15 Essential Hamstring Exercises to Build Muscle and Boost Your Athleticism
THE HAMSTRINGS MIGHT NOT be the first muscles you think about when you're plotting out your workout routine—that focus likely goes to the arms, abs, or chest if you're the type of gym-goer most concerned about what will pop in the mirror, or more broadly the lower body or back if you're more concerned about building a balanced body. No regimen can be considered well-constructed, however, without giving some direct attention to the hammies. The leg muscles are invaluable for the types of movements performed by high-level athletes and everyday exercisers alike.
Your hamstrings are essential for walking, running, and jumping—in other words, when you're using your legs, you're more than likely depending on your hamstrings for proper healthy function. The muscles are a key to explosive athleticism, and building them up to be strong and healthy should be a major focus for anyone who hopes to have success in just about any sport that requires you to run and jump. The hamstrings are also a major factor in the big-time compound movements (think squats and deadlifts) that anchor many workout routines, so targeting the muscles more directly can result in improved performance in your most valuable lifts.
Before we get into the best hamstring exercises you can include in your workout plans, you should learn some more about these leg muscles, how they work, and why they're so important for your strength training practice.
What Are the Hamstring Muscles?
Your hamstrings actually consist of three main muscles: the semimembranosus, the semitendinosus, and the biceps femoris. The biceps femoris includes two separate heads, a long head and a short head.
Both semis and the long head of the biceps femoris originate at the ischial tuberosity in the pelvis—and that’s important. That means they are involved in hip extension. What’s hip extension? That’s what happens when you stand up straight, and your thigh and torso straighten out. (The short head of the biceps femoris originates at the shaft of the femur, or thigh bone.)
This means that hip extension moves like glute bridges, and even the final act of standing up fully straight and pushing your pelvis forward during a squat, will recruit a lot of hamstring muscle (although these moves won’t recruit the short head of the biceps femoris). Don’t discount such moves when training hamstrings.
Meanwhile, all your hamstring muscles are active during knee flexion, the bending of your knee. Semimembranosus and semitendinosus insert at the tibia, while the biceps femoris insert at the head of the fibula. That placement means your lower leg internally rotates because of the semis, while it externally rotates because of the biceps femoris. This means you can create focus on different muscles by thinking about tibial rotation.
The Benefits of Training Your Hamstrings
This comes down to what the muscle actually does for you.
The hamstrings are a rare and unique lower-body muscle group that actually acts at two joints. Flexing your hamstrings will bend your knee, much as you do during leg curls. Your hamstrings also act on your hip joint too, driving your hips into “extension,” essentially pushing your hips forward directly under your spine.
Both motions are key to your general movement, and they’re even more important for athleticism. Powerful hip extension, in fact, is widely acknowledged as a key trait for sprinting, jumping, bounding, and lunging.
All of that is exactly why you want to make sure to attack your hamstrings with some vigorous training every week.
How You Can Train Your Hamstrings
The hamstrings are commonly known as the opposing muscle group to the quadriceps, but that doesn’t mean that when one of these muscles is working, the other group is relaxed. Hamstrings and quads work together; in order to stand, you must exhibit both hip extension and knee extension.
This collaborative effort happens more often than you would think with all lower-body exercises. That means you can isolate your hamstrings, but it’s not the lone way to train them; when you’re doing squats and lunges, your hammies are getting plenty of work, too. You'll want to include both isolation exercises, like leg curl, alongside the aforementioned squats and lunges. Think about starting with the more demanding compound movements first, then narrowing your focus to the isolation movements.
How to Improve Hamstring Flexibility
Yes, we want strong hamstrings—but we want to be able to move them, too. Tight hamstrings can be limiting for not just your workouts. Your overall mobility will suffer if you struggle with hamstring tightness. These movements from physical therapist Sam Becourtney, PT, DPT, C.S.C.S will help to improve hamstring flexibility.
Hamstring Scoop
How to Do It:
In a standing position, bring one foot in front of the other with the heel on the floor and the toes up.
Sit your butt back as you reach your hands down, "scooping" the floor, then stand back up.
Hamstring Flossing
How to Do It:
Lie on your back and grab one thigh behind your knee with both hands, creating a 90-degree bend relative to your torso. Make sure that opposite leg is straight to increase the stretch.
Straighten your raised leg and then bring it back down. Repeat the movement deliberately. If you want to increase the stretch at the top, point your toes down towards yourself for more of an upper calf stretch there, suggests Becourtney.
Lying Hamstring Stretch with Towel
How to Do It:
Lie on your back with one knee bent towards your chest and bring the towel or other implement behind that foot.
From this position, try to straighten out your leg. “Now he's using his arms to pull down on that leg, increasing the stretch he's feeling there,” notes Becourtney. “If you want push more through the toes towards his head, that will give him a little bit more of that upper calf stretch.
If it's too intense on the lower back or the hamstring bend the knee that’s extended straight on the floor since “that would take a little bit of the pressure off of that area," according to Becourtney.
Assisted Sitting Stretch
How to Do It:
Get in long sitting position on the floor (butt on the ground, legs extended out in front of you) with your chest upright and the towel or strap wrapped around one foot.
As you pull the foot under the towel or strap towards you, lean your trunk forward. “That's going to increase the stretch through that hamstring… because of where it attaches behind the hip there,” says Becourtney.
Come back up to your original position and repeat. (Like in the last move, if the stretch is too intense, bend the opposite knee to take some pressure off of your lower back.)
Standing Hamstring Stretch with Flat Foot
How to Do It:
Stand and place your foot on an elevated surface such as a small box, step stool, or stair. Make sure your foot is flat on the stool.
Carefully hinge your hips by pushing your bottom straight back behind you. Maintain a flat back as you tilt your chest forward.
Half Kneeling Dynamic Hamstring Stretch
How to Do It:
Start kneeling on one knee, with your other foot placed in front of you.
Slowly rock your hips backward while straightening the knee of your forward leg, until you feel a strong stretch in the back of the thigh. Pause before returning to the starting position.
The Best Exercises to Build Your Hamstrings
If you want to develop your hamstrings into the powerhouses they're supposed to be, you need to use a variety of exercises. Here are the best moves you can mix into your leg day training.
Deadlift
Why: This may be the most well-known lower-body exercise out there, and it’s potentially your hamstrings’ greatest tool for growth. The combination of heavy weight, multi-joint action, and hip extension is a recipe for quality muscular development.
How to:
With feet shoulder-width apart and arms just outside of the legs, push the hips back as far as possible then bend the knee far enough to reach the bar.
Keeping your core tight and your spine as tall as possible, pull the bar from the ground by standing tall and pulling the hips back to your standing position.
Slowly lower the bar back to the ground, pushing your hips back as you do.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Romanian Deadlift
Why: The Romanian deadlift is a great hip-hinging pattern that involves the hip extension of the deadlift while eliminating any extra knee action or focus. You maintain a soft bend in the knee, which places the emphasis of the move entirely on your posterior chain.
How to:
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a loaded barbell at your hips with an overhand grip. Your knees should be slightly bent.
Slowly push your hips all the way back with the weight gliding close to the front of your leg. Lower until you feel slight tension in your hamstrings, or until your torso is parallel to the ground, whichever comes first.
Pull your hips forward and stand to return to the start.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Single-Leg Deadlift
Why: The single-leg deadlift has all the advantages of the Romanian deadlift, except it recruits more posterior chain muscles to maintain stability. The gluteus medius jumps into the action to stabilize your femur at the hip joint while you focus your body to remain parallel to the ground.
How to:
Stand with feet together and hold the weight in front of your thigh, arm extended and hands pronated.
Bend the left knee slightly as you bend forward from your hips, extending right leg to hip height behind you as you lower bar toward the floor.
Rise up to the starting position and repeat. Switch sides to complete one full repetition.
Reps and set: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Hex-Bar/Trap Bar Deadlift
Why: This is the most translatable lower body move to everyday life that we have. The hex bar relieves the stress on the upper body by placing the hands in a neutral grip by your sides. This allows you to pack on more weight on, challenging your legs that much more.
How to:
Lower your body down to grab the high handles of the hex bar with feet shoulder-width apart.
Keeping your core tight and your shoulders above your hips, extend your knees and hips to stand up. Your upper body should remain as relaxed as possible while maintaining a firm grip on the bar. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
Slowly lower the bar to the ground, pushing your butt back as you do.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Stiff-Leg Deadlift
Why: This deadlift variation will force you to take some plates off the bar, but you'll be able to isolate your hamstrings even more. Just don't be tricked by the name—you shouldn't have absolutely locked-out knees here. You should work to keep the legs straighter than you would during the conventional variation, in order to lessen the quad engagement.
How to:
Stand in front of the barbell with your feet at shoulder-width apart. The bar should be close to your body, almost touching your shins, with your feet under the bar.
Push your butt back, then lower your torso to reach down and grab the bar. Your knees can bend, but keep them as straight as you can.
With your shoulder blades slightly squeezed, and a slight, natural bend in the knees, brace through your abs as you begin to pull the bar from the floor. You don’t need to be as aggressive in the pull as you would with the conventional deadlift (but don’t pull it softly either).
From here, think of the move as a Romanian deadlift—you’re going to push your butt back as you lower the weight down to the floor, taking two to three seconds on the descent. Pause, then lift the bar back up.
Reps and Sets: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Glute Bridge
Why: This is the move we’ve all seen in some fitness video at some point, and for good reason. It’s both simple enough that anyone can do it, and useful enough to pack muscle on anyone of any level.
How to:
Lie flat on your back with feet flat on the ground and shoulder-width apart, legs bent to 90 degrees.
Drive your heels into the ground, and lift your torso and upper legs into the air, extending your hips until your thighs and torso are in line with each other. Squeeze your glutes.
Hold for a 2-second count. Return to the start.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Hip Thrust
Why: The barbell hip thrust is similar to the glute bridge, but it challenges hip extension by adding increased load. This will also attack your glutes.
How to:
Sit on the ground, with your shoulder blades against a bench, feet flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, knees bent. A barbell should be across the front of your hips.
Hold the bar with your hands, stabilizing it.
Squeeze your glutes to raise your hips off the ground and raise the bar off the floor. (Keep your chin tucked to maintain proper ribcage positioning).
Pause when your thighs and torso are in line with each other, then return to the start.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Lateral Lunge
Why: This exercise is all about switching up the way you move. Break out of the sagittal plane (front-to-back movement) with this exercise that gets you moving in the frontal plane (side-to-side). That's key for healthy movement and athleticism—which, as we have already discussed, is driven by your hamstrings.
How to:
Start standing, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell at your chest, core tight.
Step to the right a few feet with your right leg, taking a relatively large step. Land.
Keeping your left leg straight, bend your right knee and push your butt back, lowering slowly. Lower as far as you can comfortably, aiming to get thigh parallel to the ground.
Then explosively drive up and to the left, driving back to a standing position. For some extra athletic work, add a high knee drive to the end of the movement.
Reps and sets: 8 to 12 reps per direction
Good Morning
Why: Think of this exercise as an opportunity to reinforce your hip hinge and core bracing, two important functions on big lifts like deadlifts. Good mornings are similar to Romanian deadlifts—you're just shifting the load to your back, instead of in front of you. Think low weights for this exercise, and focus on the basics of the movement.
How to:
Lift a loaded barbell off the rack, holding the weight on a low position across your shoulders.
Grip the bar tightly, and move your shoulders forward into an externally rotated position.
Tighten your core and glutes, then push your butt back to hinge at the hips to lower your torso.
If you need, you can create a slight arch in your back to avoid rounding. Keep your shins vertical. Lower until you feel tension in your hamstrings, then raise back up.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 8 reps
Split Squat
Why: This unilateral staple doesn't isolate your hammies and glutes like some other exercises, but you will build up those lower body muscles if you work the right way. Make sure to focus on setting up properly to get the most out of the movement.
How to:
Start from the bottom position, meaning you should begin with one knee on the ground, forming two 90-degree angles with your legs.
Lean forward slightly, place your back toes on the ground, and engage your core. Grip weights in both hands tightly, and keep your head in a neutral position by keeping your gaze straight ahead.
Squeeze your rear glute to raise up, maintaining your solid torso posture.
Lower back down without slamming your back knee to the ground.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per side
Bulgarian Split Squat
Why: Level up your standard split squat with some elevation. You'll get even more unilateral strength work while emphasizing even more mobility and flexibility on the rear leg.
How to:
Start from the bottom position again, placing your rear foot on the bench or elevated platform from the ground. Form 90-degree angles with your legs and drive your grounded heel into the floor, aiming to have your front shin vertical.
Grip your weights tightly, then squeeze your core and shoulder blades. Stand up, hinging forward slightly to avoid back extension.
Now, lower down into the squat, keeping your knee off the floor and working to maintain the vertical front shin.
Recruit your glutes and hammies to explode out of the bottom of the movement.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per side
Slider/Swiss Ball Leg Curl
Why: This is your traditional weight room machine leg curl, married to glute- and hamstring-challenging instability. The best part: It’ll rock your lower body with only bodyweight and gravity.
How to:
Lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground and shoulder-width apart.
Place the backs of your heels either on two sliders or a Swiss ball (if you use a Swiss ball, you’ll have to lift your thighs and lower back off the ground to get into position). This is the start. Tighten your core.
Now pull your heels back as far as possible, bending at the knees primarily to do this.
Pause, then push them back out so your legs are now straight.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps
Kettlebell Swing
Why: The basic kettlebell swing is one of the best ballistic moves you can add into a routine. It’s a movement that’s actually similar to a bodyweight broad jump, loading your hips and hamstrings, then forcing you to explode your pelvis and hips forward into extension. It’s a power-packed move that your hamstrings will feel for days, and it has multiple uses: It’ll get your metabolism up, and it trains your upper and mid-back more than you may think, too.
How to:
Stand with your knees just wider than shoulder-width apart, a kettlebell just in front of you on the ground.
Grasp the kettlebell with both hands, then lift your hips enough to swing the bell back between your legs. Keep your core tight and aim to keep your back flat as you do this; don’t round your back.
From that loaded position, explode your hips forward, squeezing your glutes and propelling your arms straight out in front of you, “swinging” the kettlebell up.
Your torso should stay rigid once the kettlebell has reached the peak of its ascent. Let the kettlebell’s momentum take it back downward, then, as it descends toward you, push your hips back for another swing.
Reps and sets: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
Reverse Sled Pulls
Why: In the same way driving a sled forward will hammer the quadriceps, dragging it backwards will call on the hamstrings. You’re also training the hamstrings in a real way, placing them in the same position they wind up in when they’re decelerating your lower body.
How to:
Attach a TRX or strap to the sled and grab the TRX handles with both hands, chest facing the sled.
Lean back, creating full tension in the strap while sitting back into an athletic stance.
With arms extended in front, slowly drag the sled while walking backwards maintaining that athletic starting position.
Reps and sets: Pull for 3 sets of 25 to 30 feet
Cardio Row
Why: The venerable cardio row does more than get your heart rate up; it’ll fire up your glutes and hamstrings, too. In fact, if you row with explosive power, there’s a good chance you’ll get off the rower with your hamstrings and glutes on fire. The movement of the cardio row, when done correctly, somewhat mimics a deadlift and barbell row, with both moves simply on a different plane.
How to:
Set up on a cardio rower, and secure your feet. Bend at the knees and hips and hinge your torso forward slightly to grasp the handle.
Holding it tightly with an overhand grip, straighten your knees and hips, hinge backward slightly, and pull the handle to your lower chest.
Repeat the motion until you’ve covered the time or distance you want.
Reps and sets: Start with 3 two-minute intervals of rowing, resting two minutes between each set
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