Single Leg Platform Slide
- Target muscle
- Hamstrings
- Synergist muscles
- Gastrocnemius
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Body part
- Thighs
- Type
- Strength
The Single Leg Platform Slide is a unilateral bodyweight leg curl performed lying on your back with one heel on a smooth platform and the hips bridged off the floor. It targets the hamstrings, with the gastrocnemius assisting knee flexion. Because one leg does all the work through both the sliding-out (eccentric) and curling-back phases, it builds hamstring strength and evens out side-to-side imbalances with no equipment.
How to do the Single Leg Platform Slide
- 1Lie face-up on the floor with a smooth platform, slide board, or low bench positioned at your feet.
- 2Place one heel on the platform with that knee bent to roughly 90 degrees, and hold the other leg off the floor with the knee bent so it stays out of the way.
- 3Brace your core, press your arms flat into the floor beside you, and drive through the working heel to lift your hips until your shoulders, hips, and knee form a straight line.
- 4Keeping the hips locked at that height, slide the working heel away from you over 2–3 seconds until the leg is almost straight.
- 5Pull the heel back toward your hips by contracting the hamstring, returning to the bent-knee position without letting the hips sag.
- 6Repeat for reps, holding the bridge the whole set and re-squeezing the hip at the top of each curl.
- 7Lower your hips to the floor under control, then switch legs and repeat for the same number of reps.
Form tips
- Keep your hips at a constant height for the entire set — the hamstring works hardest when it has to hold the bridge and flex the knee at the same time.
- Slide out slowly (2–3 seconds) and only as far as you can still control; the eccentric is where most of the hamstring strength is built.
- Press through the heel, not the ball of the foot, so the hamstring and calf drive the curl rather than the quad taking over.
- Keep the working knee tracking in line with your hip and foot instead of drifting inward or outward.
- If a full single-leg rep is too hard, slide out on one leg and use both heels to pull back in, then progress to single-leg on both phases.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips drop as the leg slides out, which hands the load to the floor instead of the hamstring and turns the rep into a stretch rather than a strength effort.
- Sliding out faster than you can control, skipping the eccentric that produces most of the hamstring stimulus and raising the risk of a strain at full extension.
- Pushing through the toes and arching the lower back to finish the curl, which shifts work to the lumbar erectors and can leave the low back sore instead of the hamstring.
- Resting the non-working leg on the floor for help, which quietly makes it a two-leg movement and defeats the unilateral point of the exercise.
- Bridging so high that the hips hyperextend, which strains the lower back without adding hamstring tension — stop at a straight shoulder-to-knee line.
Frequently asked questions
What muscles does the Single Leg Platform Slide work?
It targets the hamstrings of the working leg, which both flex the knee and hold the hip extended in the bridge. The gastrocnemius (calf) assists with knee flexion because it crosses the back of the knee joint.
Where should I feel the Single Leg Platform Slide?
You should feel it in the back of the thigh of the leg on the platform, often with a hard cramp-like contraction as you curl the heel back in. If you mostly feel it in your lower back, your hips are likely hyperextended or sagging — reset to a straight shoulder-to-knee line.
Is the Single Leg Platform Slide good for beginners?
It is a demanding hamstring exercise, so beginners should start with both heels on the platform, or slide out on one leg and pull back with two. Move to full single-leg reps once you can hold the bridge steady through the whole range.
How many sets and reps should I do?
3 sets of 6–10 reps per leg is a solid starting point. Stop the set when your hips begin to drop or the slide-out speeds up, since quality of the eccentric matters more than rep count here.
What is a good alternative to the Single Leg Platform Slide?
The Single Leg Extension (on stability ball) trains the same hamstring leg-curl pattern with the heel on a ball instead of a platform. A two-leg version of the same slide is the easier regression if the single-leg curl is too hard.
