Platform Hamstring Slides
Platform hamstring slides are a floor-based hamstring exercise where you lie on your back, heels resting on sliding discs, hips lifted in a bridge, and curl your heels in toward your hips using only your hamstrings and glutes. No machine required, just a smooth surface and something for your heels to slide on.
Why it works
Your hamstrings do two jobs: bending the knee and extending the hip. Most leg curl machines only train the knee-bending half. Sliding your heels in while your hips stay lifted asks the hamstrings and glutes to hold hip extension and pull the knee at the same time, closer to how they actually work together when you run or sprint.
Set up
- Lie on your back on a smooth floor with a slider disc, folded towel, or furniture mover under each heel.
- Bend your knees slightly and place your feet hip-width apart.
- Press through your heels and lift your hips into a bridge position.
- Keep your arms flat on the floor at your sides for support.
How to do it
- From the bridge position, slide your heels slowly toward your hips by bending your knees.
- Keep your hips lifted and level throughout the slide, don't let them sag toward the floor.
- Pause briefly once your heels are as close to your hips as you can get without your hips dropping.
- Slide your heels back out to a straight-leg bridge with the same control.
- Keep your hips up the entire set, only lowering them once the set is complete.
Form cues
- Hips stay up the whole time, this isn't a bridge that rises and falls.
- Slide slow enough that you could stop and hold at any point.
- Drive the slide from your hamstrings and glutes, not by arching your lower back.
- Keep your core braced so your hips don't sag as your legs bend.
Breathing: Breathe steadily throughout, exhaling gently as you curl your heels in and inhaling as you slide back out.
Common mistakes
Letting the hips drop as the knees bend.
Fix: Squeeze your glutes to keep your hips level and lifted through the entire slide, treating the bridge height as non-negotiable.
Sliding fast and using momentum instead of muscle.
Fix: Slow the tempo down until you can feel your hamstrings working the whole way in and the whole way back out.
Starting without a slick enough surface, so the feet catch instead of glide.
Fix: Use real sliders, a smooth towel on a hard floor, or furniture movers, not carpet or grippy shoes that stop the slide.
How to program it
- Two or three sets of 8 to 12 slow slides work well as a hamstring accessory, either after squats and deadlifts or on their own lower-body day.
- Because the hips have to stay lifted the entire set, this fatigues quickly; shorter, cleaner sets beat grinding out extra reps with sagging hips.
- A great option for home training days when there's no leg curl machine available.
Safety notes
- Stop the set once your hips start sagging on every rep instead of pushing through with poor position, since that's usually the point your hamstrings have done their real work for that set.
- If you feel this in your lower back rather than your hamstrings and glutes, check that your hips are lifting from a glute squeeze and not from arching your spine.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Isolation
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
What muscles do hamstring slides work?
Mainly your hamstrings, with your glutes working hard to keep your hips lifted the whole time. It trains both halves of what the hamstrings actually do: bending the knee and extending the hip.
Can I do hamstring slides without slider discs?
Yes. A smooth towel on a hardwood or tile floor, or furniture movers under your heels, work just as well. Socks on a smooth floor can work in a pinch, though grippier flooring will stop the slide.
Are hamstring slides good for beginners?
Yes, they need no equipment beyond something for your heels to glide on, and the bodyweight resistance makes them approachable while still building real hamstring and glute strength.
Why do my hips sag during hamstring slides?
Usually your glutes are fatiguing before your hamstrings finish the rep, or your core isn't braced enough to hold the bridge. Shortening the set and focusing on a tight glute squeeze from the very first rep usually fixes it.