As a fitness editor, there’s nothing I love more than a weird and wonderful workout challenge. to try 50 walking boards a day for a weeka walk 10,000 steps a day for a month, I have tried everything. Next on my list was hamstring curls, so I decided to add 50 to my routine for a week; Read on to find out what happened.
The simple hamstring curl targets the muscles on the back of the thigh, including the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris, which make up the hamstrings. These muscles work together to allow you to bend the knee and move the thigh, which is essential for walking and running. A hamstring curl, or leg curl, is a simple exercise that involves bending your knees and moving your heels toward your buttocks while keeping the rest of your body still. It’s usually done on a leg curl machine, but there are several alternatives you can do without going to a gym.
The hamstring curl is a great exercise for runners, but what would 50 a day do to my legs? I started to find out. As a reminder, it is not recommended to work on the same muscle group every day, as it is important to give your muscles time to recover after being stressed. If you’re new to an exercise or returning to exercise after an injury, it’s a good idea to review your form with a personal trainer before adding repetitions or weight to the movement.
Looking for more workout inspiration? This is what happened when this writer did biceps curl every day for a weekplus when our fitness writer challenged her shoulders with 50 Arnold presses a day for a week.
How to do a hamstring curl
As I mentioned in the introduction, I mainly focused on variations that didn’t involve going to the gym. Here are some options:
Standing Hamstring Curl: This is the simplest form of hamstring curl. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and shift your weight to your left leg. Bend your right knee, bringing your heel up to your right buttock, then slowly lower your leg back to the starting position. Complete all reps on one side before moving to the opposite leg.
Prone Hamstring Curl: To do a prone hamstring curl, use a long resistance band and wrap it around something stable. Lying on your stomach, loop the resistance band around one heel, with your ankle flexed. Pull against the resistance band to lower your heel to your buttocks. Pause, then straighten your leg back to your starting position.
Dumbbell Hamstring Curl: To do a dumbbell hamstring curl, hold a dumbbell between your feet and curl both feet toward your glutes, then lower back down to your starting position. You can also use a set of best ankle weights if you don’t have a dumbbell handy.
I Did 50 Hamstring Curls A Day For A Week: Here’s What Happened
As a runner, strong legs are important when it comes to getting faster and avoiding injury, but after 350 hamstring curls for a week, here are the lessons learned:
I realized how lazy my hamstrings and glutes have become.
Like many runners, I suffer from glute weakness and quickly realized how dominant I had become as a runner in my first 50 hamstring curls. I opted to add a resistance band and do prone hamstring curls, and I could definitely feel the back of my legs working hard during the move. I also quickly realized that one leg was much stronger than the other – I’m right-handed and tend to lead from my right leg, but doing single-leg hamstring curls really highlighted that my left side was weaker.
If you are looking for a set of best resistance bands to train at home, here we have found them. You will want a long band for this exercise.
I enjoyed the variety of this exercise.
During some of these week-long challenges, I’m sick of working out by day two. The joy of hamstring curls was the ability to mix things up each day. I grabbed a set of ankle weights and did standing hamstring curls one day, placed a dumbbell between my feet on another, and even used a yoga ball to perform leg curls, resting my feet on the ball and lifting my hips up and down. legs off the ground. , then roll the ball on my buttocks. One day I even went to the gym to do them on the leg curl machine, but I preferred using resistance bands and weights instead.
Whether you’re at home or at the gym, this is a move that can be easily adjusted or modified.
Adding resistance and weight upped the ante
I found that using resistance bands and weights helped increase the load on the hamstrings during this exercise. When using a heavier weight, it’s important to think about pressing your belly button into the mat to avoid arching your back and putting pressure on your spine.
I won’t be doing them every day, but I will be adding them to my leg workouts in the future.
By the end of this week, I definitely felt this movement in my hamstrings. No physio would recommend working out the same muscle group every day, so while I’ll definitely be adding hamstring curls to my leg workouts in the future, I’m hoping to take a break for now.
Looking for more leg day inspiration? Look at this 7-Move Kettlebell Leg Workout to Build Bigger Legsas good as this 7 minute resistance band glute workout.
