Best Hamstring Exercises

Hamstrings are important for hip extension and knee flexion. Strenthening and stretching hamstrings is the best thing you can do to avoid tension, especially if you sit a lot throughout the day. A developed set of hamstrings is also a great way to give shape to your legs. So here are a few great exercises for those who want to grow and strengthen their hammies.

Best Hamstring Exercises

Deadlifts

Deadlifts of any kind are great for stretching out and loading the hamstrings. You can maximize the stretch by placing your toes on plates while leaving the heels on the floor. In this case a pair of dumbbells would be more convenient for the movement than a barbell.

Back Hyperextensions

Back extensions work a lot of muscles at once. The 45 degree angle hyperextension will work your back, glutes, and hamstrings fairly equally while the back extension on a Roman chair will load your glutes best at the peak of the movement.

Russian Leg Curls

Russian curls are great for isolating and loading your hamstrings as you try to elevate your torso using them. It is a challenging exercise both in terms of performance and set up. You either have to have a partner to hold your feet or get creating and find how to fix them.

Dumbbell Hamstring Raises

Lie on the bench on your stomach with your knees off the bench edge. Squeeze a dumbbell with your feet and raise it using your hams but keeping your knees close together, without going all the way in either direction so as to keep the constant tension in the hamstrings.

Ball Hamstring Curls

Ball hamstring curls are great for novices. These aren’t for hypertrophy but they are great for strengthening and polishing the hammies. If you are quite advanced, it is a great exercise to use in a superset with a heavy weight exercise.