Liftworthy
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Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

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Explore/Hamstrings

Lying Leg Curl

MachineIsolationEasy to learn
Front
Back
Primary Secondary

Works

Hamstrings

Also calves

You need

Lying leg curl

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
Heel pad
1Start
Heel pad
2Squeeze
Main musclesAlso working
  1. 1Hips pressed into the pad
  2. 2Curl your heels to your glutes
  3. 3Control the lowering

Most common mistake

Hips lifting off the pad on every rep.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Ranked #3 for hamstrings
  • Keeps the work on the target muscle
  • Easy to keep adding weight

Compare with

vs Glute-Ham Raisevs Nordic Curlvs Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
A
For hamstrings
#3 of 18
See the full list →
Research
83
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 831 study
Target tensionExcellent
Loaded stretchGood
ProgressionExcellent
Low costStrong

Still a strong choice; hips are extended, so the hamstrings are less stretched.

  • Maeo et al., 2021 · Trial: Seated leg curls grew the hamstrings more than lying leg curls (+14% vs +9% volume) over 12 weeks. (20 untrained adults; one study.)

Research behind these criteria

  • Target tension: Zabaleta-Korta et al., 2021 · Kinoshita et al., 2023
  • Loaded stretch: Maeo et al., 2021 · Maeo et al., 2023 · Pedrosa et al., 2022 · Kassiano et al., 2023
  • Progression: Plotkin et al., 2022 · Pelland et al., 2026
  • Low cost: Schoenfeld et al., 2021 · Refalo et al., 2023
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

  • AB-Stance Romanian DeadliftDumbbell
  • ADumbbell Romanian DeadliftDumbbell
  • ARomanian DeadliftBarbell
  • SSeated Leg CurlMachine

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