Razor Curl
The razor curl is a variation of the glute-ham raise where you deliberately hip-hinge and keep the hips bent as you curl, lengthening the hamstrings and shifting emphasis toward pure knee flexion. Holding that hip position makes each rep tougher and drives a strong stretch. It is an advanced hamstring builder for lifters who have already mastered the standard glute-ham raise.
- Equipment
- Machine
- Body part
- Hamstring
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
- Browse by movement
- Knee Flexion
- Target
- Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
- Secondary
- Gluteus Maximus
- Tertiary
- Gastrocnemius Medial Head, Erector Spinae
How to do it
- 1
Set up on the glute-ham bench with feet anchored on the plate.
- 2
Begin hinged forward at the hips with your torso lowered toward the floor.
- 3
Keep the hips bent rather than locked out as you start the curl.
- 4
Pull your torso up by flexing the knees while maintaining the hip hinge.
- 5
Squeeze the hamstrings hard near the top of the curl.
- 6
Lower under control back to the stretched start position.
Tips
- Keep the hips flexed throughout to keep tension on the hamstrings.
- Move slowly so the knee flexors, not momentum, drive the rep.
- Reduce range early on; this stretched position is very demanding.
Variations
Common mistakes
- The starting hip hinge is barely there, so the torso begins almost upright instead of genuinely lowered toward the floor, ending up close to a regular glute-ham raise instead of the deeper stretch a razor curl adds.
- The hips straighten on the way up as if this were a normal glute-ham raise, trading the sustained hamstring stretch for a pattern the hips are better suited to.
- The feet are anchored too loosely in the footplate, so the base shifts under the extra torque this hip-flexed position places on the ankles and feet.
- Holding the top position only briefly instead of pausing to squeeze the hamstrings skips the one moment in the rep where the muscle is short enough to contract hard.
Frequently asked
- What is a sensible starting point for the razor curl, and what should you already be able to do?
- Start with 2 to 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps at a shallow range, lowering only a short distance before pulling back up, since the sustained hip-flexed position is far more demanding than a standard glute-ham raise. You should already own a clean, full-range bodyweight glute-ham raise before attempting this variation. Add range in small increments over several weeks rather than chasing full depth right away.
- What can replace the razor curl without a glute-ham developer?
- A Nordic curl held with the hips deliberately kept flexed, rather than straight, mimics the same sustained-stretch pattern. A single-leg Romanian deadlift is a solid fallback for hamstring loading if no GHD-style bench is available, though it won't combine hip flexion with knee flexion the same way.
- What is the razor curl good for, and who should avoid it?
- It's an advanced hamstring builder for lifters who have already mastered the standard glute-ham raise and want a deeper stretch-focused stimulus. It's a poor choice for anyone new to glute-ham work, since sustaining the hip-flexed position adds a demand the standard version doesn't require.
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