The Westside Barbell Standing Hamstring Curl Machine: First let me preface this piece with a simple statement: There is NO such thing as quad dominant! There is only a pair of strong hamstrings and weak hamstrings. Regardless of your preference in stance (close or wide) if your hamstrings are weak, your squat (and deadlift) probably aren't on par. Now that I have gotten that out of my system, we can continue discussing the tools necessary to train the hamstrings!

This week we are introducing the Westside Barbell Standing Hamstring Curl Machine. Why did Westside spend the time and money developing such a simple piece? As with all of our other signature pieces, necessity is the catalyst for creation. Hamstring curls are not the cornerstone of hamstring training, as we mentioned last week while discussing the Inverse Curl, but they do serve their purpose in strengthening the hamstrings.

Unlike other models on the market, the Westside Barbell Standing Hamstring Curl Machine allows the user to begin the reps in a variety of starting positions. By “kicking” the foot back anywhere from 2” - 6” and executing the curl we can change the range of motion and add a layer of difficulty that isn't available on other inferior models.

Repetitions can also be performed in a more traditional position by keeping the heel and hip in a straight vertical line. Users can keep he leg completely straight, and move a short distance forward and back to stretch the hip flexors prior to training, (face both forward and backward, left and right for variety.)

When we added a standing hamstring curl machine to the floor at Westside we observed a gradual increase in pulling strength in the deadlift that coincided with the increase in volume on the standing hamstring curl. We've also seen improvements in our sprinters, in both time and technique. On top of these performances, we noticed a substantial DECREASE in hamstring injuries. Though serious hamstring injuries are rare at Westside Barbell, the occasional “stinger” or strain do occur, the occurrences have become few and far between since implementation of the standing hamstring curl.

After using the piece we began to see areas that could be improved during use, and went straight to work on having the NEW Westside Barbell Standing Hamstring Curl Machine designed! Another outstanding use of the piece is to add variety to mini-workouts, as you are all well aware of Louie and everyone that trains here are huge advocates for high rep hamstring curls with ankle weights and/or bands.

Changing it up to the Westside Barbell Standing Hamstring Curl Machine will again allow us to avoid accommodation and progress faster toward our speed and strength goals. Strive for 200 reps per leg, per week. Available now for only $850.00 this simple, and inexpensive, addition to your training facility is sure to add performance increases to any and all that use it!