Posted on March 13, 2019 by Jenny Cromack
As with the upper body, the lower body’s “mirror muscles” such as the quadriceps on the front of the thighs tend to get a lot more attention during training. Being quad dominant can increase your risk of suffering numerous injuries, especially if you are also involved in playing sports. The posterior leg muscles such as the glutes and hamstrings play a massive role in generating strength & power, minimising lower back & knee injuries AND help fill out the jeans in the right places. So to try even the odds and build a more balanced lower body musculature, here’s my hamstring focused leg day.
The workout
The hamstrings and glutes tend to work in unison in most compound exercises for the hammies so your booty will get a pretty good workout today as well. Another thing to bear in mind is the hamstring is bi-articular being that it facilitates movements at the both the hip joint and the knee joint. So in order to work all three heads of the muscle we will need to include a variety of exercises.
1a) Deadlift 4×8
1b) Barbell hip thrusts 4×8
2a) Single leg dumbbell romanian deadlift 4×12
2b) Nordic curls 4×12 – assistance required on this one so they can hold your feet down
3a) Lying dumbbell hamstring curl on bench 4×12
3b) Single leg glute bridges 4×12
Be conservative with choosing your weight and prioritise mastering the techniques first so you can really focus on the hamstrings before upping the weight.
Here’s another great blog for hamstring exercises.
Happy lifting,
Joe