carleton

Yup. The sled is heavy. If you look carefully, you might notice the weight of the sled on a sticker somewhere. I've seen that sticker about 1/2 the time on sleds over the years. If you can't find the sticker, just google around between sets and see if you can find a product page of a similar-looking sled and see what that is. It should be close. Use that value in your log and calculations.

A simple program that I adapted from Starting Strength:

I'd lift leg press (or single leg press) 3 days/week with at least 1 day rest between.
My workout looked like this:

- Sled only: 5 reps
- Sled only: 5 reps
- 40% of working weight: 5 reps
- 60% of working weight: 3 reps
- 80% of working weight: 2 reps
- 100% of working weight: 5 reps
- 100% of working weight: 5 reps
​​​​​​​- 100% of working weight: 5 reps

So, if my target weight was 600lbs, I'd multiply 600 times .40, .60, and .80 to get the values for the sets listed above. They don't have to be exact. It's just warmup. Do what's easiest in terms of getting plates on and off. Don't go hunting for 2.5lb plates

I'd increase my target weight 20-40 lbs each day until I missed completing a rep or set (as per the book, just more weight because it's leg press not squat). However, if I felt really strong after the first set at 100% (maybe well-rested or well-fed), I'll add weight for the 2nd set forward. Basically, feel it out and don't be such a robot about it.

Remember not to cheat the rep. It's easy to cheat on the leg press just like the squat, where you don't go down deep enough.

I've seen people leg press heavy with only socks on. I think that's gross in a public gym. I really liked using weightlifting shoes (not just sneakers) for heavy leg press. It gave me a lot more confidence.

Don't sleep on leg press. Some of the top sprinters in the world use it as their main heavy lift. But, don't rely on it to train your core and back like the squat does. So, you'll have to do deadlifts as well. I did them twice a week.