5 Beginner Tips for Effective Hamstring Training
- Rachel
- Jun 14, 2020
- 3 min read
1. Work the hamstrings through both hip extension and knee flexion.
The three primary hamstring muscles I am focusing on here are the bicep femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. All three (except the short head of the biceps femoris) cross two joints - the hip and the knee. The hamstring muscles are predominantly fast-twitch muscle fibers, built for speed and power, and like to get explosive! To hit your hamstrings well, you'll want to incorporate both hip extension and knee flexion exercises into your training plan.
2. Do knee extension exercises.
The hamstring, when working as a knee flexor (leg curl movement), is predominantly a fast twitch muscle meaning that any strength and hypertrophy benefits are lesser beyond a certain time under tension. For example, instead of 3-4 sets of 8-12, complete one or two training blocks of higher volume of sets, like 7-10, with a lower volume of reps of 4-6. Seated leg curl machine, laying leg curl, stability ball ham curls are all good exercises to add to your training plan. Performing the concentric movement of leg curls with our ankles dorsiflexed then drop our ankles into plantarflexion lowering the weight with a slow eccentric (slow negative) can be highly effective.. These movements activate the lower hamstrings to a greater degree than deadlifts, still induce high levels of metabolic stress (needed for growth), and as a bonus...they don’t beat up the central nervous system like deadlifts do.
3. Do hip extension exercises.
Hip extension exercises, such as Romanian deadlifts, single leg deadlifts, cable pull through or the glute-ham raise, work the hamstrings hard but recruit more slow twitch muscle fibers. Therefore, it may be beneficial to target hip extension exercises after knee extension exercises. For these, I find training the eccentric (slow negative part of the movement) with a fast (explosive) concentric movement can be highly effective and tends to get me a little more sore than normal days after my training. When I began to research a little more, I found this study, which showed activity was maximized for the bicep femoris during the Romanian deadlift and glute-ham raise. The concentric action from the semitendinosis and semimembranosis was highest in the glute-ham raise, whereas the eccentric action of the Semitendinosis and Semimembranosis was highest in the Romanian deadlift.
4. Vary your foot position when training hamstrings.
While you won't 100% limit training to one particular muscle, you can change the position of your toes to place more emphasis on one muscle over others. I recommend a variation of two or all three depending on your goals:
Toes neutral - focus on semi-tendinosus;
Toes turned in - focus on the medial hamstring and semi-membranosous;
Toes out - focus on bicep femoris.
5. Use both plantar flexed (toes pointed) and dorsiflexed (toes pulled back)
When your foot is in a dorsiflexed position, the gastrocnemius (calves) help the hamstring to lift more weight; this in turn reduces the load to the hamstrings. When your foot is plantar flexed, the gastrocnemius involvement reduces and you are then better able to isolate the hamstrings.
CLIFF NOTES: Perform both knee and hip extension exercises regularly. Alternate sets of leg curls with your ankle dorisflexed, with sets of leg curls with your ankle plantarflexed. Aim for higher sets with moderate reps. Incorporate tempo training, pause reps and/or concentric reps to help bust through a plateau.
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