Weak or dysfunctional Hamstrings are a huge factor behind Hamstring injuries, which are responsible for up to 26% of all sports-related injuries. That’s why targeted exercises to bulletproof your Hamstrings can be a gamechanger.
But, what are the most effective Hamstring exercises?
Well, that’s exactly the purpose of this article. We’ll lay the foundation with a look at what Hamstrings are, and how strengthening them can help you out in the long run. After that, we’ll jump into the most effective exercises to get you started towards better Hamstring health.
What exactly are Hamstrings?
Your Hamstrings are a group of three long muscles located on the back of your thighs. These muscles originate from the lower parts of your pelvis and upper parts of your thigh bone. At the base, they narrow down into tendons which insert into upper parts of the Tibia(Shinbone).
Hamstrings are mainly responsible for two things:
- Driving Hip and knee joint movements: They work together with other muscles around the thigh and butt area to extend and bend the hip and knee joints respectively.
- Facilitate load transfer and control of the knee joint: Hamstrings work in sync with the more powerful muscle group on the front portion of the thigh, known as Quadriceps. Whenever there’s forceful extension of your knee joint, your Hamstrings pull to provide a counterforce which protects the knee joint. Additionally, they balance out with the Quadriceps muscle in front to make sure the knee joint is in an optimal position during various loaded movements.
Hamstring Exercises and Injury prevention
Keeping your Hamstrings in the best shape possible is one of the most effective ways of avoiding recurrences and fresh injuries altogether. Groundbreaking research efforts over the past decade continue to show this.
One of the key research efforts, published in the Journal of Sports Medicine, looked into studies which investigated the usefulness of different exercises in Hamstring Injury prevention in football players. The research review showed that injury prevention programs that include Nordic Hamstring exercises significantly decreased Hamstring injury occurrence among the study participants.
This isn’t mere hearsay. At Healthy Movements physiotherapy, Hamstring injuries are a common problem we see in active individuals and sports professionals.
Frank’s case offers a great example of how exercise can change the trajectory of an injured athlete. He was reffered to our clinic after a diagnosis of Hamstring Strain. The injury was the latest of a string of similar injuries he’d been accustomed to over time.
“Usually, I don’t last a few months before another Hamstring injury once I get back into training and competitive games. I guess I just have to accept my Hamstrings weren’t built for this”. He said.
We hopped into a comprehensive assessment to get to the root cause of the recurrent injuries. We quickly discovered there was more to it than just sheer bad luck. Like most rugby players, Frank had a well-built lower body.
However, his Hamstrings weren’t as impressive as other lower body muscle groups, especially their direct opposites in the front portion of the thigh (Quads). There was an obvious mismatch, which meant frequent exposure to colossal stresses during training and competitive games. His hamstrings weren’t built for his physical demands.
We took him through a standard rehabilitation program to facilitate the healing process, and get him to baseline strength in the subsequent weeks. By the 8th week, he was ready to start a comprehensive strengthening and injury prevention program. We designed a training program aimed at minimizing his risk of injury as much as possible.
The program included eccentric strength training work built around what are known as Nordic exercises. In 3 weeks, he was ready to get back into action. To date, it’s been more than 5 months with no reports of pesky Hamstring injuries threatening his promising career.
This is exactly why we emphasise targeted hamstring strengthening at Healthy Movements Physiotherapy.
Best Hamstring Exercises for Strength and Injury Prevention
Hamstring exercises can be categorised into two depending on the nature and objective of the movements:
Isolation exercises: These zone in on the muscle to get the most out of it in terms of power output. The idea is to optimise its recruitment/activation, which translates to more loading and better muscle adaptation. They typically involve movement of a single body part or joint.
Compound Exercises: Involve multiple muscle groups working together(including Hamstrings) to execute a movement pattern. The idea is to challenge the muscle while optimising its performance in natural movement patterns.
The best approach is to combine the two forms of exercise to ensure you get the best of both worlds. Let’s go ahead and consider some of the best moves to consider for optimal results:
Nordic Curl
This move is considered one of the most effective ways of getting your Hamstrings firing from all cylinders.
Why it works
The exercise is a highly effective way of forcing your Hamstings to work at optimal levels. This is due to its ability to isolate knee joint movement while leveraging on your bodyweight.
How to do it
You just need an extra person to stabilise your legs, and a padded surface(exercise mat) to cushion your knees. If you have access to the gym, there may be some specialised padded anchors installed at the bases of a few benches or exercise machines. Just check with your trainer if there’s a few options available.
Starting Position
- Kneel down, and have your partner hold your legs at ankle level at the back. Keep your Torso in line with your hip joint.
- Hand and arm placement varies. It depends on whichever makes you feel comfortable. You can simply put your hands at the back the head, across the chest, or on your waist.
- Make sure the surface below your knees is adequately cushioned to ensure comfort and proper exercise form.
The Movement
- With control, lower your body down to the floor.
- Return to the starting position. You can use your arms to slightly push off the floor and initiate the second phase of the movement.
- Repeat the movement for another rep. Aim for 8-10 reps, 3-4 sets.
Safety tips
It’s okay if the movement proves too difficult to complete, you can start with a simpler variation and build from there. You don’t have to go all the way down for a start: Start with a small movement range i.e 30-40 degrees of movement from the vertical before returning to the starting position.
Romanian Deadlift
This is another highly effective move to pair with the Nordic Curl. In fact, it can be a great substitute to the curl in cases where it’s impractical or simply too difficult to get done.
Why it Works
Unlike like the Nordic Curl, this exercise gets the most out of your Hamstrings by emphasising Hip joint extension while using your bodyweight as a primary source of resistance.
How it's Done
Starting Position
- Stand up tall, feet set at shoulder width apart.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand just in front of your thighs, palms facing backwards.
- Bend your knees a little bit and stiffen your legs to brace for the movement.
The Movement
- With control, lower both dumbbells to ankle level. Make sure you hinge on your hips during the movement. Don’t curl your back and keep your knee stiff throughout the movement.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement. Aim for 8-10 reps, 3-4 sets.
Safety tips
Avoid curling/bending your back throughout the movement. This prevents overloading the low back area and poor overall exercise form.
Glute-Ham Bridge
This movement offers another powerful Hamstring loader. Its benefits aren’t limited to the Hamstring: your Glutes will thank you too as the exercise needs collective effort from both muscle groups. Not only that, the exercise is also a great way of challenging your core as it has to brace your spine and pelvis to keep things stable.
Why it Works
The bridge emphasises hip joint extension and partial knee flexion, both of which are driven by the Hamstring muscle. Its simplicity and relatively lower intensity makes it a great choice if the Nordic Curl and Romanian Deadlift prove too difficult.
How to do it
Starting Position
- Lie down on your back, face up.
- Bend your knees and get both feet flat on the floor.
- Stretch your arms along the sides of your torso.
- Stretch and elevate the right leg to knee level.
The Movement
- Push off your foot to extend your hips upwards.
- Hold the top position for 2-3 seconds.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement for another rep. Aim for 8-10 reps.
- Switch to the other side.
Safety tips
Keep the weight-bearing leg in a neutral position, start with your body weight and master the movement before upgrading to weights.
Dumbbell Prone leg curls
This move proves a great complimentary isolation exercise to the more powerful options discussed above. It allows you to achieve significant isolation of the Hamstring muscle, making it a great partner to a more intense option like the Romanian Deadlift or Nordic Curl.
Why it Works
The exercise isolates your Hamstring muscles by limiting movement to the knee joint. You can get creative by adding some cuff weights to the ankles, or securing a dumbbell between your feet.
How it's Done
Starting Position
- Lie down on your tummy, with a Dumbbell secured between your feet. Alternatively, you can use a pair of cuff weights secured at ankle level.
- Lower the Dumbbell till the bottom plate touches the floor.
The Movement
- Bend your knee and lift the dumbbell to a vertical position.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement for another rep. Aim for 8-12 reps, 3-4 sets for a start.
Safety tips
Be sure to start with a lighter dumbbell. Too much loading comes with an elevated injury risk to the very muscles you’re trying to work on.
Standing Leg Curl
This is another great isolation movement to pair up with one of the Hamstring heavy weights. Like the prone curl, the idea is to optimise muscle recruitment by limiting movement to knee flexion, which is primarily driven by hamstring muscles.
Why it Works
The mechanics are simirlar to the Prone Curl: fix everythng else and limit movement to the knee joint. This isolates and optimises Hamstring action, which makes it a great complimentary exercise to more powerful manouvers.
How it's Done
Starting position
- Stand up tall, feet at shoulder width. You can hold a chair or wall in front for more balance.
The Movement
- Bend your right leg at the knee and lift your foot as high as you can.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 10-12 times, 3-4 sets.
- Switch to the other side and repeat the sequence.
Note: You can use ankle cuff weights and resistance bands to upgrade the challenge.
Safety tips
Again, start with lighter dumbbells or cuff weights to master the movement.
When to see a Physio
Sometimes, your body may be signalling you that something isn’t quite right despite all the workouts. Visit us for a quick assessment if you notice one or more of these signs/symptoms:
- Persistent pain in the Hamstring area during weightbearing movements or positions i.e standing, walking, jogging, running.
- Numbness and tingling sensations in the Hamstring and butt area.
- Weakness or heaviness in one or both legs.
- Persistent swelling.
Get in Touch
Looking to build better Hamstrings and prevent injuries? Look no further, we’re also looking to bring years of expertise in muscle performance training and injury prevention to get you started. At Healthy Movements Physiotherapy, we look beyond hands-on therapy and corrective exercise. We’re equally interested in optimising your overall performance and injury prevention in the safest way possible.
Let’s build a comprehensive Hamstring exercise program that works for you. Book an appointment today and start building stronger, injury resistant Hamstrings. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on current standard recommendations, two focused sessions a week are enough to elicit tangible muscle activation. Make sure you place 24-48 hours between Hamstring workouts to allow for proper recovery and adaptation.
Two exercises are enough to load your Hamstrings in a single session. Even one exercise can be enough, provided that there’s proper loading. The common practice is to go for one compound(Single leg bridge) and one powerful isolation exercise(Nordic Curl).
Yes you can. However, pay attention to detail. Prolonged, static stretches can actually affect your Hamstring’s ability to generate force during your workouts. Limit your stretch duration to under 30 seconds, or simply go for dynamic stretches to avoid hindering your Hamstring’s performance.
