Premium strength equipment is usually assumed to be imported. PHD Strength is engineered, built and supported in Australia, so you avoid the long lead times, import and shipping costs, and slow after-sales service that come with an overseas brand. Support is local. The engineering case stands on its own — the ten design decisions in the Hip Press each change a training outcome — but the ownership experience is where being Australian-made shows up week to week.

A standard leg press can force the user into unsupported lumbar flexion deep in the movement, which exposes the lower back to shear load. It also limits range of motion and does not fit every body on a commercial floor. The Hip Press re-engineers the whole movement: the lumbar is supported in the flexed position, the back adjusts from a glute-dominant press through to a squat press, the footplate holds its angle on a pendulum, and un-racking is automatic.

That is the specific problem it was designed around. A straight backrest can force unsupported lumbar flexion, which is a common source of lower-back pain and injury on a leg press. Supporting the lumbar in the flexed position reduces lower-back pressure and increases range of motion at the same time. PHD designs for the lifter who needs it most: if a machine only hurts the compromised lifter, it is the wrong machine.

Yes, and that is one of the reasons it exists. The back is highly adjustable, the footplate is large enough for every size and body proportion to train comfortably, the footplate angle adjusts to suit ankle mobility, and there are multiple re-rack points so users can start and stop the movement wherever they need. On a commercial floor that means fewer members who cannot use the machine properly.

Your legs get stronger through the press, so a fixed resistance under-loads the strongest part of the range. The Hip Press increases resistance to match that natural strength curve, the way old-school Nautilus machines did. The result is full range of motion under appropriate load, which is what drives hypertrophy.

It keeps the footplate at the same angle through the entire movement. That reduces ankle flexion and keeps force expression correct from the start of the rep to the finish, which means more hypertrophy and less discomfort or injury than a footplate whose angle changes as you press.

Yes. The un-rack is automatic, which removes the manual un-rack at the start of the movement — the point where instability usually happens. There are also multiple re-rack points, so the lifter can stop and re-rack at any position rather than having to complete a rep they cannot finish.

No, but it has a spotter feature built in. A training partner or PT can re-rack the weight while the user is still in the machine, which is a meaningful safety difference on a busy floor where people train alone.

It moves the machine across three positions: a strict glute-dominant press, a horizontal leg press, and a squat press. That lets you change which muscle group is biased, find a setting that is comfortable for the individual, and accommodate different mobility levels on the same machine.

Bracing through the shoulder pads rather than the grip increases stability and removes the grip limitation of a standard leg press. On a heavy set, grip should not be the thing that ends the rep.

Yes. Every machine is powder-coated to order. You choose an accent colour and a frame finish, see the exact build from multiple angles in the online configurator, then send that specification through to PHD.

Machines are made and powder-coated to order, so pricing is quoted per specification. Contact PHD Strength directly for a quote covering the build, availability and lead time.

The machines are built in Australia rather than shipped in, which is the point of the local-manufacture argument. Contact PHD directly for current lead times on a specific build.

Commercial floors: independent gyms, strength and performance facilities, and PT studios. It is built to earn its floor space — a hero piece members seek the gym out for, that fits every body size, and that reduces the injuries and complaints that cost you members.

Lyle Davis, the founder of PHD Strength, is the engineer behind the machine as well as its designer. Every feature in it exists for a stated biomechanical reason rather than as a styling decision.