Here’s a new installment of DO THIS NOT THAT blog series identifying better alternatives to common mistakes we regularly see in the gym. Today, we’re focusing on maximizing efficiency of your time in gym training: HAMSTRINGS!
1. Safety & Injuries. Leg curls may be one of the worst exercises you could do in the gym. Chance of knee injury due to hyperextension and/or incorrect loading of the knee joint are incredibly high.
2. Biomechanics. The knee joint isn’t designed to perform flexion while the hips are also in flexion. Leg curls require this biomechanically incorrect movement pattern.
3. Compound Exercise. Leg curls train the hamstrings in isolation, which is unnatural. The hamstrings and glutes always should work together to execute movement, as in a properly executed deadlift.
4. Calorie Burn. In addition to working glutes and hamstrings, deadlifts also recruit muscles of the back and core. As always, more muscles working simultaneously increases caloric burn both in workout and performed regularly, raises resting metabolic rate around the clock!
5. Greater Gains. Deadlifts are superior exercise to develop hamstring and overall posterior chain strength as you can move far more weight. The Result? Bigger gains!
Fail: Leg Curls
So the simple truth is this, if you want a functionally strong posterior chain and core, DO deadlifts NOT hamstring curls.
