Intermediate

Slider Hamstring Curl

Lying on your back with your heels on sliders, you hold a glute bridge while dragging the feet in and out, so the hamstrings fight to flex the knees and keep the hips lifted at the same time. It delivers a big hamstring stimulus with no machine, just a smooth floor and a pair of sliders or towels. A superb home or travel option and a humbling one at higher reps.

Equipment
Sliders
Body part
Glutes, Hamstring
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Hinge, Knee Flexion
Muscles worked
Target
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
Secondary
Gluteus Maximus
Tertiary
Erector Spinae

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie on your back with knees bent and each heel on a slider or towel.

  2. 2

    Bridge the hips up so your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.

  3. 3

    Keep the hips high and brace your core.

  4. 4

    Slide both heels out until your legs are nearly straight without dropping the hips.

  5. 5

    Curl the heels back toward your glutes by flexing the knees.

  6. 6

    Repeat smoothly and lower the hips only after the last rep.

Tips

  • Keep the hips lifted the whole set; letting them sag kills the tension.
  • Slow the extension phase, since the eccentric drives most of the work.
  • Progress to single-leg curls once bodyweight doubles feel easy.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Sliders on carpet do not slide, so the heels drag and stall halfway out; use furniture sliders on a hard floor, or towels on tile and wood.
  • The palms press hard into the floor to help the heels back in, which turns a hamstring exercise into an arm-assisted one; rest the hands lightly beside the hips.
  • The heels slide out only halfway and come straight back, so the legs never approach straight and the hardest, most useful part of the range never happens.
  • The hips get lifted by arching the lower back rather than squeezing the glutes, so the bridge is held by the spine and the lower back is what aches afterward.
  • One heel lags behind the other on the way in, usually the weaker side, and the pelvis twists to cover for it; watch that both sliders arrive together.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the slider hamstring curl should you do when you are new to the exercise?
Progression here is leverage rather than weight, so start at three sets of 8 to 12 with both legs and keep the hips up for the whole set. Take the reps to 15, then slow the slide out to four seconds, then try a few reps with one heel on a slider and the other foot in the air. Two sessions a week is plenty, and it works well as a finisher after squats or hinges.
What can I use instead of sliders for this hamstring curl?
Two folded hand towels on tile or hardwood, paper plates on carpet, or a pair of socks on a smooth floor all work. A stability ball or medicine ball under the heels gives a similar curl with a rolling contact instead of a sliding one, and a suspension trainer does the same job with straps. A machine leg curl is the gym equivalent, though it drops the bridge and the hip work that comes with it.
What is the slider hamstring curl good for, and when is it not the right pick?
It trains the hamstrings at the knee and the hip together with almost no equipment, which makes it excellent for home training, travel, and adding hamstring work on top of deadlifts. It is not the right pick if your floor is carpeted and nothing you own slides, and not a strength exercise, since your own body is the entire load. If the lower back rather than the hamstrings is what fatigues, the hips are sagging and the set is over.

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