Legs · Resistance bands

Resistance Band Lying Single Leg Curl

The resistance band lying single leg curl is an isolation movement designed to target the hamstring muscles unilaterally. It helps eliminate strength imbalances between legs and fits best toward the end of a lower-body workout or as a home training alternative to gym machines.

Muscles: Legs
Equipment: Resistance bands
Type: Strength
Animation: Women

How to do it

Anchor the band at floor level behind your feet and loop the free end around one ankle.
Lie face down with your legs extended and the band taut, resting your head on your forearms.
Keep your hips pressed into the floor.
As you exhale, bend your knee and pull your heel toward your glutes against the band.
Inhale and slowly extend your leg back to the starting position.
Complete all repetitions, then switch legs.

Common mistakes

Lifting the hips off the floor during the curl, which shifts mechanical stress from the hamstrings to the lower back.
Letting the band snap the leg back uncontrolled, eliminating the muscle-building benefits of the eccentric phase.
Starting with slack in the band, which leaves the hamstring unloaded through the first part of the range of motion.
Rotating the working thigh outward, which compromises proper knee alignment and reduces tension on the target muscle.

Tips

Keep your pelvis pressed firmly into the floor by maintaining light tension in your core and glutes.
Pause for a full second at peak knee flexion to maximize tension against the stretched band.
Position yourself far enough from the anchor point so the band remains taut even with your knee fully extended.

Sets and reps

Perform 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 repetitions per leg with 45 to 60 seconds of rest between sets to build hamstring hypertrophy and muscular endurance.

Muscles worked

Resistance Band Lying Single Leg Curl: legs

Your coach guides every set

Turn on the coach in Gloox: it asks how you feel, picks the weight from your history and cues technique and rest. Rate each set and the next one is tuned to you.

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Questions

Which muscles are targeted by this exercise?

The exercise primarily targets the hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus), with minimal stabilizing work from the calves and glutes.

Can this exercise fully replace the lying leg curl machine?

While the machine provides more uniform tension, the band version delivers peak resistance at full contraction and is an effective substitute for home or travel workouts.

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