Hamstring Exercises: 17 Moves to Boost Leg Strength

Hamstrings are one of the most significant muscle groups in the lower body. Training them properly helps you lift heavier and perform many common daily movements efficiently. However, it’s easy to feel confused about the best hamstring exercises at the gym or home. This is why we have explained the top 17 movements to target this muscle here. Sprinkle these exercises in your lower-body routines and feel the difference.

17 Best Hamstring Exercises

1. Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the classic and best hamstring exercises for men and women. It allows for the complete range of motion, wherein your hamstrings stretch and contract throughout the exercise. In turn, the motion builds muscle and strength.

How to Do a Deadlift?

• Stand in front of a barbell with your feet hip-width apart.
• Move forward and push your butt back and up.
• Hinge at your hips and lower yourself, and pick up the barbell by gripping it firmly.
• Now, lift yourself. The force should come from your lower body, especially your hips and hamstrings.
• Pause and lower back down.

2. Romanian Deadlifts

This exercise works many muscles in your lower body. Besides hamstrings, which are the primary muscle group, it targets your lower back, glutes, and calves.

How to Do Romanian Deadlifts?

• Stand straight and keep your feet hip-width apart. You can use a barbell or two dumbbells for this exercise.
• Keep the weights in front of you.
• With an overhand grip and hands shoulder-width apart, hinge at your hips.
• Now, lower the weights down the length of your legs.
• You will feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
• Push your butt forward and stand up.

3. Leg Curl

If you want strong and flexible hamstrings, include leg curls in your routine. The more you do it, the heavier you can go on your squats and deadlifts.

How to Do Leg Curls?

• Lie face down on the leg curl machine.
• Stretch your legs completely.
• Keep the roller pad on the machine a little above your heels.
• Hold the support handle on both sides of the machine and flex your knees.
• Pull the ankles close to your butt.
• Pause for a few seconds.
• Inhale and get back to the starting position.

Must Read: Hack Squat Alternatives

4. Kettlebell Swings

Kettlebell swings strengthen and improve power in the hamstrings, besides giving you a great cardio workout. They also improve your posture.

How to Do Kettlebell Swings?

• Stand erect and keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Now, hinge at your hips.
• Hold a heavy kettlebell. Swing it between your legs.
• Your hips should be back.
• Thrust your hips forward with force and allow the kettlebell to swing up and reach the height of your chest.
• Bring it down with control.

5. Hip Extension

Hip extensions are also categorized among the best hamstring exercises. The motion used in it works your butt, hamstrings, and core. It makes movements like walking, climbing, and standing straighter more efficient.

How to Do Hip Extension?

• Keep your legs shoulder-width apart.
• You can hold onto a table or chair for more support if you are a beginner.
• Draw your abdomen in.
• Keep your knee straight.
• Point your toes and kick your leg back.
• Get back to the starting position.

6. Squat

A squat is a full-body move. You should include it during your lower-body days to train the posterior part of your body effectively.

How to Do a Squat?

• Stand up straight.
• Hinge yourself forward slightly.
• Now, lower down and come into a squat position.
• Keep the knee off the floor.
• Use your hips and hamstrings to explode out of the bottom and stand straight.

7. Glute-Ham Raise

This exercise is like a hamstring curl and prompts you to squeeze your hamstrings. It is ideal for building the hamstring muscles.

How to Do a Glute-Ham Raise?

• Position yourself on the leg curl machine.
• Keep the feet against the footplate. Your ankles should be between the rollers.
• Place your knees behind the pad of the machine and cross your arms.
• Descend until your midsection is parallel to the floor.
• Now, contract the hamstrings and abdomen to rise into the upright stance.

8. Single Leg Deadlift

 A single-leg deadlift is a slightly advanced variation of the traditional deadlift. You need more balance and core stability.

How to Do Single-Leg Deadlifts

• Place your left foot in line with your chest line
• Now, place the dumbbell in your right hand
• Extend your right leg back and up. Now, hinge from your hip on the left side and bend that left leg to a 45-degree angle.
• Get back into a standing position. Try to keep your right leg off the floor as you stand.
• Repeat the same on the opposite side, switching up the leg and the arm with the weight. 

9. Hamstring Bridge

 A hamstring bridge is a strengthening exercise for this muscle group. You can do it with your bodyweight at home or at the gym.

How to Do a Hamstring Bridge

• Lie down on your back.
• Bend your knees at 110 degrees.
• Keeping your heels firmly on the floor, raise the toes.
• Lift the pelvis off the mat. Maintain a neutral spine by keeping the core engaged.

Must Read: Leg Press vs. Hack Squat

10. Barbell Good Mornings

Barbell Good Mornings target muscles in the backside of your body. It is especially good for your hamstrings and lower back.

How to Do Good Mornings

• Position the barbell just below your shoulder height.
• Hold the barbell at your shoulder width.
• Quarter squat underneath the barbell so you can place it on the base of your neck.
• Now, lift and step back. Position your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Hinge your hips backward and descend the barbell. Let your knees flex, but remain stationary.
• Keeping your spine straight, lower your torso by bending forward at your hips.
• When your torso is almost parallel to the floor, extend to get back to the initial position.

11. Muscle Snatch

Muscle snatch is a beginner-friendly compound exercise that targets the hamstrings. You can incorporate it into your leg day and build your strength for the traditional snatch.

How to Do a Muscle Snatch

• Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and a bit angled out.
• Hinge at your hips and flex your knees to grab the barbell.
• Extend your hips and knees to pull the barbell off the floor in a vertical path next to your body.
• When the barbell passes over your mid-thigh region, explode your hips, knees, and ankles into an extension to pull the weight up overhead.
• Snap your elbows beneath the bar to catch the barbell overhead. Keep your legs extended.
• Lower the weight to the beginning position.

12. Stiff Leg Deadlifts

Stiff leg deadlifts target your hamstrings more prominently than other deadlift variations. To do it with proper form, you may need to reduce the weight with which you perform regular deadlifts.

How to Do Stiff Leg Deadlifts

• Keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, stand in front of the barbell. Keep the bar close to your body. Your feet should be under the bar.
• Grab the bar by pushing your butt back and lowering your torso. Keep your knees as straight as possible.
• Pull the bar up from the floor by squeezing your shoulder blades. Keep a slight bend in your knees.
• Now, push your butt back and lower the bar down to the floor.

13. Lateral Lunge

Usually, most exercises involve moving from front to back. Lateral lunges break this flow by forcing you to move side to side. This is key to healthy movement, for which your hamstrings are mainly responsible.

How to Do a Lateral Lunge

• Hold a dumbbell in an upright position at your chest height.
• Using your right leg, step to the right, taking a good leap before landing on this leg.
• Keep your left leg straight and bend your right knee. Push your butt back and lower as far as possible.
• Now, drive up to the left. Get back into a standing position.

14. Lunge to Lateral Reach

Lunge to Lateral Reach is a variation of the traditional lunge that adds a reach at the side. The compound exercise does not require weights, so you can do it anywhere.

How to Do a Lunge to Lateral Reach

• Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Slightly bend your knees.
• Keeping your core engaged, extend one leg behind you.
• Bend your front knee and go into a squat position.
• Lift your arms overhead and extend your legs back.
• Hold this position for a second before raising your arms to the side of your forward leg.
• Return to a beginning position and repeat on your other side.

Must Read: Kettlebell Core Exercises

15. Swiss Ball Leg Curl

This exercise targets your hamstrings intensively without the use of any weight. All you need is a Swiss ball. If you don’t have that, use sliders instead.

How to Do Swiss Ball Leg Curl

• Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor.
• Plant the backs of your heels on a Swiss ball or sliders. 
• Pull your heels back as much as you can by bending them.
• Push them back out so your legs are straight.

16. Snatch-Grip Deadlift

The Snatch-Grip Deadlift is a variation of the standard deadlift. The exercise is challenging and helps you develop strength in your hamstrings, quads, and upper back.

How to Do Snatch-Grip Deadlift

• Stand upright with your feet at shoulder-width apart and slightly angled out.
• Put the barbell an inch away from your lower legs.
• Hinge at your hips to drop down. Let your shins drop forward to touch the barbell.
• Extend your arms and grip the barbell using a double overhand wide grip.
• Pull the weight in a vertical path by extending your hips and knees until you return to a standing position.
• Lower the barbell down.

17. Glute Bridge Walkout

The glute bridge walkout combines the glute bridge, which works the glutes, with a walkout movement. This movement engages the hamstrings.

How to Do a Glute Walkout

• Get into a standard glute bridge position, with your back on the mat and your hips raised above the floor.
• Pause and hold for a second.
• Slowly walk your legs away from your butt alternatiing each leg until they are almost straight.
• Now, slowly walk your feet back toward your butt until you are back into the original bridge position.

Build Strong Hamstrings for Better Lower Body Strength

You use your hamstrings in almost every daily activity, from bending to standing and walking. Training these muscles is thus necessary to build strength in your lower body. All the exercises above can be a part of your daily routine at the gym or even at home. They will not only build your hamstrings, but also make other critical joints, such as the knee and hip joints, stronger. You will thus benefit from proper healthy function in your lower body.