Hamstring Workouts
On my leg days, I do train my hamstrings after hitting the quadriceps. This makes sense, as the hamstrings are involved in most major quad lifts. Therefore, they should be warmed up and ready to go. That being said, they still need some warm up sets, especially if you deadlift. This routine doesn’t have you doing very many sets, but you need to get the most out or each and every one. Here are my favorite hamstring workouts.
Hamstring Workout #1
Deadlifts – This is one of the big dogs in the world of weight training. Proper form is so important when performing the deadlift to prevent injury. It’s a good idea to use your phone to film yourself doing them to check your form. I do 4 straight sets after warming up. While I normally start heavy, the deadlift is the one exercise I may go up in weight on my second set. I then lighten the weight to get more reps on the last 2 sets.
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts – I do a short pause set here, keeping the weight lower for higher reps. Get a few 5 to 10 second pauses in and keep going. Don’t overdo it, just go for a nice stretch and contraction in the hamstrings.
Standing Leg Curls – This is done one leg at a time, going to failure on the first before moving on to the other. Go back and forth a few times to really blast the muscles.
Lying Leg Curls – I go for a few drops in weight on these. Make sure to get a nice contraction every leg curl, it can be easy to just go through the motions on this exercise.
Hamstring Workouts #2
Deadlifts – I do the same as above for this workout. I do like to sometimes deadlift for 1 or 2 of my sets without a belt. This is done to avoid relying too much on it.
Sumo Deadlifts – While some lifters prefer using a sumo stance when they deadlift, I just use them as a secondary exercise to train the inner thigh muscles. This is just one set with some ten second pauses to get more reps in.
Glute Machine – I never used to do this one but have recently started to. Doing an exercise that targets the glutes is only going to help your deadlift and other leg exercises. I go for a lot of repetitions on one superset with some short pauses here.
Seated Leg Curls – This is done as a drop set or rest/pause set to end your workout.