Legs · Machine
Seated Leg Curl
How to do the seated leg curl, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Machine
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Curl
- Mechanic
- Isolation
See it in motion
How to do it
Sit in a leg curl machine with your legs under the pad. Curl the pad towards your glutes, squeezing your hamstrings, then return to the starting position.
- 1Sit with the pad behind your lower legs and curl it toward your glutes; you should feel your hamstrings contracting
- 2Keep your hips pressed into the seat and your back against the pad
- 3Squeeze at the bottom and control the return to feel a full stretch
Common mistakes
- Don't jerk the weight or let the pad slam back down
- Avoid lifting your hips off the seat or leaning back excessively
- Don't use your calves or lower back to assist the movement
Muscles worked
The seated leg curl mainly works the hamstrings, with the calves and glutes assisting.
- HamstringsPrimary
- CalvesSupport
- GlutesSupport
- QuadsMinor
Kovo programs the seated leg curl for you and tracks it every session.
The AI builds your whole program, drops the right lifts into each workout, and adjusts your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More hamstrings exercises
- How to do the leg curl
- How to do the dumbbell romanian deadlift
- How to do the glute ham raise
- How to do the lying leg curl
- How to do the nordic curl
- How to do the romanian deadlift
Last reviewed April 2026.