Standing Single Leg Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings and glutes with the Standing Single Leg Curl. This bodyweight exercise improves balance, stability, and lower body strength
Description
A leg exercise performed while standing, curling one leg at a time. It focuses on targeting the hamstrings and the glutes.
How to Do Standing Single Leg Curl
- 1Setup
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, ensuring a slight bend in both knees and your core engaged.
- 2Setup
Shift your weight onto one leg, maintaining a soft bend in the standing knee, and keep your gaze forward.
- 3
Exhale as you slowly bend the knee of your free leg, bringing your heel towards your glutes as far as comfortably possible, focusing on hamstring contraction.
- 4
Squeeze your hamstring at the peak of the movement, then inhale as you slowly lower your leg back to the starting position with control, avoiding swinging.
- 5
Complete all desired repetitions on one leg before smoothly switching to the other leg, maintaining your balance throughout the set.
Tips
- Focus on controlled movement, avoiding momentum to maximize hamstring engagement throughout the entire range of motion.
- Keep your hips stable and squared forward; avoid tilting or rotating your pelvis as you curl your leg.
- Maintain a soft bend in your standing knee to prevent hyperextension and improve overall stability.
- Actively squeeze your glute on the standing leg to enhance balance and support the movement.
Common Mistakes
- ×Using momentum to curl the leg reduces hamstring activation; instead, perform the movement slowly and with deliberate muscle control.
- ×Allowing the hips to rotate or tilt compromises stability and can strain the lower back; keep your hips level and facing forward throughout the exercise.
- ×Hyperextending the standing knee can place undue stress on the joint; maintain a slight bend in the standing leg to protect your knee.
Variations
Assisted Inverse Leg Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings with the Assisted Inverse Leg Curl, a unique exercise using arm support to focus on powerful leg flexion and posterior chain
Resistance Band Leg Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings effectively with the Resistance Band Leg Curl. This isolation exercise targets the back of your thighs for improved muscle tone
Resistance Band Seated Leg Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings with the Resistance Band Seated Leg Curl. This effective exercise targets the back of your thighs for improved lower body
Resistance Band Seated Single Leg Curl
Perform a seated single-leg curl with a resistance band to isolate and strengthen your hamstrings.
Related Exercises
Nordic Hamstring Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings with the Nordic Hamstring Curl. This intense bodyweight exercise builds eccentric and concentric hamstring power and prevents
Single Leg Platform Slide
Strengthen your hamstrings and improve balance with the Single Leg Platform Slide. This bodyweight exercise targets the posterior chain for powerful legs.
Quadruped Leg Curl
Strengthen your hamstrings with the quadruped leg curl. This bodyweight exercise targets the back of your thighs, improving knee flexion and muscle
Inverse Leg Curl (bench support)
Strengthen your hamstrings with the Inverse Leg Curl. This bodyweight exercise uses a bench for support, focusing on powerful leg contractions to lift
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