The hamstrings are made up of three muscles: semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM) and the biceps femoris (BF). ST is in the back, inner part of your thighs. SM is in the back, outerish part of your thighs along with the BF. [Do not get the biceps femoris in your legs confused with the biceps brachii in your arm..] This group of muscles, in general, allows us to curl our legs and bring our shins to our butt.

1. The Hamstring Exercises You Should be Doing
Leg day (Part 2)
Now we got the quadrasex down. Let’s focus on the rear of our thighs, the pair of
cords we call the hamstrings, or the hamsprung, since they get us all excited.
(Don’t lie!)
Simple anatomy lesson to get us started! The hamstrings are made up of three
muscles: semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM) and the biceps femoris
(BF). ST is in the back, inner part of your thighs. SM is in the back, outerish part
of your thighs along with the BF. [Do not get the biceps femoris in your legs
confused with the biceps brachii in your arm..] This group of muscles, in general,
allows us to curl our legs and bring our shins to our butt.
I think his legs are bigger than my chest.
To find the best and most efficient exercises, we got to go get scienced, and hit
up those EMG studies done by the fancy doctoral researchers. [Or you can just
scroll down, ignore it all and look at the rankings.]
Wright, G. A., T. H. DeLong, and G. Gehlsen. Electromyographic activity of the
hamstrings during performance of the leg curl, stiff-leg deadlift, and back squat
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2. movements. J. Strength Cond. Res. 13(2): 168-174. 1999.
There was this one study done on 6 former D1 football players and 5
bodybuilders. It’s safe to say that these people would be under the “trained”
category. On average these guys weighed 180 pounds, squatted 315 and had a
313 pound STIFF LEG DEADLIFT. Holy. Researchers made this diesel crew do the
leg curl machine, a stiff leg deadlift (SLDL) and a back squat to see which one
activated the hamstrings the most. Turns out, leg curl had the best for the ST
and BF with 93% and 96% respectively, SLDL came second with 82% and 83%,
the back squat came last with 49% and 50%.
Ebben WP. Hamstring activation during lower body resistance training
exercises. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2009 Mar; 4(1): 84-96. PubMed PMID:
19417230
The resume of the subjects in this next study group is pretty intense. 21 men and
13 women, all Division 1 or Division 3 NCAA athletes, were selected to hit up a
study to look at hamstring activation in various exercise. Their stats: all about the
age of 20, the men could squat 270 for 6 reps, and the women could squat 150
for 6 reps on average. Beast mode. They looked at squats to parallel, SLDL,
single leg stiff leg dead lift (SGLDL), a good morning (GM), Russian curls (RC),
and the seated leg curl machine. Here is a nifty chart summarizing their results.
[Disclaimer: This is my personal analysis of these studies. A cross-analysis is not
possible as there are numerous confounding variables that prevent this,
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3. however, one can still create reasonable conclusions of the efficacy of certain
hamstring exercises.]
Ugh, I don’t want to read. Just give me the dang list.
Best Hamstring Exercises:
1. Russian Curls
Secure your ankles with a partner or under a machine. Have a straight
back and bend your knees to about 90 degrees. This is your starting positioning.
Maintain a straight back and without bending at the waist, lower your body to the
ground as far as you can, then back up. You may hold a weight across your chest
in front of you to increase the difficulty.
Look at those shorts. dayum.
2. Hamstring Curls
Look at the instructions on the specific machine in your gym. They may
vary.
Holding a barbell or dumbbell in your hands, maintain a straight back and
bend your knees slightly (about 15 degrees). This is your starting position. Now
bend at the hips, NOT WITH THE BACK, and lower yourself until you feel a slight
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4. pull in the back of your thighs. Pause for a second, then come back up.
Holding a barbell or dumbbell in your hands, maintain a straight back and
bend one leg slightly (about 15 degrees) and bend the other leg to about 90,
making sure it is behind you. This is your starting position. Now bend at the
hips, NOT WITH THE BACK, and lower yourself until you feel a slight pull in the
back of your thighs. Pause for a second, then come back up. The video has a
much less bend in the other leg, it is personal preference.
Hold a barbell behind you on your upper back. Have a slight bend in your
knees (about 15 degrees) and keep your back straight. Bend forward at the hips,
keeping your legs and back still, until you feel a slight pull in the back of your
legs. Pause for a second then come back up.
Sample Hamstring Workout Program
Russian Curls
– 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Stiff-Leg Dead Lift
– 4 sets of 6-8 reps
Hamstring Curls
– 5 sets of 12-16 reps
Try this out and you’re off to turning this hamstrings into hamsprung! Remember
train hard but also train smart!
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