What it lets you do
- Bending over to tie your shoes and feeling it in your legs, not your lower back.
- Stopping dead in your tracks when a kid bolts toward the road.
- Walking downhill for an hour without your knees taking the whole load.
Back to the muscle map
Hamstrings
Hip extension and knee flexion, and the most injured muscle in sport.
- 13
- Primary muscle
- 70
- Secondary muscle
The back of your thigh. They bend your knee and they open your hip, which is why they turn up in running and in picking things up off the floor.
Where you feel it
The back of your thighs, stretched and burning at the bottom of a stiff-leg deadlift, close to cramping on leg curls. If your lower back takes over on a hinge, your hips stopped moving and your spine started.
If you skip it
The back of your leg becomes the weak link in anything fast. Accelerating and stopping both load it hard, and it's a classic place to pull something.
Anatomy and function
The hamstrings are three muscles along the back of the thigh: the biceps femoris on the outside, and the semitendinosus and semimembranosus on the inside. They run from the sitting bone to below the knee, so they act on two joints: they extend the hip and flex the knee.
They are the brakes of the lower body, slowing the leg down at the end of every sprint stride, and they balance the quadriceps around the knee. Because they are stretched at the hip while contracting at the knee during running, they are prone to strains when under-trained.
How to train it
The volume and frequency below are programming starting points for the hamstrings, to be adjusted to each person's level and recovery.
- Rep ranges
- 6-10 reps on Romanian deadlifts, 8-15 reps on leg curls, 3-6 slow reps on Nordic curls
- Frequency
- 2 sessions per week, training both hip extension and knee flexion
Key movement patterns
- Hip hinge (Romanian deadlift, stiff-leg deadlift, good morning)
- Knee flexion (lying, seated or standing leg curl)
- Nordic curl for eccentric strength
- Kettlebell swing for explosive hip extension
Common mistakes
- 01
Training only leg curls and never hinging, or the reverse, so one function stays weak.
- 02
Rounding the lower back on Romanian deadlifts instead of pushing the hips back.
- 03
Rushing the eccentric, which is exactly where the hamstrings need to be strong.
- 04
Skipping hamstring work because it does not show in the mirror.
Exercises for this muscle
83 matching exercises
Primary muscle13
MET 6
Deadlift
MET 6
Sumo Deadlift
MET 5.5
Romanian Deadlift
MET 3.5
Seated Leg Curl
MET 3.5
Lying Leg Curl
MET 5.5
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
MET 6
Deadlift – Gym80
MET 5
Butt Kicks
MET 5.5
Goblet Good Morning – Dumbbell
MET 3.5
Dumbbell Lying Leg Curl
MET 5.5
Dumbbell Deadlift
MET 5.5
Split-Stance Deadlift
MET 3.5
Kneeling Leg Curl Machine
Secondary muscle70
MET 6.5
Bear Crawl
MET 3.5
Crab Toe Touch
MET 5
Dumbbell Turkish Get-Up
MET 3.5
Seated Leg Press Calf Raise
MET 3.5
Cable Glute Kickback – standing
MET 7
Sled Push
MET 7
Stair Climber – Forward Lean
MET 5.5
Hip Thrust – Dumbbell
MET 6
Single Leg Dumbbell Hip Thrust
MET 5.5
Hip Thrust – Machine
MET 6
Single Leg Hip Thrust – Machine
MET 5.5
Wide Stance Belt Squat – Machine
MET 7
Sled Pull
MET 4
Dumbbell Windmill
MET 6
Leg Press – Narrow Stance
MET 5.5
Leg Press
MET 6
Leg Press – Wide Stance
MET 6
Hack Squat – Wide Stance
MET 5
Seated Leg Press – Wide Stance
MET 5
Seated Leg Press
MET 5.5
One-Leg Seated Leg Press
MET 6.5
Stair Climber
MET 5.5
Dumbbell Squat
MET 4.5
Squat – Bodyweight
MET 5.5
Lunge – return to start (Dynamic)
MET 8
Jump Squat
MET 6.5
Barbell Squat
MET 6.5
Barbell Front Squat
MET 6
Barbell Lunges
MET 4.5
TRX Squat
MET 5
TRX Pistol Squat
MET 6
Trap Bar Deadlift
MET 8
Air Bike
MET 9
Lateral Burpee Box Jump Over
MET 7
Box Jump Step Down
MET 7
Sandbag Walking Lunges
MET 6.5
Sandbag Lunges
MET 6
Kettlebell Static Lunges
MET 6
Kettlebell Alternating Lunges
MET 5.5
Seated Leg Press – Narrow Stance
MET 5.5
Machine Lunges – Gym80
MET 6
Jumping Jacks
MET 9
Burpee – Lateral Jump
MET 7
Jumping lunges – Single Side (Dynamic)
MET 7
Jumping Lunges – Alternating
MET 5.5
Half Squat
MET 5.5
Squat to Calf Raise
MET 6
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat
MET 6
Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift
MET 5.5
Dumbbell Step Up
MET 5.5
Goblet Squat – Dumbbell
MET 6.5
Dumbbell Thruster
MET 7
Dumbbell Clean
MET 7.5
Dumbbell Snatch
MET 5.5
Heels Elevated Dumbbell Squat
MET 6
Single Leg Dumbbell Step-Up (Floating, No Touch)
MET 5.5
Dumbbell Alternating Lunge
MET 6
Bent-Over Bulgarian Split Squat with Dumbbells
MET 7
Barbell Thruster
MET 6
Barbell Alternating Lunges
MET 6
Barbell Static Reverse Lunge
MET 6
Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat
MET 4
Dumbbell Lateral Step-Down
MET 6.5
Barbell Low-Bar Squat
MET 7
Overhead Squat
MET 6
Zercher Squat
MET 6
Hack Squat
MET 5.5
Reverse Hack Squat
MET 5.5
Belt Squat – Machine
MET 9
Dumbbell Devil Press
Frequently asked questions
Why do hamstrings get injured so often?
They have to produce force while lengthening at high speed, especially in sprinting. Eccentric training such as Nordic curls and Romanian deadlifts builds the strength to handle that.
Are Romanian deadlifts enough for hamstrings?
They cover hip extension well but not knee flexion. Add a leg-curl variation so both functions of the muscle are trained.
How do I stretch my hamstrings safely?
Loaded stretching through full-range Romanian deadlifts is more effective than static stretching. Move slowly, keep a neutral spine and stop when the stretch is strong but not painful.
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