Lying leg curl
Also called prone leg curl, lying hamstring curl.
What is a lying leg curl?
A lying leg curl is a machine exercise performed face down while you bend the knees against a padded lever. It isolates the hamstrings from a hip-extended setup and is commonly tracked separately from seated leg curls.
How do you perform a lying leg curl?
Set up
- Adjust the machine so your knees sit just beyond the bench hinge and the roller rests low on the backs of your lower legs.
- Lie face down with your hips and torso supported, grip the handles and begin with your legs almost straight.
Execution
- Bend your knees to curl the roller toward the backs of your thighs without lifting your hips from the bench.
- Stop where you can keep the pelvis and torso settled instead of arching to chase extra range.
- Lower the roller under control to the long starting position and repeat without bouncing the stack.
Common mistakes
Placing the knees too far onto the bench
Adjust your position so the knees can bend freely near the machine hinge instead of pressing into the pad edge.
Lifting the hips to finish
Use less load or a shorter controlled range when the pelvis leaves the bench.
Letting the stack pull the legs straight
Slow the return and finish each repetition in the same supported position.
Where it fits in a session
Use it as direct hamstring work after compound lower-body exercises or as the session's main knee-flexion exercise.
Keep the pad and body position consistent when comparing loads across sessions.
Muscles worked
Primary
Secondary
- None listed in this guide
Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
The prone machine trains the hamstrings by resisting knee flexion while the hips remain near extended.
Variations
- Seated leg curl — Keeps the hips flexed against a backrest while the knees bend.
- Standing leg curl — Uses a supported upright machine and trains one side at a time.
- Single-leg lying curl — Uses the prone machine one leg at a time.
Frequently asked questions
What muscles do lying leg curls work?
They primarily train the hamstrings by loading knee flexion.
Where should your knees sit?
Place them just beyond the bench edge and close to the machine's hinge so they can bend freely.
How far should you curl?
Curl as far as you can while the hips and torso remain supported. Stop before the pelvis lifts or the lower back takes over.
Is a lying leg curl the same as a seated leg curl?
The joint action is the same, but the hip position and machine setup differ enough that many lifters keep separate histories for them.