Ring Leg Curl

How to do the Ring Leg Curl

1. 1Set the gymnastic rings low — roughly ankle height when you are lying flat on the ground. Make sure the rings hang freely and are at equal height.
2. 2Lie on your back directly beneath the rings with your legs extended. Place both heels inside the rings so the straps rest on the back of your ankles.
3. 3Extend your arms out to your sides on the floor, palms down, for stability.
4. 4Press through your heels and brace your core to lift your hips off the ground until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to heels.
5. 5Keeping your hips elevated, pull both heels toward your glutes by bending your knees, allowing the rings to slide toward you.
6. 6Continue curling until your knees are bent to roughly 90 degrees or your heels are as close to your glutes as your range of motion allows.
7. 7Pause briefly at the top, squeezing the back of your thighs.
8. 8Slowly extend your legs back to the starting position under control, returning your heels to the fully extended line without letting your hips drop.
9. 9Complete all reps, then lower your hips to the floor to finish the set.

Form tips

• Keep your hips lifted and level throughout the entire set — sagging hips shorten the effective range of motion and reduce thigh engagement.
• Move at a deliberate pace, particularly on the return phase; a slow, controlled extension produces more time under tension than a quick release.
• Press the back of your arms into the floor to create a stable base — this stops your torso from rocking side to side as you curl.
• Point your toes slightly upward (dorsiflexed) during the curl to keep the foot and ankle neutral and direct the work into the thigh.
• Start with a single-leg variation if the two-leg version feels too easy, or elevate your upper back on a bench to increase the challenge.

Common mistakes

• Letting the hips drop during the curl — this turns the movement into a hip hinge rather than a thigh curl and removes tension from the intended muscles.
• Rushing the eccentric (extension) phase — allowing the rings to snap back quickly wastes the most challenging portion of the rep and reduces overall training effect.
• Placing the rings too high — if the rings are set above ankle height, the curling arc changes and the exercise becomes unstable and hard to control.
• Using momentum to swing the heels in — rocking the hips or yanking with the lower back masks weakness and increases injury risk.
• Letting the knees flare outward during the curl — this shifts stress away from the posterior thigh and can place unwanted torque on the knee joint.

Frequently asked questions