# Dumbbell Lying Leg Curl: how to do it

- Main muscles: hamstrings
- Also works: calves
- Equipment: dumbbell, bench
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell_lying_leg_curl/e4f972652a/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Lie face down on a flat bench with your knees just off the end.
2. Have someone place a light dumbbell between your feet, or set it there before you lie down; squeeze it between your arches.
3. Pull your toes up and hold the sides of the bench.
4. Bend your knees to bring the dumbbell up until your shins are vertical.
5. Lower it slowly until your legs are almost straight.

## Cues

- Hips down into the bench.
- Squeeze the dumbbell, toes up.
- Slow on the way down.

## Common mistakes

- Lifting the hips to swing the weight up.
- Going past vertical and losing the dumbbell.
- Using a dumbbell too heavy to control.

## The version in our demo

A hamstring curl without a machine: lying face down on a flat bench with one dumbbell squeezed between the feet.

## Starting position

Lie face down on a flat bench with the kneecaps just off its end, hips and thighs on the pad, trunk level. Hold the sides of the bench near the front end. A dumbbell stands between the feet: the handle squeezed between the arches, one head over the toes and one at the heels. Ankles flexed (toes pulled up towards the shins) so the bell can't slip; legs nearly straight.

## The movement

Bend only the knees, bringing the heels up until the shins are vertical (about 90°). Pause, then lower slowly to nearly straight. The hips stay pressed into the bench; don't arch the lower back or lift the thighs.

## Breathing

Breathe out as you curl; breathe in as you lower.

## Tempo

1.4 s curl, 0.4 s pause, 1.8 s lowering, 0.4 s with the legs out.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Knee flexion, start → top | 5–12° → 90° | top 80–95° (past vertical the bell slides off) |  |
| Kneecaps past the bench end | 4 cm | 2–8 cm |  |
| Hip lift off the pad | 0 cm | ≤ 1 cm |  |
| Ankles | flexed about 90° to the shin all the way | toes never pointed |  |
| Feet | together, squeezing the handle | — |  |
| Face above the pad | ≥ 3 cm (head lifted a little) | — |  |

## Sources

1. [ExRx.net, "Dumbbell Lying Leg Curl" (prone on a bench, knees just past the end, dumbbell between the feet, raise until the knees are fully flexed short of the bell falling, lower)](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/DBLyingLegCurl)
2. [ACE Exercise Library, "Lying leg curl" (hips down, knees only, controlled lowering)](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/)
3. NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15, lying leg (knee) curl

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell-lying-leg-curl