The Best Exercises for Stronger, More Powerful Hamstrings
To keep your legs strong and powerful, you need to target both your quadriceps (the front of your thighs) and your hamstrings (the back of your thighs). For quads, squats are a given. But what exercises are best for improving your muscles? Read on to learn how to work this muscle and my recommendations for the best movements.
What are the hamstrings and what do they do?
The hamstrings are the muscles in the back of the thighs. I was going to write here that butchers traditionally hang pig carcasses by the hamstrings, but apparently that is not the case. “Ham” comes from the old English word for the back of the knee, so the word simply refers to the “strings” (tendons) in the back of the knee . The muscles attached to these tendons are the hamstrings, which we’ll talk about today. Meanwhile, butchers usually hang the ham on the hocks.
Going back to human anatomy, the hamstrings are a group of muscles, not a single muscle. This group includes:
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The biceps femoris is a biceps muscle that runs along the outer surface of the back of the thigh.
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The semitendinosus muscle is a thick muscle that runs along the inside of the back of the thigh.
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The semimembranosus is a thinner muscle that runs next to the semitendinosus muscle.
If you place your hand behind your knee and tense your leg muscles, you will feel these two sets of tendons (the original “veins”). The tendons located on the outside of the knee are the biceps femoris; internal – semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles.
All three muscles help you flex (flex) your knee and also extend (straighten) your hip. If you stand and bring your heel towards your buttocks, this is the action of the hamstring muscles.
But the hamstrings don’t just help us move our legs in the air. When your feet are on the ground, your hamstrings help you stand up if you bend over to pick up an object from the ground.
Best barbell exercise for hamstrings: Romanian deadlift.
Your hamstrings, along with your glutes (glutes), are responsible for moving your body in what fitness professionals call the “hinge pattern.” Imagine that your body can only bend at the hips; this is your loop. You perform a twisting motion when you bow, when you do a yoga forward fold (with a straight, not rounded back), or when you do a deadlift.
This brings us to the best barbell exercise for the hamstrings: the Romanian deadlift, or RDL. Deadlift simply means that you lift “dead weight” from the ground; In the Romanian version, you start with a kettlebell in your hands, lower it without letting it touch the ground, and then stand up. The regular and Romanian deadlifts are great for the hamstrings, but the RDL puts a little more emphasis on them.
In RDLs, unlike regular deadlifts, you need to keep your knees relatively straight. (A gentle bend is fine.) Bend your hips until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then stand back up.
Other than starting at the top and keeping your knees a little straighter, all the normal deadlift rules apply. Keep the bar close and tighten your core . RDLs can be tough on your grip, so don’t be afraid to use straps .
Best Barbell Exercise You (Probably) Don’t Do: Good Morning.
I just want to put in a good word here for the good morning, which is the same movement as the RDL, but you hold the barbell on your back (like a squat) rather than in your hands. Keep your knees soft and your core tight as above.
Good Morning is a great option for the home gym or anywhere you have limited weight to work with. A light barbell on your back can give you the same incentive to build strength as a heavy barbell in your hands.
Best Bodyweight Hamstring Exercise: Slider Curls
No barbell? Try bodyweight hamstring curls. Use sliders—either ones specifically designed for fitness, or simply purchase a set of furniture sliders. Lie on your back and place sliders under your heels. Now pull your heels towards you while lifting your buttocks off the ground. If you find it too difficult to do the exercise with both legs at the same time, try doing one at a time.
Best Advanced Hamstring Exercises: Nordic Curls.
I probably just pissed off a lot of people by calling slider curls the best bodyweight exercise for the hamstrings. “What about Nordic curls?” I hear you scream. Look, Scandinavian curls are complicated . Besides, I personally can’t do them, at least not very well, and maybe I’m a little bitter about it.
But it’s definitely a good exercise, which is why it’s still on the list, but as the best advanced hamstring exercise. (See, this is my list.) In the Nordic curl, you kneel on a pad, lock your feet, and straighten your knees until your torso is face down on the ground. Then bend your knees to rise to the starting position.
There are several ways to make this movement easier. One is to use a band either around your torso or stretched between the supports of a squat rack underneath you. (I’ve been known to tease one gym buddy who does this by calling them “striped face planks.”) There are other variations, too, which you can see in the video above. If you complete the Nordic exercises, you will have stronger hamstrings than I did. Congratulations and enjoy.