HOW TO DO MACHINE SEATED LEG CURL
- Sit so the knees line up with the cam. Lock the thigh pad. The ankle pad sits on the lower Achilles, not the mid-calf.
- Hips stay back in the seat. Grab the handles. If you have slid forward, you already lost the stretch.
- Curl the heels under until the knees are well flexed. Do not kick the stack off the pins.
- Lower under control into the stretch with the hips still flexed. Stop before the plates crash or the knees get yanked straight.
- Keep the back on the pad. A shrug off the seat is a cheat, not extra hamstring.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Scooting the hips forward. You shortened the hamstring on purpose. The seated curl exists for the long-length stretch. Sit back or pick another lift.
- Pivot not at the knee. If the cam is behind or in front of the joint, every rep shears. Move the seat until the axes match.
- Swinging the weight up. A kick hides the hard part of the range. Slow the last 30° or drop the pin.
- Logging lying curls on this slug. Prone and seated are different hip angles and different PRs. Scan the seated unit so LIFTAG does not open the lying chart.
VARIATIONS
- Machine lying leg curl — Hips extended on a bench. Same joint, shorter hamstring length.
- Machine leg extension — Antagonist quad isolation if you are pairing on the same stack.
- Nordic hamstring curl — Hard eccentric when the seat is not the limiter.
- Barbell Romanian deadlift — Loaded hinge if you need hamstrings without a curl machine.
PROGRESSIONS
- Light full-range seated curls with the hips locked back.
- Pause a beat at peak flexion without lifting off the seat.
- Single-leg when one side always leaves the pad first.
- Heavier 8–12 once the seat and cam stay put session to session.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Finisher or second hamstring day: 2–4 sets of 8–15. Pair with leg extensions if you want, but log them as two lifts. Scan the seated machine. If you switched to lying mid-block because of a queue, change slug or the estimated 1RM is two hip angles pretending to be one curl.
EQUIPMENT ALTERNATIVES
- Machine lying leg curl — Keep knee flexion when the seated unit is taken.
- Nordic hamstring curl — No curl station. Anchor and lower with intent.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Hips flexed stretch the hamstrings before the knee even moves. A lying stack number will not carry over. That is the point of this slug. If a given seat always hurts the back of the knee, check the cam, shorten the stretch slightly, and do not chase the lying-curl load.
