[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by gnheil

which is better for building the hamstrings stiff leg or bent leg deadlifts.? also, i read somewhere that the biggest mistake people make when doing lying hamstring curls is using too much weight,any comments on that.? speaking of weight what do you do when you reach your ultimate one rep max and don't want to go any heavier.? how do you continue to stick to the 80% rule and so on.? you don't want to continue to use the same weight parameters over and over right.?

Point of information: distinguish between stiff, straight, and bent legs. STRAIGHT legs do tend to target glutes more than hamstrings, but the primary mover here are the lower back muscles (think: good mornings). Use with extreme caution. STIFF legs are BENT legs but do not move at the knees (think: Romanian deadlifts). Assuming a strong lower-back position, these target the glutes mainly, hamstrings secondarily, and emphasize isometric tension in the lower back. BENDING legs = traditional deadlifts.

That being said, where do lying hamstring curls come into the equation? Just doing them in the first place--rehab assignments notwithstanding--is probably the worst thing about lying hamstring curls (closed chain, fixed plane of motion, etc). And why wouldn't you want to "go any heavier" on any lift? It seems a very odd question IMHO.