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Get ready to build a stronger lower body—no matter what equipment you have on hand!
Katie Thompson
Instead of always focusing on your glutes and quads during lower-body workouts, consider adding some hamstring exercises to make sure you’re training efficiently and keeping your lower half strong and balanced.
There are a lot of leg exercises that engage the back-of-the-leg muscles, but targeted strength training for your hammies can be even more beneficial. Need some inspiration? Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best hamstring exercises out there that are perfect for your next leg day. Some use external resistance like barbells, dumbbells, or resistance bands, while others can be done with just your bodyweight. But before we get into the exercises, let’s talk about why you should care about building strength in the first place.
What are your hamstrings, and what do they do?
Indeed, your hamstrings are made up of three separate muscles—the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus—all of which run along the backs of your thighs. Together, they are a crucial part of your posterior chain, or the muscles that run along the back of the body from head to toe. They help you extend your hips and flex your knees, movements that allow you to perform a variety of activities like standing upright, bending forward, walking, running, and jumping, Dane Miklaus, CSCS, CEO and owner of Work training studios in Irvine, California, and Meridian, Idaho, tells SELF.
Why are strong hamstrings so important?
One of the benefits of strong hamstrings is greater power, especially in movements like sprints and jumps. And training your hamstrings helps improve balance, which is essential during strength training and in everyday life.
Many individuals are quad-dominant, meaning their quad muscles (which run along the front of the thighs) are much stronger than their hamstring muscles. While it’s normal for your quads to be a bit stronger than your hamstrings, a large imbalance between the muscle groups can lead to knee injuries or knee pain, especially if sprinting, jumping, lunging, or squatting are regular parts of your routine.
“If you are not stabilizing at the knee appropriately—and that’s a big part of what your hamstring does, it helps keep the knee joint in place—you risk a greater incidence of injury when your quads are way overdeveloped and the hamstrings are too weak,” he explains.
Plus, thanks to too much inactivity throughout the day—think long days sitting at your desk or in your car for your commute—your hamstring muscles tend to tense up, Miklaus says. This tightness can contribute to lower back pain.