When you run, you are using your leg muscles to move mass that is at the proximal end of the leg muscles. When you do hamstring curls, you are moving mass at the distal end of the muscle. Hamstring curls have poor specificity for pretty much any athletic movement, including running. Spend your time on strength training that is more functional.
The only hammy work you should do in the weight room is isometric. Ham's get enough work in sprinting.
hamstrings are like a worm, contracting alternately at one end or the other, never both at once. This is most efficient when it is rhythmic and natural.
Imagine when two people hold a rope nearly taut, and then one makes a wave that travels down the rope, then reflects back the other way. The contracting area is like a wave. Don't over-control it. That's why sprint coaches obsessively tell you to relax
I've strained my lower hamstring, hamstring curls is what helped heal it faster and get me back running. I imagine doing hamstring curls regularly would help prevent the strain in the first place.
So I'd say that hamstring curls are beneficial because they help prevent injuries. This is an old post.
asprintingquestioner wrote:
Several sources point out that hamstring curls (both seated and prone) are not biomechanically applicable to sprinting, since they involve concentric/shortening of the hamstrings, while the phases of sprinting require either eccentric contraction or isometric contraction, depending on the phase. How do coaches feel about this? I know that some pro sprinters do in fact use hamstring curls, but I wonder if this has any utility.
The eccentric work is applicable/specific but doing the curls is commonly used for injury prevention and when doing hamstring rehab (Nordic Curls have become very popular amongst physios and trainers.) The theory is anything that strengthens the hamstrings is beneficial for preventing injury. If a sprinter's technique is bad they are more likely to pull hamstrings regardless of how strong they are so of course the most important thing is good sprint technique.
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