Number of risers for leg press

aveggiegirl

aveggiegirl

Cathlete
Cathe,

What is the maximum number of risers that I may safely use on the High Step for the leg press? I usually use 5 or 6 but would like to go higher. I am 5"7 and I don't have any knee problems.

Thanks,
aveggiegirl
 
I am 5' 8" and almost always use 7 risers.

Depends what you are comfortable with and what height gives you that 90 degree angle at the raised knee as the leg sits upon the step. It also sometimes depends upon the DVD and weight load I am using. For instance, GS legs with the band, I use 7 risers always because sometimes this really challenges, depending upon what other exercises I have done before (I make up my own leg mish-moshes based around S&H and GS legs and LL). Whereas with PLB, and a 55 and 60 pound barbell, if I'm in great shape I stick with the 7 risers, but if I have been slacking lately in the leg department, then I may find this too challenging to do safely and with good form and may drop to 6 risers.

So, use your judgement during the first few reps with the higher number of risers to decide if you can use the greater height with good form or not. And always keep that required angle in mind.

Clare
 
Clare, Thank you for the answer, and aveggiegirl, thanks for the question. This is something I had been wondering too. I'm 5'9" and always add more than what they have on the DVD b/c I know I am much taller than the crew is. Wasn't sure what the norm was for that, though, so glad to know I was doing ok.

I have another question too that I'm going to post here and hope that you, Clare, get a chance to answer (or anyone else who knows!) On the DVDs, the right leg always leads, and by the time I get to the left leg, the right leg is fatigued and working extra to hold me up (ex - lunges, especially static, but in other moves too). Is it wise to alternate the leg that begins? It just seems that the right leg will get more of a workout. Thanks in advance!
 
I have a question about the risers, but not how many. Do the risers you can buy separately fit the high step. I noticed that there were two different height high steps, and thought it would be cheaper just to buy extra risers. Anybody know? Thanks
 
> Do the
>risers you can buy separately fit the high step. I noticed
>that there were two different height high steps, and thought
>it would be cheaper just to buy extra risers.

The risers that you can buy separately will fit the high step, if you make sure to get the risers that fit the regular club step (and not the 'home' step, which is smaller). In fact, if you have a step already, the risers for that will fit the high step. (The slanted risers will also fit: just stack them together to make a square--no slant--and it ends up being a little over 4").
 
Shana:

If you are, as most of us are, particularly dominant on one side and tend to always initiate leg exercises with that dominant leg, then yes, it makes every sense to alternate the start leg or even, to kick this off, spend a few weeks starting every exercise with the non-dominant leg, to give it a chance to catch up in strength.

I always start leg presses, front lunges and rear lunges with my right leg, regardless of what Cathe may be doing because I feel more comfortable doing so. But if I need to do so, I will pause a little longer than Cathe to let the left leg rest enough so that I can demand the exact same number of quality reps with the same weight as the right leg accomplished for me.

Trust your instincts: they were good here!

Clare
 
Clare - thank you for answering. I definitely have my dominant right leg and it is even bigger than the left (nothing that anyone would notice but I feel it in my tighter jeans/pants). Usually, I do as you said you do and take a longer break to allow my legs to rest and work more equally. I am going to try to remember to start with the opposite for a while. My problem is I get to going and think of it too late... :) Thanks again, Shana
 
>I am 5' 8" and almost always use 7 risers.
>
>Depends what you are comfortable with and what height gives
>you that 90 degree angle at the raised knee as the leg sits
>upon the step.

I'm shy of 5'9" but have only 4 risers on my high step. So if I place my foot on the step, there should be a 90 degree angle made? I'm wondering if this can contibute to a tightening of the knee area, which I have been blaming on static lunges. I was under the impression that you should press down through the heel of the foot, so as not to stress the knee area. Now I'm wondering if my step is too low or would that even matter? Tomorrow I'll check out the angle since its midnight and time to get some sleep. Thanks for this great topic.
 
Overall, when Cathe has 5 risers, you should have a 90 degree angle with your foot on the step.
If you are using a height that gets you 90 degrees, the bottom 4" of a leg press movement will mostly work the glute and the top 6" of the movement will mostly work the knee area. If your step is too low, you will still be working the knee, but barely touch the glute.
If your step is too high, you are very likely to injure your knee.
 
>Overall, when Cathe has 5 risers, you should have a 90 degree
>angle with your foot on the step.
>If you are using a height that gets you 90 degrees, the bottom
>4" of a leg press movement will mostly work the glute and the
>top 6" of the movement will mostly work the knee area. If
>your step is too low, you will still be working the knee, but
>barely touch the glute.
>If your step is too high, you are very likely to injure your
>knee.


Thank you for this insight. If you were to err on the side of caution then, a shorter step will typically cause no problems aside from not getting the most work out of your glute, but a step too high may stress your knees?

For anyone that needs additional risers, I found this site on line that sells the Original Step risers, two for $25.00 which includes shipping:
http://www.thestep.com/s.nl;jsessio...184aa.e3eTaxeKbh0Te34Pa38Ta38Tbxz0?it=A&id=11
 
I alternate starting sides for pretty much all moves on all of my workouts on a daily basis. For weights at least, when one side of the body has to be first. I think of it as 'forward' and 'backward'. If I did the workout as is, or mirroring the tv the last time I did it (forward), I do every move the opposite the next time (backward). I find it easier to make up my mind which way to do things once at the beginning, and then follow through for the entire workout as opposed to remembering to switch up individual moves. So for example, if it's backwards day, I'll even do something like walking lunges backwards, even though it probably makes minimal difference. It's just easier for me to keep track of.
 
>...if it's backwards day, I'll even do something like
>walking lunges backwards, even though it probably makes
>minimal difference.

Actually, backwards moves (like backwards lunges, walking lunges, etc.) work the hams and glutes a bit more than forward moves.
 
>>
>For anyone that needs additional risers, I found this site on
>line that sells the Original Step risers, two for $25.00 which
>includes shipping:
>http://www.thestep.com/s.nl;jsessio...184aa.e3eTaxeKbh0Te34Pa38Ta38Tbxz0?it=A&id=11

It seems like Cathe.com prices are cheaper - at $10.99 each? So why would we order from someone else? Just wondering. I'm going to order a full size step FINALLY and that will also take care of the extra risers. I was thinking of ordering the step with Basic Step & Body Fusion as I haven't done step in YEARS - or what do you guys suggest? Should I just order the step as is and then order videos separately? If so, what dvds do you suggest I begin with until I get acclimated? I don't have a TON of space in my room either so lots of additional space-needed moves would likely be out of the question.

Tnanks.
 
By 'backwards' I mean my orientation towards the tv, like doing left foot first vs. right foot first. "Backwards" probably isn't the best word for me to describe it, but it's just how I feel while I'm doing it: bass ackwards. Basically, one day I'll do everything the way Cathe does, and the next time I substitute 'left' and 'right' for each other. I don't actually change the moves, like changing a forward lunge into a reverse. I'll just start with my left instead of my right.
 
Except that the number one reason to include leg presses is to target the glutes, after all, there are plenty of other exercises, lunges, squats, etc, that work the quads that support the knee. So, for a 5' 9" person, I'd try more than 4 risers. Play around with it.

Ebay is another place to sometimes get extra risers for cheaper prices than on Cathe's site. It's where I got mine.

Clare
 
Not to press my point, but I can get two risers for $25.00 shipping included from The Original Step company. It costs me nearly $35 here because of shipping costs. Even if I get one riser, it still costs more from this site.
 
Also, 5'7", but I use 3 risers. Any higher and I'll bump my head on my low basement ceiling. :) I still get a great workout because I bring myself down by bending my grounded leg before going back up.
 
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