Lying leg curl - technique and muscles involved

Leg bending in a lying machine belongs to the category of isolating exercises that are recommended to be performed after the main complex. It is designed to achieve an optimal balance between the anterior and posterior thigh muscles.

During training, a large load falls on one part of the muscle, while the second is often left unattended. This leads to a significant imbalance in muscle development, which is not only unsightly, but also poses an immediate health hazard. If this difference is not corrected, the chance of injury increases significantly.

Therefore, qualified trainers recommend including this exercise in various complexes aimed at both gaining mass and eliminating excess weight. Bending the legs while lying down helps to form a beautiful relief and also significantly strengthens the muscles.

This exercise has many varieties and requires correct execution, otherwise the results will be minimal. The number of approaches and repetitions is determined individually. This depends on the physical fitness of the athlete, as well as the degree of development of the leg muscles.

What muscles work

What muscle groups work when extending the legs in a supine position? Their function is to tighten the joints in the knee area.

This forces the use of the following muscle classes:

Biceps - located on the outer half of the posterior femoral surface, in other words, on the biceps.
Semimembranosus - the inner area behind the thigh.
Semitendinosus - occupies the inner plane of the posterior thighs, above the membranosus muscle.
Gastrocnemius - the top and middle surface of the lower leg at the back.

The upper torso muscles (bottom and middle trapezius, as well as the serratus anterior muscles) act as stabilizers.

If you regularly train, you can get a beautiful body contour, the proportions will visually look aesthetically pleasing (especially important for back surfaces), and the chance of getting bruises in other fitness categories is reduced.

Features of the technique of bending legs in a sitting position

Exercise machines from different manufacturers differ slightly from each other: some have hip attachments located above the knees, while others have them below the knees. But overall the technology remains the same. The main thing is to set the simulator to your own proportions, that is, height.

To begin, set your working weight.
Sit on the seat with your lower back firmly pressed against the back of the machine.
Place your feet on the bottom roller, touching your Achilles tendons.
If it is intended to be secured above the knees, then press the thigh clamp at the desired level, without pressing too hard on the muscles, but also so that there is no looseness.
As you exhale, without bending your lower back, bring your heels under the seat of the exercise machine as much as possible—bringing them closer to your pelvis. Feel the peak of the contraction, try to hold for a second.
As you inhale, slowly straighten your knees, but not completely, the main thing is not to “slam” the plates.

Benefits of Exercise

Leg bending in a lying simulator is characterized by the following advantages:

This is an isolated workout, it allows you to “tone” the buttocks and the back of the limbs.
Increases the size of the femoral biceps (middle zone).
Can be used as a “finishing treatment” to get ripped muscles.
Improves strength in other exercises (it’s easier to squat with a barbell, the bench press improves).
Minimizes the appearance of ripples at the junction of the buttock and the joint under the knee.
Many variations are known.
Simplicity that even a beginner can handle.

An impressive list of “pros” for a relatively simple training.

Frequent bending of the legs while lying down ensures balance between the muscles in front and behind. This balance is required not only for beauty, but it also prevents injuries. Working on one side of a joint without developing the opposite side leads to imbalance and serious damage in the future.

Analysis of the exercise

Anatomy exercises

What muscles work:

The main mover is the thigh biceps; The popliteal, calf, and gluteal muscles help with movement. But in the version of working in simulators, the help of non-major muscle groups is minimal;

Benefits of Exercise

Allows you to form a beautiful back surface of the thigh, works not only the biceps of the thigh as a whole, but also forms a beautiful “peak of the biceps”;
Allows you to work with both one leg and two legs, ideal for those who have imbalances in muscle development;
Training the hamstrings is necessary for those bodybuilders who avoid deadlifts and concentrate on squats. Bending will help protect the knees from injury due to uneven muscle development;
It is convenient to pump the hamstrings on a bench with a “kink”; it allows you to reach a more stretched position and increase the amplitude, without increasing the load on the knee, and without overloading the cruciate ligament;
The simulator allows you to achieve perfectly symmetrical muscle development

Flaws

Sometimes athletes get their heels too low on the pad and their hamstrings are not isolated enough. In such a situation, it turns out that the calves become clogged and fail earlier than the hamstrings.

Execution technique

Initial position

Preparation for bending the legs at the knees while lying down depends on the height of the athlete, the length of the bench and the position of the roller for fixation:

The pad is positioned so that you start with your knees slightly bent and move your heel toward your buttocks with relative ease.
It is important to make sure that the clamp does not roll onto the heel, but remains on the bend, near the heel tendon.
When choosing a mass, it is necessary to take into account the experience and strength of the athlete. You should not choose too much weight; the exercise is not related to the development of strength.

To take the initial position, we lie down on the bench with the top of our head up and rest our feet on the pad of the unit.

Movement

What is the technique for bending legs while lying down? It is necessary to perform a number of simple steps:

Bend your knees so that your heels move towards your buttocks.
The movement must be continued until the heels rest on the soft spot or as long as the shins allow.
During the peak period of amplitude, the femoral biceps should be tensed, and then the pelvis should be straightened and the feet should be lowered.
The number of repetitions is from 10 to 20, and more is possible. It is important to stick to your fitness plan.

Chic ladies are advised to perform leg curls while lying on their stomachs in several approaches with a light load. This method burns fat, improves muscle tone and creates an attractive figure.

Men do fewer repetitions, but lift more weight. This increases the volume of the femoral biceps and makes them stronger. This way you can add mass to your calves and make other tasks easier.

Leg bending while lying down in a machine

After the starting position is accepted, we begin the exercise. So, first of all, we take a deep breath, hold our breath and, without lifting our front thighs from the bench, we begin to pull the roller towards the buttocks with powerful movements. After this, we exhale when we have passed one of the most difficult amplitudes. We linger for a few seconds in the highest position and very slowly, without losing control for a second while inhaling, we return to the starting position. Next, we repeat the same procedure a certain number of times.

Recommendations and errors

Experts give a number of tips to those who plan to perform lying double leg curls:

Before you start exercising, you will have to thoroughly stretch and warm up your muscles.
The first approach is best done with minimal weight (in a situation where this exercise is recorded in the first half of the workout).
If you install the roller too close to the heels, you can disrupt the isolation of the biceps. Then the calf zones will start to turn on, but this should not happen. Because of such an error, the lesson will be less fruitful. The calves experience fatigue faster and do not allow the biceps muscle to be properly worked.
When preparing on a horizontal bench, it is important that the hip joints are located in the “break” area.
It is important to constantly monitor that the lower back and buttock muscles are not involved in the work. To do this, do not lift your butt off the bench.

All these tips will make physical labor productive.

Basic errors during execution

When it gets to this point, many builders start saying, “This is not about me.” My technique is perfect, etc...." If this is indeed the case, then congratulations. But even in this case, this information may be useful to you. After all, there are a lot of people in the halls who have not yet achieved mastery. And our task is to help them avoid these mistakes!

Heavy weight

This is one of the common mistakes. This is all due to the fact that people overestimate their strength and want to achieve results as quickly as possible. But this approach can only lead to injury and delay progress. Therefore, take a weight that you can safely work with for 10-15 repetitions. And as you feel that you are ready for heavier loads, you can add weight.

Bending jerkily and lifting by inertia

This error follows smoothly from the first. When an athlete cannot cope with the weight, he begins to use the force of inertia. In fact, it looks very terrifying. At the beginning, the legs fall sharply with the load down, and then when they spring back, they are sharply squeezed up. I think it’s clear what consequences this can have. Take care of your knees! Movements must be under your control.

Body displacement during movement

Many athletes have this peculiarity: in order to reduce their fate, they begin to reduce the amplitude of movement. They do this very simply, changing their position on a bench or in a standing exercise machine. That is, they either slide down or, on the contrary, creep up. This changes the position of the roller on the legs. I wrote above that if you shift the weight to your heels, the load goes to your calves. And if you put the roller on your calves, the range of movement will become very short. Therefore, neither option will work the hamstrings.

Good luck to everyone in your training!

Execution options

The exercise can be performed in all sorts of ways, it all depends on the goal:

One leg movement . This variation was invented primarily for variety. If someone is tired of repeating the same actions, and he decides to make the tension varied. Such approaches can hardly be called very useful, although they can provide significant assistance in recovery from injury.

Standing training . To do this, you can use both specialized and standard equipment. Some experts claim that in this case, you can increase the frequency with which the muscles contract.

Leg bending while lying on a bench with toes in opposite directions . Bodybuilders say that if you regularly move your toes out and in, you can shift the emphasis from the outer to the inner areas of the hamstrings. In reality, my knees do not allow me to perform such a “task” at a high level.

For those who want to gain weight, there are nuances. It is advisable for them to perform fewer approaches, but with the greatest weight. If you want to lose weight, then it makes sense to take a small load, doing as many repetitions as possible.

How to do this exercise correctly

Although lying leg curls are considered one of the simplest exercises, there are still cases of doing it incorrectly, which can lead to the most unpleasant consequences in the future. Therefore, in order to minimize the occurrence of such situations, we will consider the technique of its implementation.

First of all, we approach the simulator and, using the lower roller, set its position in accordance with our height. After this, we lie face down, placing our legs under the bolster (approximately on the same plane as our ankles) and placing them parallel to each other. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring that the knees do not hang off the bench, and that its bend is located at the waist. Next, pressing your pelvis tightly against the machine, we grab the handrail with our hands, directing our gaze to the floor, and strain our abs and buttocks. This completes the preparation for the lesson.

Preparing for the exercise

On professional websites and in printed publications you can read how to prepare the body for such practices. Some people do stretching and warm-up exercises. In fact, such isolation training can be performed immediately after a thorough warm-up. By this minute, enough blood flows into the limbs and they become flexible.

If this exercise comes first in your training plan, then it is better to include a cardio warm-up with a stepper and start with a light weight. Most training machines have an adjustable pad on which to place emphasis. It needs to be adjusted carefully so that the calf muscles are comfortable. Otherwise, this exercise will not bring any benefit.

Proper execution

There is a special technique for bending legs in a lying position:

No need to lift your pelvis. This is fraught with bruising of the lower back if the angle in the ligaments is violated. Typically, when lifting the body significantly, it makes sense to reduce tension and remove excess mass.
Do not quickly push the exercise pad up and increase the mass through inertia. If you are not properly prepared, you can damage your knee ligaments if you work unbalanced.
Try to bend your legs while lying down and straighten your limbs slowly, remaining briefly at the point of greatest contraction. This allows you to get the load and avoid injury.
If you cannot perform the exercise slowly, concentrating your efforts on exhalation, it is better to reduce the load.
Do not rest your kneecap on the bench.

The feet are placed parallel to each other, and the toes remain motionless. It’s good if you can maintain the same distance between your knees during execution.

Errors

At runtime you cannot:

Place your knees on the bench.
Push the load jerkily.
Move at a reduced amplitude (if this is not provided for in the plans).
Lift your pelvis up.

It is important to monitor the correct execution of the exercises.

Exercises at home

As practice shows, you can build up slender legs and firm buttocks without going to the gym. All you need is desire and persistence. In addition, the fundamental difference between classes at home is that they can take place whenever you want and for as long as you want. Plus they are completely free.

There are home exercises that you can do regardless of your fitness level. For example: we stand straight and place our feet slightly wider than shoulder level. We hold our hands on our belts, and “look” in different directions with our toes and knees. After this, we slowly squat as low as possible, remembering to keep our back straight and not bend our knees to the side. In addition, when performing this activity, you need to ensure that the stomach is pulled in and the muscles of the buttocks are tense. The lifts and squats themselves should be done very smoothly.

Adviсe

You can achieve optimal results if:

Avoid “ballet foot” - do not point your toes forward.
Do not overwork the hip ligaments and do not allow the knee joint to extend in the opposite direction. It is advisable to choose a model of exercise machine with a bench located “with a bend”. The hip joint is placed on it.

In this case, good physical shape is ensured.

Inclusion in the program

This movement is not an independent type of activity; it does not replace basic training. It is advisable to do such exercises after the main exercises on the appropriate day, if the athlete has a work calendar.

10 to 12 repetitions are allowed, this number can be increased depending on the personal condition of the body. For strength disciplines, the best option is 3 or 4 approaches. Bodybuilding has separate standards. Professionals use drop sets and other unconventional techniques to ensure intense stretching.

Execution Features

There are some nuances that are important to consider when performing bends, namely:

It is necessary to hold tightly to the handrails, as if pulling yourself towards them.
It is important to press your pelvis firmly against the bench.
Bend your legs until you feel absolute contact with your buttocks, using the full range of motion.
Do not straighten your knees to their full starting position, otherwise this will relieve tension from them, and this should not happen.
You need to raise your legs faster, straighten them slower.
The knees must hang down.
If you have an average, and especially a large, belly, this exercise will not suit you.

The hamstrings need to be stretched after each set.

Contraindications

Before attempting an exercise, the athlete must ensure that it is suitable for them. The lying leg curl has the following limitations:

There are athletes for whom the activity is not suitable due to anthropometric characteristics. They manage to do it only by resting their knees on the bench due to their short stature. In this case, we perform the exercise while standing.
We recommend that you avoid doing leg curls while lying down in a machine if a person has recently injured their knee or if there is a risk of soft tissue inflammation due to overload.
You should not exercise if you have a spasm of the piriformis muscle (with such ailment, after traction training, discomfort in the buttock begins to be transmitted throughout the entire limb). Then the athlete will raise the pelvis, but the hip will not feel the desired load.
Trainers do not recommend performing manipulations after injuries to the ankle or Achilles tendon.
The last contraindication is injury to the lumbar vertebra.

If you do not follow these recommendations, you can only make your health worse.

What is the secret of his popularity?

If you believe the statistics, then lying leg curls are one of the most favorite exercises among the female half of the population. And this is not surprising, given that every girl wants to excite men with her curves from behind, and this is especially true for her legs, which should not only be slender, but also toned. Therefore, the main emphasis must be placed on these muscles. In addition, as mentioned above, such a simulator is an indispensable attribute of any gym.