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Having strong hamstrings shouldn’t be just a gym fanatic’s goal. Strong hamstrings not only look better, but also play a pivotal role in stabilizing the pelvis and supporting the lower back. In other words, they’re key for maintaining posture and balance, two traits that can help you have better workouts (and, overall, a better life).
That’s why strong hamstrings are important. But what are they exactly?
If you only know the hamstrings as “those muscles on the backside of the legs”, we believe it’s important to learn a little bit more before discussing how to get them stronger.
The hamstrings are a group of three muscles:
We need to have hamstrings because they have three fundamental functions:
Common hamstring injuries include hamstring strain and tendinopathy.
The deadlift is a good hamstring exercise, and requires only one piece of equipment: a barbell with weights. To perform this exercise, we recommend that you stand with feet hip-width apart and hold the barbell with both hands (palms facing your legs).
The next step is to grab the barbell by hinging at your hips and knees. Before pulling the barbell up (by going back to a full standing position), engage your core and pull your shoulders back to ensure that you don’t round your back and keep a neutral spine.
When extending your body, i.e., pulling the barbell up, it’s essential to ensure that you’re relying primarily on your hamstrings and glutes.
Also known as the RDL, the Romanian deadlift is a variation of the exercise above. It’s called “Romanian” because it was invented by the former Olympic athlete Nicu Vlad, originally from Romania. Vlad wanted to create an exercise that was similar to the deadlift, but activated the hamstrings and glutes to an even greater extent. And that’s precisely what he did!
The major difference between the RDL and the traditional deadlift is in how low you’re supposed to drop your glutes and how bent your knees should be. For the RDL, it’s important to keep your legs moderately straight, with only a slight bend to the knees.
The result? Unlike the traditional deadlift, the RDL targets the hamstrings and glutes without necessarily including the quads; some core and lower back muscles are still activated by this exercise.
For the single-leg deadlift, switch the barbell for a dumbbell and hold it in one or both hands. The movement of the exercise is performed by shifting bodyweight to one leg and extending the other one as far back as possible.
The counter-movement requires you to get back to the standing position, effectively activating the hamstrings in the process, as well as secondary muscles such as the glutes, lower back, and core.
For more controlled and balanced reps, we suggest that you open your free arm to the side, kind of like if you were imitating a flying airplane.
The deadlift is the most popular hamstring exercise around, but this variation (using a trap bar instead of a regular barbell) can be even more effective in terms of power output, not to mention easier to perform.
The exercise is performed with the athlete standing inside the trap bar. Then, it’s just a matter of grabbing the handles, pulling the weight up, and allowing it to descend with control. The increased flexibility in movement provided by the trap bar is the main reason why this exercise is generally considered safer than the standard deadlift.
This comes at a small cost, though, as the trap bar deadlift activates the glutes and quads more effectively than the hamstrings.
At first glance, the stiff-leg deadlift and Romanian deadlift (RDL) look nearly identical — both involve a hip hinge and target the posterior chain. But there’s a key difference that changes how they feel and what they hit.
The RDL allows for a slight bend in the knees throughout the movement, which helps you maintain tension in the hamstrings while protecting the lower back. It also lets you keep the bar closer to your body, giving you more control and reducing spinal stress.
The stiff-leg deadlift, on the other hand, minimizes knee bend almost entirely. This restriction forces the hamstrings to stretch more at the bottom of the movement, increasing the range of motion and shifting more load onto them. It also increases the demand on the lower back since the bar tends to drift slightly farther from your center of gravity.
So while both exercises are hamstring-dominant, the stiff-leg deadlift isolates them more aggressively, with less quad involvement and a greater challenge to your flexibility and spinal control.
Bodyweight-only exercises are not as effective for building muscle mass, but they do have several advantages, such as the fact that they require no equipment. So, if you’re looking for a no-weight exercise for strengthening your hamstrings, we recommend the glute bridge.
Attention: the glute bridge can also be executed with weights (it’s as simple as adding a dumbbell to the movement, for example)! However, it’s okay without any added equipment – for beginners.
To do this one like a pro, we recommend that you keep your feet flat and hip-width apart. Lie on your back and push through your heels to lift your hips. Don’t forget to give your glutes a little squeeze at the top for maximizing results.
To execute the barbell hip thrust, you need a barbell and a bench. The bench is required so you can rest your upper back against it. Then, holding the barbell against your waist, go down and back up using the power of your legs and driving through your heels.
We also recommend using a padded bench for this exercise so your upper back rests more comfortably. If you don’t have a gym bench, you can go DIY with a couch, but please make sure it’s stable enough to hold your weight!
Lunges are amazing for strengthening the legs, and the lateral lunge is one of the best in terms of hamstrings activation. Like all lunges, this exercise can be performed with or without weights, but we will be discussing the latter option, using dumbbells.
So, how do you perform the lateral lunge with dumbbells? Holding one in each hand, simply open your legs and bend one knee to the side, keeping the other leg straight. You can execute several reps for one leg at a time, or just vary between one leg and the other.
A key tip: Please keep the bent knee aligned with your foot and don’t let it cave in!
No, it’s not a typo. This hamstrings exercise is called Good Morning. The fundamental difference? You’re supposed to do it while holding a barbell on your back.
The rest is easy: just hinge at the hips with a moderate knee bend until your torso is almost parallel with the ground. Then, return to your initial standing position. The slower the better!
Instead of a lateral lunge, the split squat requires you to perform a forward lunge. The idea is to put one foot forward, keeping the other one back, and lowering into an actual lunge by bending both knees.
To make it more challenging, you can try performing the exercise holding one dumbbell in each hand. You can work both legs intermittently or perform multiple reps for each leg at a time.
For the split squat, we recommend that you focus on maintaining your torso straight. However, a slight lean forward (as long as the torso remains still) can help to increase the engagement of the hamstrings and glutes even more.
Made famous by the Bulgarian weightlifting coach Angel Spassov (hence the name), the Bulgarian split squat is a variation of the standard split squat in which you’re supposed to keep your back leg elevated with the help of a bench.
Generally viewed as more challenging, the Bulgarian variation is an exercise you should try once you feel like you’ve mastered the original split squat, as it requires even more balance.
The second no-weight routine to make it to the list, the Swiss ball leg-curl is done with a mat and a stability ball. To execute this exercise, lie on your back and place your heels on the ball. Then, use your hamstrings to pull the ball toward you and back to its initial position.
When it comes to the kettlebell swing, it’s important to keep in mind that this is supposed to be a hip hinge exercise, not a squat variation. What we mean by this is that the dominant movement of the kettlebell swing is in the hips, whereas the dominant movement of a squat is in the knees.
To execute kettlebell swings, hinge at the hips to swing the kettlebell back, then drive through the hips to swing it forward to shoulder height. It’s okay if momentum plays a part in the exercise.
Using a gym sled, reverse sled pulls require you to walk backward while pulling the sled. The key here is to push through your heels, not your upper body, to activate several leg muscles.
Even though this is a bona fide hamstrings exercise, it is even more effective as a quads workout.
Perhaps the most self-explanatory exercise to make the list, the cardio row is performed on the rowing machine. All you have to do is sit on the machine, grab the handles, and—this is the crucial part—ensure that the drive of the movement is provided by the legs, not the arms.
In addition to being excellent for improving balance and coordination, the best hamstrings exercises listed above activate several additional leg, core, and back muscles.
In the table, you can see how the different exercises compare in terms of muscle activation:
| Exercise | Hamstrings | Glutes | Quads | Calves | Core | Lower back |
| Deadlift | High | Medium | Low | ✗ | Low | Medium |
| Romanian deadlift | High | Medium | ✗ | ✗ | Low | Medium |
| Single-leg deadlift | Medium | Medium | ✗ | ✗ | Medium | Low |
| Trap bar deadlift | Low | Medium | Medium | ✗ | Low | Low |
| Stiff-leg deadlift | High | Low | ✗ | ✗ | Low | Medium |
| Glute bridge | Low | Medium | ✗ | ✗ | Low | ✗ |
| Barbell hip thrust | Low | High | ✗ | ✗ | Low | ✗ |
| Lateral lunge | Low | Low | Medium | Low | Low | ✗ |
| Good Morning | High | Low | ✗ | ✗ | Low | Medium |
| Split squat | Low | Low | Medium | ✗ | Low | ✗ |
| Bulgarian split squat | Low | Medium | Medium | ✗ | Low | ✗ |
| Swiss ball leg curl | High | Low | ✗ | ✗ | Low | ✗ |
| Kettlebell swing | Medium | Medium | ✗ | Low | Low | Low |
| Reverse sled pulls | Low | Low | Medium | Low | Low | ✗ |
| Cardio row | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low |
We believe this table shows that hamstrings exercises activate muscles more diversely than, for example, chest exercises. Depending on your goals, it’s important to keep this in mind to choosing the most appropriate hamstrings exercises for you.
Deadlifts are very complete and effective exercises, but please keep in mind that not all of them display high hamstrings activation (the trap bar deadlift, for instance, is more effective as a glutes and quads workout).
A good method for strengthening weak hamstrings is committing to a routine of localized strength and flexibility exercises. For strength, experiment with various hamstring curls and deadlift exercises.
The best exercise for your hamstrings depends on your specific goals. For strength development, the RDL works great; for hypertrophy, hamstring curls are pretty good; for improving explosiveness, try kettlebell swings.
Yes, but marginally. Walking is great for building endurance, not to mention one of the most pleasant types of workouts around. However, there’s a difference between just walking and actually performing challenging strength exercises. If you want stronger hamstrings, just walking probably won’t cut it.
Squats are good for hamstrings, but they don’t activate the hamstrings as their dominant muscle (squats target mainly quads, glutes, and core). For hamstring development, it’s better to stick to exercises like RDLs.
Want to get stronger, leaner, and take your fitness to the next level? Explore our workout programs now!
