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Prone Hamstring Curl: Technique, Muscles Worked and Modifications

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The Prone Hamstring Curl, sometimes called the Pilates hamstring curl, is a beginner contemporary mat exercise. It focuses on bending your knees while you lie face down, challenging you to keep your pelvis completely still.

This movement primarily trains your hamstrings at the back of your thighs. As you hold a steady neutral spine, your gluteus maximus acts as a supporting muscle to help stabilize your lower body.

Exercise data

Type
Contemporary mat
Level
Beginner
Equipment
Mat
Main muscles
hamstrings
Also working
gluteus maximus
Spine
neutral spine held steady
Focus
Bending the knees while lying face down with a still pelvis
Also searched as
pilates hamstring curl, prone leg curl pilates

How to do the Prone Hamstring Curl

Lie face down on your mat with your legs extended straight back and your arms folded under your forehead. Rest your head on your hands and find a neutral spine by resting your pelvis heavily on the mat.

  1. Keep your pelvis anchored to the mat to maintain a steady neutral spine.
  2. Slowly bend both knees to bring your heels toward your glutes.
  3. Stop bending your knees if your lower back starts to arch or your pelvis tilts.
  4. Hold the bent position for a brief moment.
  5. Slowly lower your lower legs back down to the mat.
  6. Fully extend your legs without letting your kneecaps slam into the floor.
  • Breath. Teachers cue the breath differently, but you will often inhale to bend your knees and exhale to slowly lower your feet. You can also reverse this pattern by exhaling as you pull your heels in.
  • Where you feel it. You should feel the muscles at the back of your thighs working hard, with some support from your glutes. You should not feel any pinching or strain in your lower back.
  • How many. 8 to 10 slow repetitions

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back. Keep your pubic bone gently pressed into the mat to hold your neutral spine steady.
  • Lifting the hips. Imagine your pelvis is glued down so your hips do not pop up as your knees bend.
  • Rushing the movement. Move slowly in both directions so momentum does not take over the work of your hamstrings.
  • Tensing the neck and shoulders. Rest your forehead completely on your stacked hands and let your upper body relax.

Make it easier or harder

Easier

  • Practice bending just one leg at a time to make it easier to stabilize your pelvis.
  • Reduce your range of motion and only bend your knees halfway.

Harder

  • Slow down the movement even further, taking four full counts to bend and four counts to extend.
  • Flex your feet and pull your toes toward your shins as you bend your knees to increase the tension in your hamstrings.

Who should be careful

  • Lying face down is not suitable later in pregnancy, and can be uncomfortable after recent abdominal surgery.

Related exercises

This exercise is part of our pages on Pilates for Knee Pain.

When to see a doctor or physical therapist

  • Sharp pain in your lower back when you bend your knees.
  • A popping sensation or pain in the back of your knee joint.
  • Severe cramping in your hamstrings that does not go away with rest.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or are recovering from an injury or surgery, check with your own clinician before trying new exercises.

How we put this page together. Exercise data (type, level, equipment and muscles) was compiled by our editors from the classical mat order in Joseph Pilates’ 1945 book and from commonly taught mat repertoire. Muscle lists are a general anatomy guide; cueing differs between teachers. Text drafted with AI assistance and checked by the Editorial Team. See our editorial policy. Last checked October 2026.