Leg curls are also a great way to warm up the knees! Squats and leg presses feel smooth like butter after starting leg day with leg curls.

John meadows preached this

Watching Dr Mike gives my third leg great stimulus

Can confirm. I did hams before squats once and I figured I would move less weight but it was the same and it felt better actually

I thought he was in a wheel Chair at 1st

I did the sitting hamstrings workout you gave a guy in another video. Super slow negative, powerful positive, it had my hams burning like never before and a hell of a pump , then hacks , then SLDL , then leg press super slow negatives on all. Man it was awesome and im 65 years old and still love leg day

John meadows taught me this: leg curls warm up the knees and the hamstring pump helps you “bounce” back up from the bottom of your squat/leg press movement, whatever that may be

Always dude. Don't need hams to squat, get the knees nice and warm

Mountain Dog approved, too!

With hams as stiff as marble leg curls as a warm up has greatly helped me complete squats especially if I have not been to the gym in awhile.

started doing hams first a few months back and it was a game changer. my legs are primed and ready afterwards. squats/presses feel much better & stable shout out Will Tennyson

This is good to know I also always do leg curls last because they aren't very fatiguing. Im gonna switch it up next leg day.

i find that doing leg curls first reduces the weird sounds from my knees

RIP John

I concur, I have leg curls and SLDL’S placed at the end of my leg routine and I find I can’t train them as hard as my quads. Going to try doing them first .

Other folks have suggested this as a good warmup before squats, leg press or other heavy leg stuff

Man’s looks like he’s sitting in a barbers chair ready to get glossed up.

I started implementing this recently in my lower body training days after watching many Dr. Mike training videos where he does leg curls as the first movement on leg day and has other lifters doing the same a lot of times and I’ve to say that this is excellent advice. I really appreciate it! 💪👍🙏

It feels like he is really talking to me. Lol

Are you sitting in a wheel chair? That is a hard ass leg day if they gotta wheel you out after.

Reciprocal inhibition. Activating the hammies provides a lovely quad stretch.

his reasoning is impeccable

Awesome to see this on 2nd leg day of the week btw this is my break my qiads down day.

I do leg curls and hip Abductors and adductors before squats, sometimes even hip thrusts as well. Always have a better squat day because of it. One day me and my gym partner tried to skip them and went straight into squats and man let me just say we wont be skipping leg curls and abductors ever again before squats 😂

I never knew David Dramen workout out like this! And still doing albums with Disturbed!? RESPECT.

Super glad for this, I’ve been doing it this way round naturally. Glad I got it right

Thank you

Thumbnail looks like Mike was abouta get his hair cut

great advice

The rule of engagement 101..

Been doing seated leg curls first for sometime now after watching John Meadows videos. Has helped quite a bit.

Add the original video link in the comments

Dr Mike what’s your take on training quads and hamstrings on seperate days?

his barber did a great job

Ever since I started adding leg curls in as a warm up it had dramatically improved the way squats feel. It helps me get a deep squat with confidence

Also warms them up and stretches them out before squats

Imma try this

Started doing leg curls before my squats. Feels much better.

Yep good ol john Meadows loved this too

I cramp up on leg curls all the time 😂 swapped them out for dumbbell rdl

If you’re having knee pain try this out.

I recently started doing hip trust first, then calves/quad+ hams isolation, THEN squats; big difference in overall stability and strength during squats

Bros never heard of a hammy cramp😂

I’ve been watching you do this for a while and started to implement it; at the same time as reverse banding the hacks. Everything so much smoother. I was convinced it was the bands. And while that def helps, I forgot the hams at start last week and it was no way as smooth on the hack…

Always thinking this but with the phul program they do main excersise first like squat and deadlift first and then curls

Phil Heath always does hamstrings first I think

I train quads and hans seperate. After back 4 sets of bent over rows, 4 sets of pull downs, and 4 sets of those cable pull over simulating type things with the straight bar, I do 4 to 5 sets of deadlifts for hams and then 4 sets of pronated leg curls.

i feel the hamstring pump helps little bit on squats feels much better for me atleast

Hamstring help extend the hip too so get those “turned on” get blood flow to legs makes sense. Gonna have to try it.

Me doing leg curls first on accident and realizing that's the best way to do it😂😂

I've seen lots of bodybuilders do this as well

Dr Mike looks so cute and innocent just sitting there 😅

I personally prefer bigger quads over hamstrings so I only hamstring once a week and I just do only stiff leg deficit deadlift for them. I prioritize quads.

I do 2-3 sets to failure after quads and my hamstrings are always screaming afterward

I like to mix it up squats till failure or do isolation exercises till failure , but alternate programming so it’s not same cycle with no new stimulus

Im 49 and workout everyday. The leg curls before my lunges/squats superset is awesome

thats why some people put hams on their pull day

If I do leg extensions first and squats after, I feel like I tend to struggle to go to a decent weight on squats and vice versa. If I start on squats then when I get onto leg extensions I have to do ridiculous low weight.

Hey man just want to say thanks I've listened and watched your technique on how to do a proper bench press I'm ruined 😂 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I started doing isolation exercises at the start of my workout. Even though I can't lift heavier weights on my compound lifts I feel like my body is more sore the day after with this typw of workout. (Like cbum's workout)

Would this also extend to doing lighter loads on an RDL first before squats or is that just redundant?

Finally at the very end Dr. MIKE posing on srage . But only a still pic 😢

Same

Hip abductors and adductor machines will help before a squat.

I really struggled with leg curls, my hamstrings were tight and that would give me almost jnstant cramps

I feel like this advice has actually changed the game, like most people do this now

I've toyed around, with quads then hams, hams then quads and giving each their own day. That said I've always been a volume guy. With reduced volume, would you recommend they both get their own day? Or both on the same day hams first?

If I'm doing rdls and squats should I do rdls first even tough they are hard on the back?

Can't over development of an antagonist muscle hinder force production of agonist muscles. If so, wouldn't over stimulating the hamstrings play so kind of role in limiting force production in squat? Similar to biceps during a bench press?

I start leg day with 4 sets each of hamstring curls and leg extension, no rest, back to back. Starting at 20-25 reos and increasing weight to 20 rep, 15 rep, 10reps. Then i go to either squats or hack squats

as someone who never went to the gym and have no idea what the muscles he is talking about are.....i apreciate the tips.

What is axial loading

Yeah fuck that

I don't know why but in the last month or two I am really struggling to do leg curls unless it's a low weight. This is whether I do them at the start or half way through. Dont know what is going on there.

So if you do leg curls to emphasize your hamstrings. Are you then squatting with elevated heals? When I squat I feel it in more hamstrings more then quads

Would this be the same if you low bar squat

Especially when you get into your 40's after years of pounding your knees. You have to think of the best ways to warm up those knees before squats

Does one really need to get sore after their workouts in order to see measurable changes in body composition? I don't think that's a prerequisite , getting sore.

I do them before to warm up the knees. No problems afterwards

Fast positive, hold for 2 seconds, then slow negative on leg curls. It gets that pump in for sure.

Do you think my long legs have anything to do with why this affects me differently?

I started doing hammy first bc the quad pump is so huge from squats, presses, etc. that I want to physically cry when I'm pressed into a ham curl device. Get a good bicep pump and then tell your buddy to squeeze it as hard as he can and that's what it feels like to me. F that.

Guru

No human looks more 40k right now

I’ve incorporated leg curls prior to my squats, now my hams are sore more often than not after squat day - this is coming from someone whose focus is powerlifting. I just hope hams grow now lol

so its better to do leg curls before squat ?

Calves hams quads in that order

And doing them first warms up your knee's.

Always

At first I thought, what is it doing at a hair salon?

never doing leg curls anymore

Okay, so why not do leg curls after your squats so that your quads are rested before you move to other exercises?

Problem is that leg curls for some reason absolutely kill my muscles giving me a super weird painful sensation for half an hour. So no

I thought in your last set you’re supposed to reach failure

Dr. mike, research suggests that supersetting hammies and quads causes the most leg growth. has something to do with how your hammies and quads are attached to the same bone. kind of like how training your tibialis helps grow your calves.

I would use the hip sled first due to the nice stretch you get in the hips, ass, groin. It always had me moving better, especially when starting fatigued from a previous leg day.

The real reason is Sam Sulek does leg curls before squats so... we do leg curls before squats now 😅

The guy is as wide as a door

Leg curls always have me gassed.

Do pressing first