Seated Leg Curl

Execution

1. Sit tall with your back firm against the pad, holding the sides of the seat, the thigh pad locked down.
2. Exhale and curl the back of your ankles down and back under the seat through a full range.
3. Hold for a beat at the deepest point your hamstrings can still control.
4. Inhale and extend the legs back to the start under control over 2-3 seconds, without letting the weight drop fast.
5. Keep your back and hips pinned to the seat for the whole set; the hips lifting means the load is too heavy.
6. If you run out of strength mid-set, let the legs extend slowly with the load until the stack settles, then unlock the thigh restraint pad, lift it up, and only then slide your legs out and stand up.

Quick cues

• Knee lined up with the machine's pivot.
• Back and hips pinned to the seat.
• Curl the full range, don't cut it short.
• Extend slow, keep the tension.
• Picture dragging your heels toward the seat.

Common faults

• Fault: Hips lifting off the seat on a heavy curl

  Fix: Drop one plate and hold the sides of the seat so the hips stay pinned all set.

• Fault: Setting the knee off the machine's pivot point

  Fix: Reset the seat until the knee joint lines up with the pivot before you start.

• Fault: Only curling through a short range near the middle

  Fix: Use the full range from near-straight to the deepest controlled curl.

• Fault: Releasing the thigh pad and pulling the legs out while the stack is still hanging

  Fix: Let the legs extend fully so the stack settles before unlocking the pad and sliding the legs out.