The Leg Curl Vs. The Romanian Deadlift For Hamstrings
by Vladi
Last Update On December 4, 2011
I don't know about you but ever since I started reading about training the majority of the coaches were bashing the leg curl and were advising you to perform Romanian deadlifts, Good Morning and even squats in order to strengthen your hamstrings however I do think that the leg curl is a very valuable exercise and can provide a lot of benefits.
"Are you crazy? The leg curl is for sissies and mullets according to Pavel Tsatsouline. U MAD ?"
I don't care what anybody says I think that almost any exercise can be beneficial under some special circumstances and the leg curl does not make an exception.The leg curl might not be as compound as a deadlift but its not supposed to. Besides that it's one of the few exercises that allow you to train the hamstrings without glute involvement. I know some of the functional crowd will say - “But Eric Cressey from T-Nation says that it's unnatural to train your hamstrings without glutes involvement.” I couldn't care less about that. In fact like I sad I found it beneficial because there may be some people like me with extremely strong glutes and weak hamstrings. If you are in similar situation what are you going to do - Romanian deadlift, Good Mornings....it's not going to work because if you have overpowering glutes they will always end up doing more work and the only way to attack the leg biceps will be to perform some kind of leg curl with minimal glute involvement. So, there you have it a situation when the leg curl is more useful than a deadlft for example.
It's stupid to ignore that the hamstrings also flex the knee. They are not just hip extensors and when you train them using only hip extension the lower insertions at the knee won't get enough stimulation. I was able to deadlift 2.5 my bodyweight for three reps and at the the same time I was struggling with some extremely light weight on the leg curl machine. It's because the muscle was not used to excreting force by using the knee end. And since the knee hamstrings insertions are the ones to get injured the most it makes perfect sense to strengthen them. For the very same reason Bill Starr has included some leg curls in his programs from the Strongest Shall Survive.
"Bro..I still think you suck. Are you familiar with the famous statement of Mark Rippetoe that comparing leg curls and deadlifts is like comparing masturbation and having sex with a porn star? U MAD NOW?"
Yes, I've read that statement and it's stupid. It doesn't make sense. In fact I would even say that some people won't get that much hamstring development from deadlifts alone unless they do Romanian deadlifts or something like that in order to shift more stress to the leg biceps. At the same time like I said strong glutes may hide hamstring weakness especially during movements like deadlifts and squats where they are heavily involved.
"Ok...than..what's superior for hamstring hypertrophy?"
A mixture of both - hip extensions movements and curls. You want to hit the muscle from both ends for maximal results. However after performing some of the exercises you will see which are the ones that feel right to you. I prefer leg curls when it comes to pure leg hypertrophy. I think the range of motion is great and the muscle is hit much more directly. However I still perform Romanian deadlifts. One thing you may want to try is perform the so-called pre-exhaustion technique where you perform leg curls prior to your Romanian deadlifts. That way the hamstrings will be the weak link during the Romanian deadlifts and the set won't end because your back or grip has failed. Try it. It's cool.
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