I'll tell you straight up, this exercise feels like somebody nailing your hamstrings with a hot branding iron.
Still here?
Good, because it's also an INCREDIBLE exercise for targeting the peak contraction of the hamstrings. It's similar in concept to a Leg Curl only much more intense due to the body position we're going to put you in.
It's a great substitute for a leg curl machine, if you don't have access to one where you train (at home, for example). It targets the knee flexion function of the hamstrings (stiff leg deadlifts hit the hip extension function), which is important to include in your hamstring training but which can also can be tough to hit without the leg curl machine.
This exercise is going to show you the power of muscle anatomy and biomechanics at work in a way that lights up your hamstrings.
You're going to need a power rack (or Smith machine) to perform this exercise. Set a bar on the safety rails to just above knee height (this will vary according to your height and the height of the chin-up bar in the rack). Load that bar with a couple of hundred pounds.
You won't be lifting that bar...we're using that bar to brace the legs during the exercise.
Grab a light dumbbell (and I mean that...I'm using a 20 lb dumbbell in the demo...you don't need much weight for this one) and set the handle between your ankles.
Reach up and grab the chin-up bar. The bar on the rails should be touching just above your knees. This is the bracing. DO NOT set your knees ON the bar...the thighs are pressed AGAINST the bar.
Now the fun begins...
Perform a leg curl with the dumbbell....and get ready for some pain.
I know it sounds so simple when I say "perform a leg curl"....here's what's happening with your biomechanics that makes this exercise so brutal.
With your thighs braced like this, you can't bring the knees forward to compensate for the decreased leverage as you curl up (as is the tendency with a "normal" hanging dumbbell leg curl.
Your hips are locked into the maximally extended position, with the glutes fully contracted. This forces your hamstrings to take the FULL load in their complete anatomically-possible-contracted position.
If you've never experienced a TRUE peak contraction in your hamstrings (the leg curl gets close but not all the way there), this is going to be an eye-opener for you. It's excruciating.
In addition, because you're also hanging from the bar, your entire posterior chain (all the muscles along the back of your body) is involved in the exercise to some degree.
If you're a physique competitor, this is going to bring out great detail in your hamstrings for stepping on stage. Do this exercise last in your hamstring training.
If you want to build mass in your hamstrings and you have a hard time feeling your hamstrings working when you do stiff-legged deadlifts, do this exercise FIRST to pre-exhaust them and "wake up" the muscles.
You'll only need to perform 1 or 2 sets of this exercise, with light weight, for as many reps as you stand (not kidding). You can also use ankle weights for this exercise instead of dumbbells, if you like, though using a dumbbell does force you to also contract the adductors strongly to keep the dumbbell locked in position.
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