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Exercise guide

Standing Leg Curl

How to do the Standing Leg Curl with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

IsolationMachineBeginnerPull
Primary muscles

Hamstrings

Secondary

Equipment

Machine

Step by step

How to do the Standing Leg Curl

  1. 1

    Adjust the machine lever to fit your height and lie with your torso bent at the waist facing forward around 30-45 degrees (since an angled position is more favorable for hamstrings recruitment) with the pad of the lever on the back of your right leg (just a few inches under the calves) and the front of the right leg on top of the machine pad.

  2. 2

    Keeping the torso bent forward, ensure your leg is fully stretched and grab the side handles of the machine. Position your toes straight. This will be your starting position.

  3. 3

    As you exhale, curl your right leg up as far as possible without lifting the upper leg from the pad. Once you hit the fully contracted position, hold it for a second.

  4. 4

    As you inhale, bring the legs back to the initial position. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

  5. 5

    Perform the same exercise now for the left leg.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Standing Leg Curl set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your hamstrings volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More hamstrings exercises

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