The lying leg curl machine is a popular exercise to work on the hamstring muscles, but not every gym has one. No worries though, there are plenty of alternative exercises I use that can be done at any gym or home and offer the same benefits.
The 12 best leg curl alternatives are:
- Nordic Curl
- Stability Ball Hamstring Curl
- Hamstring Slide
- Glute Bridge Walkout
- Barbell Deadlift
- Barbell Romanian Deadlift
- Barbell Good Morning
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
- Kettlebell Swing
- Cable Pull Through
- Cable Leg Curl
- Resistance Band Leg Curl
Continue reading to the end to learn why you should try these 12 exercises during your next leg day. You don’t want to miss out on top tips and tricks from a professional strength coach.
I use all of these exercises for my clients and myself in workouts. These hamstring exercises have made a big jump in my lower body strength.
Table of Contents
Bodyweight Leg Curl Alternatives
1. Nordic Hamstring Curls
This exercise is the mean stepmother of the glute ham raise. It’s great for hamstring development and requires very little equipment or a partner to hold your feet.
It’s pretty much a leg curl where you curl your body weight instead of a weight stack.
This exercise is much like the glute ham raise. It is a great strength builder, so keep your volume between 5 and 8 reps for 3 sets.
- Purpose: Strength and growth
- Prime Rep Range: 4-8
- Difficulty: Very difficult
How To Do It
- Kneel on a foam pad or pillow.
- Wedge your legs under something heavier than you, or have a partner hold your legs down by the ankles.
- Start with an upright posture and knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
- Descend as close to the floor as you can while maintaining your hip angle.
- Pull yourself back up to the start position through your heels.
Pro Tip: I’ve had very few clients who could perform these with ease. They’re a very hard exercise. Start by just controlling the eccentric lowering so your thighs are touching the pad at the bottom position. Push yourself back to the starting position.
Unsure what the differences are between a glute-ham raise and Nordic curl are? Read Glute Ham Raise Vs Nordic Curl: Differences, Pros, Cons to learn more.
2. Stability Ball Hamstring Curl
Most gyms have stability balls. You can also find them at almost every sporting goods store or online if you have a home gym. These are a great leg curl alternative because they work both ends of the hamstrings.
- Purpose: Growth, endurance, and stability
- Prime Rep Range: 10-15
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
How To Do It
- Lay on the floor with a stability ball underneath your heels.
- Extend at the hips so that you are supported on your upper back and the ball.
- Curl the ball back under you until your knees reach 90 degrees.
- Allow your legs to straighten while keeping control of the movement to return to the start position.
Pro Tip: If you are looking for a real challenge, try a single-leg stability ball hamstring curl.
Want to know the difference between leg curls and leg extensions? Check out our article Leg Extension vs Leg Curls.
3. Hamstring Slide
These are one of my favorite at-home exercise alternatives because they require no equipment and are more effective than they may seem. They’re a great stability ball leg curl alternative for someone who doesn’t have access to a stability ball.
- Purpose: Growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 10-15
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
How To Do It
- Using either a wooden or tiled floor with a smooth piece of fabric, a pillowcase, or similar works well.
- Lay with your back on the floor and fabric under your heels. From here, bridge up by extending at the hips.
- Slide your heels back underneath you, keeping your hips extended until your knees are at a 90-degree angle.
- Slide your legs back out to the start position while keeping control of the movement with your hamstrings.
Pro Tip: If this becomes too easy for you, add in 5 second negatives to increase the difficulty.
We break down the 15 Best leg Extension Alternatives in this article.
4. Glute Bridge Walkouts
Glute bridge walkouts are a beginner-friendly at-home option. They’re also a great exercise to put into your movement prep prior to squatting or deadlifting.
- Purpose: Beginner strength and stability
- Prime Rep Range: 6-10
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
How To Do It
- Lay with your back on the floor, with your hips resting, toes pointed up and knees bent to 90 degrees.
- Extend your hips so that you are up on your upper back and heels, with a 90-degree knee angle still.
- Walk your feet out inch by inch while maintaining your hip angle – this will gradually extend your knee and keep increasing the demands on the hamstrings.
- Walk your feet back to the start position when you can walk them out no further.
Pro Tip: Take little steps to keep the hamstrings active and engaged through the entire range of motion. Avoid taking 1 giant step.
Barbell Leg Curl Alternatives
5. Barbell Deadlift
Conventional deadlifts are a great way to train your hamstrings with heavier loads. When done improperly it can feel like a back exercise, but when done properly you should really feel it in your hamstrings and glutes.
- Purpose: Growth and strength
- Prime Rep Range: 1-6
- Difficulty: Difficult
How To Do It
- Take a stance around shoulder width apart with the bar set over your midfoot.
- Reach down and grip the bar just outside your stance width – straps may be useful here.
- To lift from the floor, think about driving your hips forward while your legs push the ground away.
- Keep your spine straight and drive the hips forward until you are stood up straight.
- From here, control the weight back to the ground.
Pro Tip: Bend the bar and flex your lats hard to keep your upper body engaged through the lift. This will ensure you keep full-body tension for the pull.
The barbell deadlift is a great leg press alternative exercise. Check out our full list of the 9 Best Leg Press Alternatives.
6. Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift is another staple exercise in my lower body training.
These are similar to the conventional deadlift but have a greater focus on the hamstrings overall and typically use less load.
These are fantastic for training the hamstrings, glutes, lower back and carry over well for conventional deadlifters.
- Purpose: Strength, growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 6-15
- Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
How To Do It
- Take a stance with your feet hip-width apart and hold the barbell in front of you – use straps if grip is an issue as I prefer to use a double overhand here.
- Begin to descend the bar by shifting your hips back as if you are closing a draw behind you.
- Allow slight knee flexion throughout the range of motion.
- Descend until your torso is parallel to the floor.
- Move the bar back up by driving your hips forward and keeping the bar close to your legs.
Pro Tip: Your hamstring length is going to be the rate-limiting factor in how low you can go with RDLs. If you have tight hamstrings, just chip away at slightly more depth every time you do this exercise. This will lead to better hamstring development and it will also increase your flexibility.
Struggling to feel your hamstrings? Read our article: Can’t Feeling Hamstrings In Romanian Deadlifts? Try These 5 Tips.
7. Barbell Good Morning
Good mornings are great for lifters that can’t seem to use the Romanian deadlift to target their hamstrings.
Having the bar on your back makes it easier to execute these as needed.
- Purpose: Growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 8-15
- Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
How To Do It
- Set the bar on your back like a squat with a shoulder width stance.
- Shift your hips back as if you are closing a draw behind you – allow a slight bend in the knee as you descend.
- Cut the range of motion slightly above parallel to the floor; or higher if you feel the loading shift to your back.
- Drive your back into the bar and hips forward to start the upwards phase of the movement.
Pro Tip: My favorite good morning variation is to use a safety squat bar. A safety squat bar allows you to focus on the movement instead of having to focus on upper body positioning.
Unsure which is best for you between a good morning and Romanian deadlift? Read Good Morning Vs Romanian Deadlift: Differences, Pros, Cons.
Dumbbell and Kettlebell Leg Curl Alternatives
8. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are a variation of RDL’s that allow for a little bit more hip extension. A barbell will limit how far your hips can come forward at the top, but dumbbells allow you to achieve complete hip extension.
- Purpose: Strength, growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 6-15
- Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
How To Do It
- Pick up the dumbbells – I recommend using straps as your grip is likely to fail before your hamstrings do.
- Take a stance around shoulder width apart and hold the dumbbells in front of you.
- Begin to descend by shifting your hips back as if you are closing a draw behind you.
- Allow a slight bend in the knee throughout the range of motion.
- Descend until your torso is parallel to the floor.
- Move back up by driving your hips forward and keeping the dumbbells close to your legs.
Pro Tip: If you’re new to hinging, think about sitting back on your heels as you descend. This will help keep your hips moving back and tension through your hamstrings.
9. Kettlebell Swing
While kettlebell swings target your glutes, they will target your hamstrings as well. The movement is centered around a hip hinge to keep tension on the hamstrings.
- Purpose: Power/speed and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 6-15
- Difficulty: Moderate
How To Do It
- Set up with a stance slightly wider than shoulder width apart – enough room for the kettlebell and your arms.
- Sit your hips back allowing the kettlebell to come between your legs while keeping your back flat.
- Drive your hips forward into full extension and allow the arms and kettlebell to swing to about chest height.
- Keep control of the swing motion and initiate each rep with your hamstrings, rather than the upper body.
Pro Tip: Don’t rely on the momentum of the kettlebell to carry you rep to rep, keep focus on performing each rep by fully extending your hips and contracting your hamstrings.
Want other leg exercises that don’t target the glutes? Read our article 9 Best Leg Exercises That Don’t Use Glutes.
Cable Leg Curl Alternative
10. Cable Leg Curl
One of the simplest alternatives for a leg curl machine is to set a leg curl up with cables. This is an excellent hamstring curl alternative that will give you consistent tension throughout the entire range of motion.
- Purpose: Growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 12-20
- Difficulty: Easy
How To Do It
- Add the ankle attachments to the bottom of the cable stack.
- Put the ankle attachments around your ankle and lie face down on the floor; give yourself room to fully extend your knees.
- Keeping your hips down into the floor, curl your leg up to 90 degrees.
- Slowly extend the knee back to the start position.
Pro Tip: Cable stacks are great for drop sets – take your normal working set, drop the pin, get as many reps as possible, drop the pin again, and keep working your way down the stack. This is a fantastic way to increase the volume and intensity of a session in a very short time frame.
11. Cable Pull Through
This is the easiest hip hinge variation to learn in my opinion. The weight from the cables will pull you back and force you to initiate the hinge.
- Purpose: Growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 12-20
- Difficulty: Easy
How To Do It
- Set a rope attachment at the bottom of a cable stack.
- Stand with your back to the cable stack and hold the rope between your legs.
- Take a couple steps out from the stack and take a stance a little wider than shoulder width apart – this will give your arms room to go between your legs.
- Shift your hips back as if you are closing a draw behind you.
- Descend until your torso is parallel to the floor.
- Drive your hips forward to return to the start position.
Pro Tip: As you do this movement, remind yourself that you’re not reaching with your hands. This can cause your back to round and take the emphasis away from the hamstrings.
If you are new to hinging and want to learn how to improve, read our article Learning How To Hip Hinge Properly: 11 Hip Hinge Cues.
Banded Leg Curl Alternatives
12. Banded Leg Curl
Banded leg curls are a great alternative to a standard lying hamstring curl for someone who doesn’t have access to a cable machine. This is a great prone leg curl alternative, so think of it as the icing on the cake type of isolation exercise.
- Purpose: Growth and endurance
- Prime Rep Range: 15-25 (or even to failure)
- Difficulty: Easy
How To Do It
- If you have ankle attachments available, add these to the band/bands and then hook the band round a squat rack, pillar or even a heavy dumbbell.
- Put the ankle attachments/bands around your ankle and lie face down on the floor – the further away you lie, the more tension in the bands.
- Keeping your hips down into the floor, curl your leg up to 90 degrees.
- Slowly extend the knee back to the start position.
Pro Tip: This is an exercise that is hard to progress outside of volume progressions. Take advantage of this and perform high volume sets to help increase your work capacity.
What Makes A Good Leg Curl Alternative?
Leg curls are designed to stimulate the hamstrings, so a good alternative is going to do the same thing in an alternative way.
Knowing the functions of the hamstrings gives us a good idea of what movement patterns will be good alternatives for the hamstring curl. The two primary functions of the hamstrings are to flex the knee and extend the hip.
Exercises that are centered around either bending the knee or hinging at the hips will effectively target the hamstrings. The three hamstring muscles we want to target with all of these alternative exercises are the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Do Leg Curls Without A Machine?
You can set up a leg curl with cables, bands, or an exercise ball. Alternatively, you can train the hamstring as a hip extensor using Romanian deadlifts or good mornings.
What Can I Do Instead Of A Leg Curl At Home?
The best at-home leg curl alternatives are the sliding hamstring curl, exercise ball curl, Nordic curl or glute bridge walkouts. I recommend beginners start with sliding hamstring curls, whereas more intermediate and advanced lifters try Nordic curls.
How Should I Warm My Hamstrings Up Before Doing These Exercises?
Start off the general portion of your warm up by hopping on a treadmill, a bike, an elliptical or just going for a brief 10 minute walk. Then you can do some leg swings, toe grabs, and straight leg marches to get direct blood flow to the hamstrings.
Can I Really Target My Hamstrings Without a Leg Curl Machine?
You absolutely can. In fact, the hamstrings act at both the knee and the hip so lying hamstring machine curls really aren’t even the best exercise for targeting the hamstrings.
What is the Posterior Chain?
The posterior chain is the group of muscles on the back side of your body. It’s most commonly used to refer to the glutes, hamstrings and low back muscles though.
Why Do Most of These Exercises Use My Glutes and Low Back?
Because your hamstrings cross both the hip and the knee joints. To target your hamstrings we need to attack them at both joints via hip extension. Hip extension includes the low back and glutes as well. Including them doesn’t take away from the hamstrings, it actually helps them handle heavier loads.
What Are The Benefits of The Leg Curl?
The leg curl will effectively make your hamstrings stronger. Strong hamstrings can lead to improved posture, lower chance of injury to the knees and lower back, and promotes explosive power in sport movements.
Other Lower Body Alternatives
- 10 Best Hyperextension Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Bulgarian Split Squat Alternative (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Barbell Hip Thrust Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Leg Press Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Hack Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 8 Best Pistol Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Cossack Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 10 Highly Effective Deadlift Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Best Romanian Deadlift Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 9 Highly Effective Belt Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 10 Highly Effective Front Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
- 5 Best Box Squat Alternatives (With Pictures)
About The Author
Jacob Wymer is a powerlifting coach and PhD Candidate in Biomechanics and Strength and Conditioning, researching the application of barbell velocity measurements to powerlifting. He is involved in powerlifting across the board, from athlete to meet director. Jacob runs his coaching services at EST Barbell. You can also connect with him on Instagram.
