This Bodyweight Leg Exercise Will Wreck You

All you need to play is the floor and a ball

Include this in your workouts. With just your body weight, it’ll build your hamstrings, glutes, and calves. It can be done anywhere.

It looks easy. Spoiler Alert: It’s Not!

The Stability Leg curls are one of those exercises that lifters tend to overlook because they think it is too difficult. Don’t be fooled. Lifters who have been lifting for years often feel pain in their legs when they first attempt it.

Think of this ham curl as a way to balance out the volume you’re placing on all the quad work you do. Whenever my knees get cranky, it’s a reminder to refocus my efforts on these. It can also be used as a warm-up for the lower body, even though it is difficult. You can also build strength and size by using the right progression for your level.

Begin with the stability ball ham curl and then work your way up to the progressions.

1. The Standard Stability Ball Ham Curl

• Begin by placing your calves on the ball. Keep your legs straight and your arms extended to the sides.
• You can raise your hips by pressing the glutes. Keep your abs straight and the ribs down.
• Pull your heels in and extend your hips up simultaneously. Don’t overarche your back.
• The movement should start at the top with a straight line running from your knees down to your hips. Lower down until you reach the starting position. Maintain control by straightening your legs and keeping your hips high.

Check out these new variations, which you may not have tried before:

2. Low-Hip Ham Curl

The easiest position to use is the one with your hips at the lowest. You could also use this as a way to work up to more difficult variations. You could even try this as part of a drop set, which you’ll see below.

3. 2-Up, 1-Down Ham Curl

Using only one leg on one phase of this exercise is still going to be more challenging than the standard bilateral version, but it won’t be quite as hard as doing it with one leg during both phases.

4. Low-Hip Ham Curl

This lift is also easier if you curl your legs lower than normal. So this would be a great regression if you don’t quite have the standard version down yet. Even if you do, lowering your hips will shift the emphasis to knee flexion to complete the movement, which might be exactly what you’re going for.

The biceps fimus consists of both a long and a short head. Unlike the other hamstring muscles, the short head of the biceps femoris doesn’t cross the hip joint, so it only assists in knee flexion. This variation will see it more often.

5. Single-Leg Ham Curl

This is the most difficult variation, as only one leg is being used and the hips are elevated the entire time.

6. Hamstrings of Steel Drop Set

Combine all these variations for a nasty drop set that’s sure to pump up your leg biceps.

This series should be done for at least 1-3 sets. Each week, try to add one or two reps.

Why your Foot Position is Important

The semimembranosus (inner), semitendinosus and semifemoris (outer), are the hamstrings. Semitendinosus, semimembranosus aid in medial rotation of your leg. Leg curls with the feet slightly inward can put more emphasis on these muscles.

The biceps fimus assists in lateral leg rotation. Therefore, leg curls with your feet slightly outward can be done to emphasize the outer portion of your hamstring. For balanced development, experiment with feet that are turned in, turned out and neutral.

Medial Focus

Lateral Focus

Balanced Development

The most difficult position may require extra attention.

How to Program it

• Stability ball hamstring curls work well in a warm-up You can focus on your lower body during a session. Choose the progression that will allow you to do 1-2 sets with 10-20 reps.
• For a strength- and muscle-building workout, choose a variation that allows for 3-4 sets with approximately 6-15 reps.
• Pick a variation that allows you to perform 1-3 sets of 15 reps. You can also experiment with the drop set.

These can be easily recovered from and you can tolerate higher frequency training weeks. This exercise is simple to do anywhere, and it’s anything but easy. Build hamstrings Healthy knees You will get a reward for your efforts!

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I poo-poo’d this exercise when I first saw it a while back. Then, I tried it. Turns out, it’s not poo-poo at all. This is very humble. Very sore hammies.

Agreed, I hadn’t done them in a few months, just had leg day on Tuesday and decided to throw 3 sets in at the end. Before cramping began, I only managed 2×15 standard-style curls. I knew I was too fried to stop. This is a great movement.