Calories Used From a Seated Leg Press

Use the seated leg press to build your quadriceps and gluteus maximus, not to burn a huge number of calories. This lever based machine which has you sit and push a weighted platform with your feet is a mainstay in many fitness facilities. It'll help you build up some of the largest muscles in your body, which may help increase your metabolic rate over time when included as part of a total body strength-training routine.

  1. Mild Effort

    • The exact number of calories you burn using the leg press depends on your size. Larger people burn more calories per minute while smaller people burn fewer. If you use a weight that is mildly challenging, you'll burn about 4 calories per minute on the leg press if you weigh 155 pounds. If you weigh 125 pounds, you'll burn about 3 calories per minute and at 185 pounds, 4.5 calories per minute. If you're doing a set of eight to 12 repetitions with this light weight, it'll take approximately 1 minute to complete one set. More repetitions will take longer and burn more calories; however, if you can do more than 12 repetitions easily, it's an indication that you should add more weight to maximize your results. When strength training for general fitness, use at least 60 percent of your one-repetition maximum, the most weight you can lift in one try, for all eight to 12 reps.

    Kick It Up

    • Your intensity also plays a role in the number of calories you burn. Raise the weight so you feel maxed out by the end of six to eight repetitions and burn more calories during your leg press effort. A vigorous weight-training effort burns about 7.5 calories per minute for a 155 pound person. At 125 pounds, you'll burn 6 calories per minute and at 185 pounds, almost 9 calories per minute. The more repetitions you do per set, the longer you'll be doing the press -- so in theory you'll burn more calories. However, if you're using weights heavy enough to elicit the higher calorie burn -- about 80 to 90 percent of your one-repetition maximum -- you should fatigue within 30 to 60 seconds of work. If you fit in six sets of the exercise and each one lasts 45 seconds, you'll burn about 34 calories total if you weigh 155 pounds.

    Circuit Training

    • The calorie burn incurred during the leg press only includes the time you are actually doing the work; you don't burn significant calories during the rest intervals between sets. Perform the move as part of a total circuit to burn more calories. Circuit training involves doing several weight or weight and cardio exercises in quick succession. Because you are always moving, you keep your heart rate elevated and sizzle about 30 percent more calories than traditional weight training, reports "Fitness" magazine. (ref2) A sample circuit might involve a set on the leg press, followed by pushups, then rows, then triceps extensions and crunches. Repeat three or four times through for a total-body workout.

    Metabolism Boost

    • Although a leg press workout doesn't burn a lot of calories on its own, it contributes to changes in your metabolism that helps you burn more calories over time. A paper published in "Current Sports Medicine Reports" in 2012 reports that 10 weeks of resistance training can increase your resting metabolic rate by 7 percent. You'll have to work all your major muscle groups two to three times weekly to experience this type of change, however. The leg press takes care of your hips and legs, but also include exercises for your chest, back, arms, shoulders and abdominals in your strength workouts.