Beauty

Benefit exercises

Performing full lying bends puts a load on all the muscles of the back of the thigh, as well as the calves. Given the isolating nature of the exercise, leg curls are the best choice to work on the definition and separation of the muscles of the back of the thigh.

In addition, leg curl is a movement characteristic of many other sports, which means that performing this exercise will allow you to improve athletic performance in such disciplines as football, basketball, running, athletics, jumping, wrestling, gymnastics, acrobatics, swimming and many others.

Lying Leg Curl Technique

1. Lie with your whole body face down on the bench so that your knees are beyond its edge. Secure your ankles with special rollers, and grab the edges of the bench or the handles specially designed for this with your hands. This is the starting position.

2. Inhale and, holding your breath, gently bend your knees, trying to bring the roller to touch the back of your thighs.

3. As you exhale, slowly lower your legs back. And without pausing in the starting position, perform the required number of repetitions.

It is important:

If possible, perform the exercise on a bench with an inflection in the groin area, this increases the effectiveness of the exercise due to the maximum stretching of the muscles of the back of the thigh. It is also important to work with the maximum amplitude: fully straightening and bending the legs.

In this exercise, as in no other, the pace of its implementation is important. Slow — the risk of injury to the knees, fast, especially with jerks — is traumatic for the lumbar region. Optimal for execution will be a general moderate pace, but with acceleration at the beginning of the ascent.

Pay attention to the position of the knees, they should be completely behind the edge of the bench.

Stretching your feet will increase the load on the calf muscles, but at the same time there is a risk of cramping in the calves.

Do not allow a strong superiority of one muscle group over another: quadriceps and hamstrings, this is fraught with knee injury. Therefore, follow the uniform development of both muscle groups.

Options exercises

• Standing leg curls
• Seated Leg Curl

And besides these options, performed in special simulators, you can change the emphasis of the load by turning the socks during the exercise:

By turning your toes inward, you increase the load on the hamstrings.

And in the case of turning the socks to the sides, you make the semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles work to a greater extent.

Working muscles

• biceps thigh
• semitendinosus
• semimembranosus
• calf muscle

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