Hamstrings: exercises and how to train them
Hamstrings work two ways: they extend the hip when you hinge — Romanian deadlifts — and bend the knee — leg curls. You need both for full development.
What these muscles do
The hamstrings run from your pelvis to your shin and cross two joints. In flat-back hinges — Romanian deadlifts, stiff-leg deadlifts, good mornings — they stretch and hold the weight at the hips. In leg curls they bend the knee; seated, the muscle is more stretched than lying. Squats barely work them, so squats alone aren't enough.
Exercises with technique breakdowns
7 more exercises in the catalog
- Deficit Deadlift
- Standing Leg Curl
- Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlift
- Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift
- Glute-Ham Raise
- Cable Deadlift
- Kettlebell Single-Leg Deadlift
They're all in the diary: find one by name in the bot or the app, and I'll remember the weight and reps.
How to train them
- Push your hips back rather than folding your back down: the bar slides along your legs, knees slightly bent.
- Go down until you feel the stretch in your hamstrings, not to the floor at any cost.
- Add leg curls to your hinges: hinging and bending the knee are different jobs.
- Hamstrings recover slowly from heavy hinges — don't put them on back-to-back days.
Programs and sets for this group
| Program | Sets per cycle | Days per cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Glutes & Legs — 3 Days | 7 | 3 |
| Push / Pull / Legs | 6.8 | 3 |
| Upper / Lower | 6 | 2 |
| Full Body — 2 Days | 3 | 2 |
| 3-Day Split | 3 | 3 |
| Full Body — 3 Days | 0.5 | 3 |
| Strength 5×5 — A/B | 0.2 | 2 |
Sets for one pass through all of the program's days, by its own schemes. A deadlift set is split in half between back and hamstrings — the way the diary counts it.
Exercise comparisons
Log your workouts — I'll show how many sets a week you give this group.