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Worst Leg Exercise for Low Back (NOT WHAT YOU THINK)

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

m going to show you the leg exercise that is causing you the most lower back pain without you even knowing it. The thing about the exercise is that it often creates a delayed response and therefore makes it difficult to identify as the root cause of your pain. The leg movement I-m talking about is lying hamstring curls. The issue isn-t so much in the effect it has on the hamstrings but what is happening on the other side of the legs (in the psoas) that is causing your low back to hate you. First, it must be said that there is a bit of irony to the exercise in the first place. While the hamstring does in fact have two functions; hip extension and knee flexion, the strengthening of knee flexion with a hamstring curl isn-t even necessary if you are talking about ground based athletic activities and sports. Knee flexion in this environment is something we are given for free by gravity and by letting our body give in to the force of gravity and lower to the ground. Active knee flexion is not something that is needed in order to get us down to the ground. Now, hip extension is another matter. Strengthening your legs and their ability to pull your hips into extension behind the body is going to serve you well in every single activity you perform on the ground and in sports. So that said, the application of strengthened knee flexion is a bit misdirected and not even that necessary in the first place. That said, the lying leg curl is going to target the knee flexion function of the hamstrings and provide resistance while doing so. The issue comes in when you attempt to either cheat the weight up as fatigue sets in or just try and squeeze out a few more reps. The built in cheat is that you will rely on the isometric contraction of your deep hip flexors to shorten the moment arm on the hamstrings and help to bring your butt closer to your heel rather than the heel closer to the butt. This tricks the body into thinking that you have achieved a full rep when you really have not. The push of the hip flexors into the pad will pop your butt up into the air and allow you to continue the movement. The problem lies in what this does to the hip flexors. Often times, this will cause a reflex spasm in the psoas that can cause great discomfort in the muscles of the lumbar spine and the psoas attachment to the lower lumbar vertebrae. Often times people will feel very sore the next day in their low backs after leg day and think that they must have done something wrong when squatting or deadlifting when neither was to blame. Instead you want to focus on hamstring exercises that prioritize hip extension and if they are going to include resisted knee flexion then they do so without counter force on the hip flexors. Things like glute bridges, glute bridge and curls, physioball hamstring curls, barbell hip thrusts and glute ham raises are all great options. With the glute ham raise you want to be sure you are keeping your torso long throughout the range of motion and not shortening the body by doing the same wrong thing with your hip flexors. All in all, picking the right exercises for your legs comes down to finding those that are capable of causing the greatest gains while at the same time preventing damage and injury to your lower back. If you want to train like an athlete and get this right every time, head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

dradeel
A few minor notes, though, beyond of course agreeing entirely.
I could see huge hamstring strength being a factor in different kinds of martial arts, where strong knee flexion is useful, like maybe in some wrestling and submission moves. Some gymnastics where you hang from your legs might also demand significant strength in this movement.
Also, isolation and overloading in order to create hypertrophy and practice muscle control are keys to body building. It's hard to achieve this in hamstrings outside of doing leg curls.
But for both of these, if a leg curl is to be used, the seated leg curl is by far a better option than lying leg curls. You can better lock in your ass and keep your back in place, and you can much easier focus on keeping good form, while contracting to a 90 degree position on your knees and not try drive your lower back and glutes out of position to meet your feet.
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Shae
I've been diagnosed with spinal disease and severe issues with cervical and lumbar. I was told I should not train the way ir could be hunched over or not walk or surgery with no mobility. I have ( traditional. such as dead lifts Squats etc) If been training mb y entire life but the 5 years for a bikini comp. now I'm told l should not do the training that is needed for success. keeping in mind I'm 56. this is a life goal and dream of mine. .I'm looking for real help with this. I watch your videos and I have learned so much from you. Any suggestions,
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Scott
Cool story. Wrong. While I agree a hamstring curl is far less effective then other leg exercises, I've literally NEVER heard of one person having a major injury from hamstring curls. On the other hand, I have seen and heard innumerable power lifters, bodybuilders, and athletes f-ck themselves up from variations of squats and deadlifts. Again, if there is a jackass doing hamstring curls doing a irrational and incorrect technique they could tweak their back just like the leg extension of lunges or any leg exercise.
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Harry
hey jeff! your video is great. i am trying to losing fat by following a healthy diet and stronglift 5-5 program. Last week i got pain in lower back, i believe its due to deadlift and squat or leg raises which i do for abs. So can u tell if i can start them again with less weight and do it properly it wont hurt my lower back. i want to start the program again as it feels bad if i cant do 2 great compound excerises. Please do respond. or anyone who has experience in this. Thanks in advance
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Chuck
My working out playlist is now 100% Aflean-X. Thanks Jeff, so many videos you've created have helped me get rid of exercises I was doing either wrong or ones that were not doing me any favors as I have a prolapsed disc years ago. I'm a classic ectomorph like Jessie and struggle with the gains but I've recently put back on half a stone in just muscle and I'm happy that under developed areas are starting to show real improvement. Thanks again, from the UK.
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David
This can create some nice hamstring sculpting just go light on the weight, stay still and don't go to failure. And Jeff I consider it irresponsible to tell guys to deadlift without a coach in the flesh correcting their form. People who are just casual lifters don't even need to do deadlifting but to tell people a video is good enough to learn deadlift form without real time aid in the flesh is irresponsible.
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Nordric
Much thanks to you, it is indeed helpful and very much practical. I've been down with a lower back injury and this really didn't help in recovering when coming to think about it. This was my number one exercise for hamstrings to finish a day, but yes it does put that immense strain on your back when going for those heavier weights and extra strain on my lower back won't do me any good.
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L.
5: 50 I do this one without any additional weight but on one leg at a time. When training calves or hamstrings I prefer not to use a lot of extra weight but instead go for more reps. I only use weight when doing squats or deadlifts. That's what my physiotherapist suggested to me. Seems like he knows his job just like you do, Jeff: ) Great video, gave me some confidence for my leg routine.
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Danny
Not one time did a hamstring curl bother my back, and I do them all the time. Never has anyone hinted to me that hamstring curls bother their back. All the time squats and dead lifts bother my back. I've known plenty of people who can't do squats or dead lifts because it hurts their back. Jeff you're creating a solution for a problem that really doesn't exist.
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sport
I never understood that hamstring machine in the gym- you gotta lie face down, and its near impossible to spot your own form if a mirror isn't around. Not to mention that machine is basically impossible to use if you're a shorter person like I am (probably a good thing though. The seated hamstring machine is much less insane, though still not my fav.
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