your entire garage. 

Head to the Major Fitness website to pre-order yours today.