Standing Leg Curl

Execution

1. Lean your hips into the support pad, grip the handles firmly, and keep the standing leg's knee slightly bent and steady.
2. Exhale and curl the heel of the working leg up toward the glute through the full range.
3. Hold for a beat at the top, keeping your hips square and not twisting with the working leg.
4. Inhale and lower the leg back under control over 2 seconds, without swinging it.
5. Keep the torso upright for the whole set, without leaning forward to help swing the weight.
6. If you run out of strength mid-set, lower the heel back through the full range under control until the stack settles, then take your leg off the ankle pad, release the handles and step back out of the frame.
7. After one side, switch legs and reset the ankle pad for the other leg before starting the next set.

Quick cues

• Hips braced, don't twist off square.
• Only the knee moves, torso stays still.
• Curl the full range every rep.
• Standing leg steady, knee soft.
• Picture flicking your heel toward your glute.

Common faults

• Fault: Leaning the torso far forward to help swing the weight

  Fix: Keep the hips against the support pad and isolate the movement to the knee joint.

• Fault: Twisting the hips out of square while balancing on the standing leg

  Fix: Keep the hips square and stable throughout, without twisting with the working leg.

• Fault: Locking the standing knee straight and losing a bit of balance

  Fix: Keep a slight bend in the standing knee for the whole set.

• Fault: Pulling the leg off the ankle pad while the stack is still hanging mid-air

  Fix: Lower through the full range so the stack settles before taking the leg off.