A colleague wrote a blog post recently about the leg press machine. He made some great points that I thought should be shared with you. So here are some of the reasons to be cautious with the leg press and some tips to perform this lift as safely as possible.For many people when they want to do a lower body workout there are a lot of exercises they could choose from. They could perform squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses with multiple variations of each of these.But if we don't have a lot of experience in the weight room we may shy away fromt the free weight exercises. And as a result people tend to migrate towards the leg press machine.And even if we're not a newbie to the gym we will sometimes opt for the leg press because it's one exercise where we can really load up the machine with lots of weight and feel strong.But the leg press has some limitations. One of the biggest is that it results in a posterior tilt of the pelvis as the knees and hips flex to lower the platform.And as the pelvis tilts posteriorly it causes the low back to go into flexion and increases the chance of disc herniation.And nobody wants this. But there are certain things we can to minimize this from happening.First, our core works the best for us when we establish proper posture.  From the head down through the trunk we know this to mean:* neutral head* chest tall* shoulders down and back* neutral spineIf we can establish these positions prior to initiating the lift we'll do a better job of protecting the spine.What we sometimes see happen  are the following mistates:* forward head* flexed neck* chest and shoulders rounded forwardSo before we even attempt...

Today we're celebrating Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. So with the indulgence in turkey, gravy, potatoes and of course some pumpkin pie the mind tends to shift towards thinking about ways to burn all these extra calories. Plus as the seasons change our activities move from links and lakes to the hills for winter fun.So with this in mind I usually like to incorporate more step-ups in the workout. Step-ups are great in that they work well for all levels, they allow you to get in some quality single leg work and with a few changes in the acute variables of sets, reps and rest you can train for a variety of different purposes.But before you jump in and start with the step-ups there are 5 technique points that will help you perform this lift more safely and effectively.1. Maintain a neutral foot. Many of us tend to roll into pronation when we bend at the ankle-knee-hip. Imagine your foot collapsing towards the arch when you take a step. If this happens you will disrupt the chain reaction that occurs with ground based motion and have altered mechanics as you step up. Keep a neutral foot and watch that the knee is in line with the 2nd/3rd toes.2. Paw the bench. With the foot that is on the bench imagine pulling the bench towards yourself. This loads up the glutes and hamstrings which many of us have difficulty recruiting during our leg training. 3. Take a larger step. This ties in with the previous point of trying to engage the posterior chain. Many of us are quad dominant and look to use our quads first and glutes and hamstrings, second, if at all. With a larger step you open up the angle at the knee and hip which takes load off the...