 | | | Biceps femoris | |
| | Semitendinous | |
| | Semimembranous | | | Gastrocnemius |
|
Lying Hamstrings Curl is a basic "isolation" exercise targeting one or two muscle groups. You do it with a gym bench and apparatus with which you load a weight then lift a padded bar, usually with two legs, while reclining face-down on the bench. The leg curl flexes then extends the knee joint and targets the hamstring muscles of the thigh and the gastrocnemius of the calf.
EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS
- The lying leg curl is a great exercise to isolate the hamstrings. Set up for the leg curl by selecting the weight you want to use on the stack and adjusting the padding to suit your leg length.
- Lay face down on the machine. The padding should be positioned just above the back of your ankles. If it's higher than that, adjust the length.
- Tense up the hamstrings by taking the weight slightly off the stack. This is the starting position for the exercise.
- Squeeze the hamstrings and curl the weight up as far as possible.
- Squeeze the hamstring hard, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Exercise Tips:
- Common mistakes with the leg curl are; moving the weight up and down Too fast and not using a full range of motion.
- Always control the weight throughout the set. Don't use momentum to move the weight up, and don't allow it to drop back down quickly.
- Always use a full range of motion by curling the weight up as far as possible and lowering it as far as possible without the weight dropping on the stack.
