hamstrings

When building a lower body worthy of shock and awe, the hamstrings often play second fiddle to the quads. Because who doesn’t like a good quad teardrop flex? However, performing hamstring exercises are crucial for athletic performance, injury prevention, and fundamental human movement. They are...

Four-time Mr Olympia champ and International Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Jay Cutler, is a trailblazer who has helped to elevate the bodybuilding industry and at 50-years-young is now training a new generation of rock-solid athletes through his teachings at fitness conventions and on social...

In the sports world, the most notorious injury-prone muscle group is undoubtedly the hamstrings. Tune into the Olympics this summer, and you’ll probably see what I mean. Fittingly, by taking a page out of their book, it’s worth considering this fairly unconventional approach—in this case the...

The dreaded hamstring strain usually strikes at the worst time. Personally, I’ve lost count of the number of times my hamstrings have told me, “Not today.” It wasn’t too long ago when I strained my hamstring jumping into a pool with my sons. It can happen at any time, and for me, embarrassingly...

1. Assisted Nordic Hamstring Curl In the assisted Nordic hamstring curl, you wrap one end of a resistance band around something sturdy several feet above your head (a chin-up bar, for example) and the other around your chest. This means that the band supports some of your weight as you perform...

What Is a Nordic Hamstring Curl? The Nordic hamstring curl is a bodyweight exercise that primarily trains the hamstrings. Typically, you perform it by kneeling on the floor and having a partner pin down your ankles, lowering your chest toward the floor by leaning forward, and lowering yourself...

“Now just bend down and touch your toes,” is something we’ve all heard a hundred times or more. And if you have chronically tight hamstrings, you probably cringe every time. Not because you really care about touching your toes. But because you’ve tried stretching. You’ve tried making your...

The landmine Romanian deadlift (RDL) offers a lot. Done right, it can work your hamstrings harder than most other deadlifts and it's kinder to your lower back. Here's how to get the most from them, and how to solve all your landmine grip issues. THE BENEFITS There are a bunch of ways to do...

The stability ball hip extension hamstring curl is unlike any hamstring exercise you’ve ever done. Training the hamstrings is often an afterthought because the glutes and quads get most of the attention. And when the hamstrings are trained, it is usually on the hamstring curl machine where some...

The GHR: Everything You Need to Know Best Hamstring Exercise? The GHR You’re probably not doing the single most important exercise for building and strengthening the hamstrings: the glute-ham raise. Most people skip it because they just don’t know how to set it up and perform it properly...

The hamstrings bend and stabilize the knee, among other things. They also play a major role in reducing and controlling force and the deceleration of a movement. They're predominantly fast twitch, and thus respond very positively to eccentric-based training (negatives). In fact, a lack of...

The muscles that compose the hamstrings – the semimembranosus, the semitendinosus, and the biceps femoris, plus a host of synergists – have two functions: bending the knee and kicking the leg back (as in a sprinting motion). Problem is, the average lifter only trains one of these functions...

Hamstrings, like any other muscle, must be exercised and pushed in order to expand. You may target the back of the legs with the correct workouts (both with and without equipment) to enhance functional fitness, avoid injuries, and have more balanced and stronger legs overall. The hamstrings are...

It's time to stop neglecting your hamstrings. Check out this article for common hamstring training mistakes, how to fix them, and a hamstring workout! Quick. Give me the first three thoughts that go through your head when I say the words “leg day”. Those words likely have something to do with...

What causes butt wink, and is it something to be concerned about? Learn how to improve your squat form and reduce likelihood of injury by minimizing pelvic rotation. Butt wink refers to the posterior tilting or rotation of the pelvis in the hole of a squat. As a lifters sinks to depth and...

Let’s face it, your quads and glutes get a lot of love in the gym, but your hamstrings? Sadly, probably not so much. When you’re flexing in the mirror (and you know you are), how often do you admire your hamstrings? If you don’t notice then visually, there’s a good chance as well you don’t...

Your hamstrings need to both look good and perform well. Because your hamstrings act as the “brakes” during the eccentric portion of your squats, deadlifts, and for running and changing direction. This makes eccentric hamstring strength important for good form, overall leg strength, and to...

s mentioned in a previous article regarding the quads, the legs provide the core stability and lifting power for the human body. If you want to do any form of lifting outside of a seated, supine or prone position then you’ve got to have legs that can support the weight. While you’re arms may be...

Athletes in the offseason — from weekend warriors to GOATs — primarily focus their training regimens on staying in game shape and minimize the risk of injuries. Some spots oftentimes need extra attention, your hamstrings being one of those muscle groups. Almost weekly during the regular season...

How many times have you heard that the bodybuilding show is won from the back? Many people think about the actual back when that phrase is said. However, that guideline applies to the lower body as well. It doesn’t matter how big or shredded your quadriceps are, the hamstrings have to match. For...