Complete Guide to Hamstring Training

A recent article from men’s health inspired me to write this article.

More specifically: they got something completely wrong when it comes to hamstring training.

Here’s what I mean:

The problem here?

Only ONE of these exercises trains the hamstrings: the stiff leg-deadlift.

Squat patterns such as hack squats or front foot elevated split squats (FFESS) do NOT actively train the hamstrings.

Is anyone going to be harmed by this? No, probably not.

However, if you started doing a bunch of hack squats or FFESS as a result of this article to build your hamstrings, you would unfortunately see very little hamstring progress.

So, my aim with this article is to give you an accurate guide to build your best hamstrings yet; including what the hamstrings ACTUALLY do, along with demonstration exercises.

Quick anatomy of the hamstrings:

The hamstrings are a unique muscle in that they are biarticular.

This means they cross two joints (most muscles cross just one) and produce movement around two joints.

More specifically, they cross the knee and the hip joint.

There are three individual muscles that make up the hamstrings: the semitendinosus, semimemnranosus, and the biceps femoris.

Function of the hamstrings:

As a result of this anatomy, the hamstrings have two different functions:

• Knee flexion

  • This involves your foot being pulled toward your butt, as in a leg curl.

• Hip extension ONLY when the knee angle is fixed

  • Hip extension refers to when your knee moves backward and away from the front of your torso

  • A stiff-leg deadlift is a hip extension exercise that involves your knees being fixed. In other words, the knee angle doesn’t change.

  • A squat involves hip extension but also involves knee extension. So, during a squat the hamstrings lengthen near the hip and shorten near the knee; resulting in no net change in muscle length. With the muscle not shortening in length, this means it is not providing any force and not contributing to the movement.

  • The more straight your knee is during a hip extension, the more the hamstrings contribute.

    • A hip thrust, for example, is a hip extension movement. However, in this, the knees are bent to ~90 degrees. This gives the hamstrings very little leverage to contribute.

    • During a stiff-leg deadlift, the knees are closer to being straight. This makes the hamstrings a prime mover during this exercise.

The absence of active hamstring involvement during squat pattern exercises has been clearly demonstrated in the research:

Exercises that train the hamstrings:

In line with what has been discussed, to completely train the hamstrings you need two types of exercises:

1. A knee flexion (ie leg curl) exercise

2. A fixed-knee hip extension exercise

Here are some examples of these exercises, respectively:

It’s worth mentioning that the hamstrings tend to experience greater growth when trained in a more lengthened position as opposed to being trained in a more shortened position.

For instance, in a direct comparison, seated leg curls have been shown to be superior to lying leg curls. [2]

For more details on this specifically, go here.