Lying Leg Curl
hamstrings
What moves the load, and what it costs
3.5MET
Hamstrings is the prime mover, with the calves assisting. The standard knee-flexion hamstring exercise. It trains the half of the hamstrings' job that a Romanian deadlift does not.
Cue: Keep the hips pressed into the pad and pause for a beat at the top of every rep.
ਸਰੋਤ·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER WEIGHTS, 8–15 REPS·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files lying leg curl under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 3.5, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so lying leg curl is filed under Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance.
- Take the category's MET value — 3.5. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 3.5 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Lying Leg Curl: 3.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal/min
ਸਰੋਤ·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| HamstringsBiceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus | Prime mover | Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully. |
| ਪਿੰਜਣੀਆਂGastrocnemius and soleus | Synergist / stabiliser | Point the foot down (plantarflexion). Gastrocnemius also crosses the knee, so it works hardest with the leg straight; soleus takes over when the knee is bent. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Machine. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · ISOLATION
- Set the machine so the knee joint lines up with the pivot and the pad rests just above the heels.
- Brace the trunk and keep the hips pressed down — they should not lift to help.
- Keep the hips pressed into the pad and pause for a beat at the top of every rep.
- Bend the knees through the full range, squeezing the hamstrings at the end.
- Hold for a beat at peak contraction.
- Lower slowly to full extension; the lengthened half is where hamstrings are most trainable.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Lifting the hips to finish the rep.
That is the hip flexors and lower back joining a hamstring exercise. Keep the hips down and lighten the load.
Cutting the bottom of the range.
Let the knees straighten fully between reps.
Only ever curling.
Hamstrings cross two joints. Pair knee-flexion work with a hip hinge such as the Romanian deadlift, or half the muscle stays untrained.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Nothing on this site regresses it further: this is already near the entry point of its pattern. Take load off, shorten the range, or slow the tempo — in that order.
Progress — the next demand
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a single-joint movement does its best work in moderate to high reps — very low reps load the joint before the muscle.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–4 | 6–10 | 2 ਮਿੰਟ | Single-joint work responds poorly to very low reps — the joint gets the load before the muscle does. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 10–15 | 60–90 sec | This is where isolation work earns its place: cheap volume for one muscle, little systemic fatigue. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–3 | 15–25 | 30–45 sec | High reps here are genuinely useful — the load is small enough that form survives the fatigue. |
| First month | 2 | 12–15 | 60 sec | Light. Isolation work is for adding volume later, not for building a base. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance — 3.5 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 3.5 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 4.29 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
ਸਰੋਤ·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Nothing at all to hand: Stability Ball Leg Curl is the closest match — same prime mover, same pattern, no kit.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the lying leg curl work?
Lying Leg Curl is a single-joint isolation movement in which the hamstrings is the prime mover, assisted by the calves. Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully.
Is the lying leg curl good for beginners?
ਹਾਂ। ਇਸ ਸਾਈਟ ਉੱਤੇ ਤਕਨੀਕੀ ਔਖਿਆਈ ਵਿੱਚ ਇਸਨੂੰ 5 ਵਿੱਚੋਂ 1 ਦਰਜਾ ਮਿਲਿਆ ਹੈ — ਬਿਨਾਂ ਕੋਚਿੰਗ ਦੇ ਇੱਕੋ ਸੈਸ਼ਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਿੱਖਣਯੋਗ। ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਹਲਕੇ ਸਮਝਦਾਰ ਭਾਰ ਅਤੇ 12–15 ਦੇ ਦੋ ਜਾਂ ਤਿੰਨ ਸੈੱਟਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕਰੋ।
What can I do instead of the lying leg curl at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the stability ball leg curl, which trains the same prime mover through the same movement pattern. If you own a little equipment, the resistance band leg curl is closer still. It will not load you as heavily, so use higher reps and slower tempo to make up the difference.
How many sets and reps of the lying leg curl should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 10–15 with 60–90 sec rest. For strength, 3–4 sets of 6–10 with 2 min rest. In your first month, 2 sets of 12–15, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the lying leg curl burn fat from the hamstrings?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the hamstrings builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
The people behind these sites
Follow the build
This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
Amit Sharma
@amitsharmaofficial
Instagram
Geeta Patel
@geetapatelnz
Instagram
Geeta Patel
GeetaPatelYoga
Facebook
Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.
