Are Leg Curls a Worthwhile Hamstring Exercise?

Specificity in Training is Variable

If you are deadlifter, leg curls may be a useful general preparation exercise. During specific preparation, however, they do not make such sense.

The more advanced you become as a lifter, and the closer you are to competition, the less important leg curls become, as they do not produce force in a way that directly results in improved hip extension ability.

If you were a sprinter, however, the same rule would not apply. In running, the hamstrings serve as both hip extensors and knee flexors.

To understand the concept, think of the sprinter running down the track. Each time the foot strikes the ground, the quadriceps absorb the eccentric force of the landing, while the hamstrings and gluteals pull the hip through the movement into extension. In this way, the hamstrings are a locomotor, like they are in the deadlift.

However, something has to provide balance to forces produced by the quadriceps when they reverse their eccentric contraction and extend the opposite knee on the next stride. If the hamstrings  do not provide that counterbalance, the athlete will strain or tear their hamstrings. Sprinters at the world class level report less incidence of hamstring pulls when leg curls are added to their strength training routines, so leg curls are actually, depending upon the sport you are involved in, a very appropriate general or specific preparation exercise.

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