Dépense estimée selon votre poids
Mouvement d'isolation · 3 s par répétition
| Répétitions | Dépense estimée |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0,23 kcal |
| 10 | 2,3 kcal |
| 20 | 4,6 kcal |
| 50 | 11,5 kcal |
| 100 | 23,0 kcal |
Estimation à partir des équivalents métaboliques (MET) du Compendium of Physical Activities. La charge, le tempo et la durée des repos font varier le résultat du simple au double : à lire comme un ordre de grandeur, pas comme une mesure.
The lying leg curl, direct hamstring isolation
The lying leg curl is a knee flexion movement done face down on an angled bench. You slide your ankles under the pad, then bend your legs to pull your heels toward your glutes. The movement is simple, and that's exactly what makes it work.
Of all the hamstring isolation exercises, this one leaves the least room for cheating. Your torso is pinned to the bench, your hips are flat, your hands are on the handles. The knee is the only joint left to do the job.
Which muscles does the leg curl work?
The lying curl targets all three muscles at the back of the thigh: biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus. The calves chip in near the top, since the gastrocnemius also crosses the knee. The glutes only stabilise here, unlike what happens on a stiff-leg deadlift.
How to do the lying leg curl face down
Your setup decides everything else. Hips coming off the bench or a badly placed pad, and you end up swinging from the lower back. Take thirty seconds to get into position: it's worth more than another ten kilos.
- Knee joint lined up with the rotation axis of the machine.
- Pad sitting just above your heels, not on the calf.
- Hips and stomach in constant contact with the bench.
- Toes pulled toward your shins for the whole set.
Curl up in two stages: a clean flexion to bring the heels toward your glutes, then a one-second hold in full contraction. Lower over roughly three seconds, never dumping the weight at the bottom of the extension. That eccentric phase is what creates the most useful muscle damage, so the most progress.
In practice, most lifters load too much and lift their hips ten centimetres off the bench. Cut the weight by 30 % and the muscle work doubles.
Lying leg curl machine: settings and variations
No two machines adjust the same way, but two things come up everywhere: frame length and pad height. On a sliding-frame model, set the stop so your knees hang slightly off the edge of the bench. Otherwise the flexion happens above the padding and you lose the bottom of the range.
The slight break in the bench at hip level isn't a comfort detail. That angle puts the hamstrings in a mild pre-stretch and helps protect the lower back by taking the arch out. Your gym only has a flat bench? Brace your abs to hold position.
We'll use lying leg curl here for the face-down version, as opposed to the standing leg curl, done one leg at a time on a cable. That variation (one leg after the other) lets you fix an imbalance between the two sides, which is impossible when both legs pull together.
Lying or seated leg curl: which one to pick
The question comes up constantly. Both versions train the same function, knee flexion, but from a different hip position. Seated, the hip is flexed, so the hamstrings start out already stretched. Face down, the hip is extended and the calves take a bigger share of the movement.
| Criterion | Lying | Seated |
|---|---|---|
| Hamstring stretch | Moderate | High |
| Load tolerated | Moderate | Heavier |
| Lower-back stress | Low if hips stay flat | Low |
| Calf involvement | Yes | Limited |
| Setup | Quick | Longer |
EMG studies give the seated position a slight edge on biceps femoris activation. The gap stays small. My advice: alternate. Lying one session, seated the next, or both in the same session with 6 to 8 reps on the first and 12 to 15 on the second.
Don't mix it up with the leg extension either, which works the quads by straightening the knee. Two opposite movements, worth programming together to balance the front and back of the thigh.
Lying leg curl without a machine: the best substitutes
No machine at home? Three options cover most of the need, keeping knee flexion as the driver.
- Dumbbell between the feet: lie on a bench, squeeze a light dumbbell between your ankles and curl. Works up to about 10 kg.
- Band anchored low: tension builds toward the top, right where the contraction peaks.
- Nordic curl: kneeling with your ankles held down, you lower your torso under control. The hardest of the three, and the most rewarding!
Sliding your heels on a smooth floor with a towel also does the job for beginners. Count on 15 to 20 reps to create a real stimulus. These options pair well with heavy work on the leg press, which does little for the back of the leg.
Picking the right variation for your equipment and laying it out over twelve weeks takes time. MUSCU builds that plan from your profile and films every exercise, setup included.
The best position and the mistakes to avoid
The best position for the lying leg curl is whichever one keeps your hips locked down from the first rep to the last. As soon as they lift, the lower back takes over and the work leaves the hamstrings.
Three faults come up again and again: cutting the range short at the top, dropping the weight on the way down, and the pad sitting too high on the calf. Fix those before adding load. The word curl means a flexion, by the way, of the knee here, of the elbow on the incline curl.
How many sets and how often
To build your hamstrings, aim for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, twice a week. Leave one or two reps in the tank: this exercise doesn't handle training to failure well, cheating shows up before real fatigue does.
Add reps first, then load. Hit 8 then 12 reps with the same weight across three sessions, add 5 kg, and you're set to improve your strength for months without wrecking your technique.