DerickVonD
Well-known member
Is there a good alternative to hamstring curls, that I can do at home. I can do leg extensions fine on my bench, but whenever I try to do hamstring curls with my bench it feel very uncomfortable.
Alternative to hamstring curls
- Thread starter DerickVonD
- Start date
SilentBob187
Well-known member
Good Mornings? Not as much of an isolation exercise as hamstring curls but it can get the job done.
SilentBob187
Well-known member
stiff legged deadlifts
My vote as well, but I dunno what kinda goodies he has at his house...dammit now I wanna do some SLDLs.
DerickVonD
Well-known member
I have a Golds Gym XRS 20 bench. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong. When I lay on the bench and try to do the hamstring curls where the pads or under my thighs feel too high and it makes my thighs hurt. BTW I checked out what good mornings are...yeah I don't ever want to try those.
SilentBob187
Well-known member
Wah?! Goodmornings are the Bees Knees man. Those are like broomstick twists; old school exercises that you rarely see people doing, but are so beneficial.
DerickVonD
Well-known member
I'm just paranoid, that at some point I won't be able to bring the weight back up and I don't really have a spotter. The bench with the squat attachment I have has safety pins(well not pins idk what these are called) to catch the weight on squats and I lower them to be in chest level for when I do the bench press. With an exercise like goodmornings I'd be scared to do without a spotter.
AZMIDLYF
Legend
Both will hit the hamstrings...I feel the Stiff leg variety put a bit more focus on the hammies though!!
AZMIDLYF
Legend
:biggthumpup:
HATEFULone
Well-known member
Glute ham raises will do the trick if you can rig it up.
pmiller383
Well-known member
First off, when your doing good mornings you will never go down with a weight you can't come up with. You learn your limits really quick with that exercise and as long as you have some common sense with them your going to be safe. Anyway here are some other options which are great alternatives:
Stability Ball Leg Curl/Bridge : This is a really simple exercise in that all you need is a stability ball. Just lay on your back with your heels on the ball, then preform a glute bridge while curling your legs in. This is a humbling exercise that works your hamstrings at both insertions points.
Natural Glute Ham Raise : Invalid Link Removed
Deadlift Variations : Super solid alternative but can be hard to properly isolate unless your form is spot on. I prefer grappler deadlifts, which is where you set up two bars like you would a t-bar row and then just preform a straight leg deadlift with them. To hit your hamstrings more elevate your toes slightly.
Kettle Bell Swings : You can use dumbbells for these as well or make your own handle from home depot out of pipe.
Stability Ball Leg Curl/Bridge : This is a really simple exercise in that all you need is a stability ball. Just lay on your back with your heels on the ball, then preform a glute bridge while curling your legs in. This is a humbling exercise that works your hamstrings at both insertions points.
Natural Glute Ham Raise : Invalid Link Removed
Deadlift Variations : Super solid alternative but can be hard to properly isolate unless your form is spot on. I prefer grappler deadlifts, which is where you set up two bars like you would a t-bar row and then just preform a straight leg deadlift with them. To hit your hamstrings more elevate your toes slightly.
Kettle Bell Swings : You can use dumbbells for these as well or make your own handle from home depot out of pipe.
davez325
New member
Theres variations to the Leg Curls as well. 1. With both legs. 2. Lift with both legs, drop one leg, lower with 1 leg slowly. 3. With both legs, at the top, tuck your heels in, then lower. 4. One-legged curls.
The Glut Ham Raises are killer!
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts. Duh!
Lunges also work hams.
I've found that heavy weight, low reps on Leg Curls works the best, and light weight, high reps on Stiff-Legged Deadlifts hits the spot since more muscles are involved.
Try supersets for hams!
The Glut Ham Raises are killer!
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts. Duh!
Lunges also work hams.
I've found that heavy weight, low reps on Leg Curls works the best, and light weight, high reps on Stiff-Legged Deadlifts hits the spot since more muscles are involved.
Try supersets for hams!
DerickVonD
Well-known member
I was thinking about switching from deads to Romanian deadlifts. It kind of sucks changing from deadlifts to Romanian deads only for the fact that I just got my form down for deads. I'm only doing 80lbs on deads since I just got my form right. How much would I need to drop for Romanian deads? Also I looked on how to do them, but I'd also like some pointers on how to start and what some common mistakes are when doing them.
jcp2
Active member
You will have to gauge your weight, i am really not sure. The commone mistakes people make is not knowing the difference between a romanian dead and a SLDL. I will try and explain the perfect way to do a romanian dead.
Take the bar ouf the rack standing straight. Break with your ass, drivingit back as you begin to bend down keep the bar tight to your body and a hard arch. Your ass should be pretty far back now, where if someone was standing directly behind you when you started you would have knocked them out of the way. When your hard arch feels like it is going to break, reverse and remember to snap your hips through. You should feel quite a bit of tension on your hams when you are doing this, and how far you can go down will depend on the person.