“For the past 10 years, my favorite hamstring exercise for bodybuilding has been the seated leg curl. Why?”
You’re about to find out. That’s bodybuilding coach Joe Bennett — a veteran musclesmith who works with physique pros like Dana Linn Bailey and Terrence Ruffin on the regular.
On Jul. 1, 2024, Bennett took to social media to explain why he thinks the seated leg curl is better for building muscle than the lying leg curl, and why he almost never programs the latter.
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We’re going to break down Bennett’s rationale and dig into the available scientific research to see if his recommendations hold water. Spoiler alert: The “Hypertrophy Coach” knows what he’s talking about.
“Never” Do Lying Leg Curls to Build Muscle?
“There are no ‘secret’ exercises, but I pretty much never program lying leg curls,” Bennett cautions at the outset of his presentation. However, he’s a staunch proponent of the seated leg curl for adding mass. Why?
- Force Output: Bennett suggests that completing the lying leg curl is unduly difficult in an unproductive way. “Squeezing out the last 10 degrees of range of motion [has a cost],” he says.
- Load Profile: Bennett is big on an exercise’s load profile; which parts of the movement are hardest and which are too easy. Simply put, he offers that the lying leg curl is too difficult when the muscle is shortened, which isn’t conducive to maximizing muscle growth.
- Bracing: With no clasp or belt securing your hips to the pad, it’s all too easy to lift your hips off the seat to provide additional leverage to your hamstrings. In essence, it’s very easy to cheat your form on the lying leg curl.
The seated leg curl remedies most to all of these issues, according to Bennett. But what does scientific literature have to say?
Extra Credit: Bennett also endorses the seated leg curl above even the deadlift for muscle growth. “The bracing [provided by the machine] provides a low tax on additional musculature,” he says. In short, you can isolate your ‘hammies better with a machine that takes stability out of the equation.
What the Science Says
Bennett isn’t blowing smoke here: The seated and lying leg curls may look like two halves of the same coin, but small biomechanical nuances make a world of difference when it comes to maximizing hypertrophy.
According to a 2021 paper comparing the two movements, authors Maeo et al. concluded:
- “Hamstrings muscle size can be more effectively increased by seated than prone leg curl training … both are similarly effective in reducing susceptibility to muscle damage.” (1)
In plain English, this data indicates that both machine exercises help improve resilience in the muscles surrounding the knee joint, but the seated leg curl has much more to offer on the muscle-building front.
Possible Explanation: A growing body of literature is beginning to show that applying tension to a muscle when it is stretched out is optimal for growth. (2) Your hamstrings cross both the knee and hip joints; by sitting upright (when you’re flexed at the hip), you pull the tissue “taut” and apply more tension overall.
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Your Takeaway
Here’s your next move. Head to your gym with a screwdriver and begin dismantling the lying leg curl machine, then stuff the parts into your gym bag and turn a tidy profit on Facebook Marketplace.
No, but seriously — Bennett himself acknowledges that no bodybuilding exercise is muscle magic. Like the aforementioned screwdriver, you should think of them as tools in your toolbox. But the reality seems to be that the seated leg curl crushes its counterpart when it comes to building muscle.
- If your leg workouts aren’t producing the results you want, try performing more seated leg curls. Bennett specifically recommends doing them at the very beginning of your bodybuilding workouts before compound exercises like squats.
Use Case: The mechanics of the lying leg curl closely replicate how someone would perform the Nordic curl exercise. Nordic curls have been shown to be very effective at rehabilitating knee and hamstring injuries in athletes, (3) but are notoriously challenging to perform. You may consider using the lying leg curl as a stepping-stone in that respect.
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References
- Maeo S, Huang M, Wu Y, Sakurai H, Kusagawa Y, Sugiyama T, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021 Apr 1;53(4):825-837. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002523. PMID: 33009197; PMCID: PMC7969179.
- Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. European journal of sport science, 22(8), 1250–1260.
- Cuthbert M, Ripley N, McMahon JJ, Evans M, Haff GG, Comfort P. The Effect of Nordic Hamstring Exercise Intervention Volume on Eccentric Strength and Muscle Architecture Adaptations: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses. Sports Med. 2020 Jan;50(1):83-99. doi: 10.1007/s40279-019-01178-7. Erratum in: Sports Med. 2020 Jan;50(1):101-102. doi: 10.1007/s40279-019-01208-4. PMID: 31502142; PMCID: PMC6942028.
Featured Image: Hypertrophy Coach / YouTube
