How to Do the Lying Leg Curl

The lying leg curl is a machine exercise where you lie face down and curl a padded lever toward your glutes. It isolates the hamstrings, which are hard to train directly with squats and presses. It suits beginners and anyone building the back of the thigh.

Hamstrings MachineBeginner

Log every set of your Lying Leg Curl in Superlift

Muscles worked

Primary

Hamstrings

Secondary

Calves

How to do the Lying Leg Curl

1
Lie face down on the machine with the pad resting just above your heels.
2
Line up your knees with the machine's pivot point.
3
Grip the handles and keep your hips pressed into the bench.
4
Curl your legs up toward your glutes.
5
Squeeze your hamstrings at the top.
6
Lower the pad slowly until your legs are almost straight.
7
Repeat for all reps.

Form cues to remember

Hips stay down on the pad
Squeeze hamstrings at the top
Lower slowly under control
Don't lock out your knees

Lying Leg Curl video tutorial

9 Leg Curl Mistakes and How to Fix Them · Renaissance Periodization on YouTube

Common mistakes

Hips lifting off the bench

Lower the weight and keep your hips pressed down.

Using momentum

Slow the movement and control the weight.

Cutting the range short

Curl fully and lower until your legs are nearly straight.

Pad set wrong

Adjust it so it sits just above your heels.

Sets and reps

Muscle growth	3–4 sets of 8–15 reps, 60–90 sec rest
Endurance	2–3 sets of 15–20 reps, 45 sec rest

Hamstrings cramp and strain easily; use a controlled tempo and warm up first, and stop if you feel a sharp pull.

Superlift for iPhone

Track your Lying Leg Curl and watch it go up

Superlift shows what you lifted last time, times your rest, and charts your strength week by week, so you always know what to beat. Every exercise in this library is built in, with the same demos and tutorials.