Exercise Guide

Leg Curl

The hamstring curl machine. The only common exercise that trains the hamstrings by bending the knee rather than hinging the hip, which is why it belongs alongside your deadlifts.

BeginnerStrengthPullIsolation
Form
Leg Curl - Start position
Start
Leg Curl - Mid position
Mid
Leg Curl - End position
End

Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Details

Primary Muscle

Hamstrings

Equipment

Machine

Difficulty

Beginner

Category

Strength

Force

Pull

Mechanic

Isolation

Secondary Muscles

Calves
How to Perform
  1. 1

    Set the pad so it sits just above your heels and the pivot lines up with your knee.

  2. 2

    Lie or sit in the machine and take hold of the handles.

  3. 3

    Curl your heels toward your backside as far as the machine allows.

  4. 4

    Lower slowly, resisting the weight all the way back to straight.

Tips
  • ★Do not let your hips lift off the pad to help - that is the load escaping the hamstrings.
  • ★The lowering half is where the hamstring does most of its work; take three seconds over it.
Explore by Muscle
HamstringsCalves