16 Of The Best Hamstring Exercises For Lower-Body Strength

We’ve all heard the jokes about skipping leg day, but plenty of us smash out a weekly lower-body session focusing heavily on glute and quad strength without giving enough love to our hamstrings. Do yourself (and your hammies) a favour and make sure some of these exercises are in your routine - your lower body will feel so much stronger for it. 

Where are your hamstring muscles?

Your hamstrings are a posterior muscle group (posterior meaning the back side), located at the back of your thigh and are actually made up of three different muscles: the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. 

These muscle groups work together in important movements where you’re extending your hips, tilting your pelvis and bending your knees, and can help power everything from walking to running, lifting and jumping.

What are the benefits of hamstring exercises?

You want your hamstrings to be strong and flexible — if your muscle fibres can easily lengthen and contract, there is less risk of muscle tears and soreness. By strengthening this muscle group with hamstring exercises, you may help improve your posture, mobility, balance and overall athletic performance, while reducing your risk of injury. 

Having strong, flexible hamstrings also ensures you’re moving with proper muscle and joint function. If your glutes and quads are the stars of the show when it comes to your lower-body workouts, you can end up with muscle imbalances or over-reliance on certain muscle groups. This can contribute to injuries or muscle tightness, making it hard to build strength and achieve long-term progress.

While stronger hamstrings benefit the overall fitness and everyday movements of every woman, you’ll also notice huge benefits if you enjoy sports or have active hobbies. As a runner, you’ll find hamstring strengthening exercises can help improve your speed and stride, cyclists find these movements improve pedal stroke, and every uphill step will become that little bit easier if you love a hiking adventure.

How do you strengthen your hamstrings?

As with any kind of muscle growth, the key to building hamstring strength is through progressive overload, meaning over time you continue to put your muscles under a greater level of stress than what they’re used to. The goal is to constantly challenge your body with extra pressure so that it is forced to adapt and grow, allowing you to make progress rather than hitting a workout plateau.

There are four aspects of your training you can adjust to achieve your goals:

• Volume: more reps and/or sets

• Intensity: heavier weights

• Density: shorter rest periods or faster tempo

• Frequency: more workouts

Hamstring exercises you can do at home

As one of the larger muscle groups in your body, your hamstrings are very capable of building serious strength and training with heavier weights, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a challenging at-home session with these exercises using minimal equipment or your bodyweight.

Good mornings

This hip-hinging exercise primarily targets your hamstrings while also benefiting your glutes and lower back muscles. All you need to get started is a barbell or even a wooden broomstick!

1. With a bar resting across both shoulders, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades down and back to push your chest out slightly. This is your starting position.

2. Inhale. Bend your knees slightly and without changing the angle of your knees, hinge forward from your hips. Ensure that you maintain a proud chest and that your head is in line with your spine. You should feel tension in your hamstrings (back of your legs).

3. Exhale. Push through your heels and use your glutes and hamstrings to extend your hips to return to the starting position. 

Glute bridge

This bridge exercise is commonly used for glute activation and strength, but it's also a great at-home movement for strengthening your hamstrings. You can use your bodyweight or add additional weight in the form of a dumbbell, barbell, kettlebell or weight plate for an added challenge.

1. Start by lying flat on your back on a yoga mat. Bend your knees and position your feet firmly on the mat, hip-width apart with your spine in a neutral position. Allow your arms to rest by your sides on the mat. This is your starting position.

2. As you exhale, press your heels into the mat and squeeze your glutes to raise your pelvis off the floor until your body forms one straight line from chin to knee, resting on your shoulders.

3. Inhale. Lower your pelvis to return to the starting position.

Kettlebell swing

Performing a kettlebell swing correctly is all about the hips, and your hamstring muscles will enjoy most of the benefits! If you don’t have a kettlebell, use a dumbbell instead. 

1. Holding a kettlebell directly in front of your body, stand with your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart. Inhale. While maintaining a slight bend in your knees, tilt forward from your hips and allow the kettlebell to gently swing backwards between your legs. 

2. As you exhale, engage your glutes and hamstrings to extend your legs and hips to swing the kettlebell forward and upwards to shoulder height. The movement should feel like a hip thrust rather than a squat.

3. Inhale. Bend your knees and tilt forward from your hips to lower the kettlebell again. Repeat for the specified number of repetitions, ensuring your glutes and hamstrings power the movement and you are not lifting the kettlebell with your arms and shoulders. You also want to make sure you are bending primarily at the hip, rather than your knees.

Deadlift (with dumbbells)

While deadlifts are arguably one of the best lower-body exercises, this stiff-legged variation allows you to concentrate more on your hamstrings. All you need for this one is a pair of dumbbells.

1. Holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip (palms facing towards your body) in front of your legs, stand with your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades down and back to push your chest out slightly. This is your starting position.

2. Inhale. Bending from the hips only, allow the dumbbells to run down the length of your thighs and halfway down your shins, ensuring you maintain a proud chest and your head stays in line with your spine. You should feel tension in your hamstrings (back of your legs).

3. As you reach halfway down your shins, exhale. Push through your heels and use your glutes and hamstrings to extend your knees and hips to return to the starting position. Ensure the dumbbells remain very close to your legs.

Single-leg deadlift

This deadlift variation is surprisingly difficult! The extra balance and stability needed for the exercise is what makes it challenging, so you can either do it with a light dumbbell or kettlebell or your bodyweight.

1. Hold a weight with your left hand in a neutral grip (palm facing inward) and place your right hand on your hip, with your feet shoulder-width apart. This is your starting position.

2. Inhale. Bend your left knee slightly and without changing the angle of your left knee, hinge forward from your hips until your torso is parallel to the floor, extending your right leg behind you. At the same time, extend your left arm and the dumbbell towards the floor. Keep your hips level, maintain a proud chest and keep your head in line with your spine. You should feel tension in your left hamstring (back of your leg).

3. Exhale. Push through your left heel and use your glute and hamstrings to extend your hips to return to the starting position. 

When including this movement in a workout, complete half of your specified repetitions on one side before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side.

Hamstring curl (fitball)

This exercise is not as easy as it looks and you’ll definitely feel the burn in your hamstrings and glutes! You can perform this exercise on a ball or with your heels resting in suspension trainer handles. 

1. Start by lying flat on your back on a yoga mat with your feet elevated on a fitball. Allow your arms to rest by your sides on the mat.

2. Inhale. Using your glutes and hamstrings, gently raise your hips off the floor until you are resting on your upper back and your body forms one straight line from head to toe. This is your starting position.

3. As you exhale, bend your knees to bring your feet in towards your glutes while keeping your feet together and hips elevated off the mat. This movement will cause the fitball to roll in towards you.

4. Inhale. Extend your knees to return to the starting position, keeping your hips elevated the entire time. This movement will cause the fitball to roll away from you.

Bulgarian split squat

This effective compound exercise requires plenty of balance while also working your quads. It can take a little while to find the right foot placement, so feel free to start with your bodyweight as you find your balance and confidence, and then progress to adding weights like dumbbells.

1. With a bench or chair placed behind you and a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Carefully place your right foot behind you with the ball of your foot resting on top of the bench. Shuffle your left foot forward, if needed, until you feel balanced. Your front standing leg should be about half a metre in front of the bench. 

2. Keep your arms by your sides to hold the dumbbells in a neutral grip (palms facing inwards). This is your starting position.

3. Inhale. Bend both knees to approximately 90 degrees, without letting your front knee travel in front of your toes. 

4. Exhale and push through the heel of your left foot and toe of your right foot to extend both legs and return to the starting position.

Single-leg glute bridge

This variation of the glute bridge adds an extra challenge and tests your stability without adding any weights.

1. Lie flat on your back on a yoga mat. Bend your left knee and position your foot firmly on the mat, extending your right leg directly in front of you or to the ceiling, keeping your spine in a neutral position with your arms resting by your sides on the mat. This is your starting position.

2. Press your left heel into the mat, activate your glutes and raise your pelvis off the floor until your body forms one straight line from chin to knee, resting on your shoulders.

3. Lower your pelvis to return to the starting position. 

When including this movement in a workout, complete half of your specified repetitions on one side before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side

Single-leg box squat

Try this single-leg squat using your bodyweight or increase the difficulty by holding a plate, dumbbell or kettlebell throughout the movement.

1. Place a bench horizontally behind you. Holding an optional weight plate right in front of your chest, stand with your feet hip-width apart before lifting your left foot so you’re balancing on your right leg. This is your starting position.

2. Inhale. Keeping your left leg extended, bend at your hips and right knee, keeping your knee in line with your toes. Continue bending your knee until you are able to lightly sit on the bench behind you, with your back remaining between a 45- to 90-degree angle to your hips.

3. Exhale. Push through the heel of your right foot and extend your leg to return to the starting position. 

When including this movement in a workout, complete half of your specified repetitions on one side before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side.

Hamstring exercises to do at the gym

If your focus is on making your hamstrings as powerful as possible and have access to a full range of gym equipment and weights, the extra resistance will help power your progress.

Conventional deadlift

This is the OG posterior chain exercise. As an incredible compound exercise, your whole body will benefit from performing deadlifts.

1. Set up a barbell with a weight that feels challenging but achievable for you, then stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, in the middle of the barbell. When you look down, the bar should be roughly above your shoelaces.

2. Bend at the hips and knees, keeping your back straight, and holding the bar in an overhand grip, meaning your palms are facing towards your feet. For a conventional deadlift, your hands should be positioned just outside your knees.

3. Draw your shoulder blades down and back to push out your chest slightly. Inhale and brace your core.

4. Using your glutes and hamstrings, push through your feet as you lift the bar off the ground and extend your hips and legs to find a neutral standing position with the bar resting in front of your hips. Make sure you maintain a proud chest as you lift the bar (your spine should not be rounding), and keep your head in line with your spine.

5. Bend at the hips to lower the bar back to the ground and once the bar reaches knee height, bend your knees to return to the starting position. Keep the bar close to your shins as you lower it, keep your knees behind your toes, and finish with the bar above your shoelaces as you started.

Hamstring curl (leg curl machine)

No leg day at the gym is complete without a couple of sets on the leg curl machine!

1. Begin lying in a prone position (face down) on the leg curl machine. Place your legs under the circular leg pad so that your legs are straight and the pad is resting between your calf and your ankle. Place both hands on the handles. This is your starting position.

2. As you exhale, keep your torso as still as possible and bend your knees to pull your heels towards your glutes and bring the circular pad up. You should feel tension in your hamstrings.

3. Inhale. Slowly extend your knees to return to the starting position.

Seated leg curl

If the machine isn’t available for prone leg curls, using the seated leg curl machine is another great way to strengthen your hamstrings.

1. Begin in a seated position on the leg curl machine with your back pressed firmly into the back pad. Place your legs on the circular leg pad so the pad is resting between your calf and your ankle. Adjust the position of the lap pad so it’s resting on top of your thighs. Place both hands on the handles. This is your starting position.

2. As you exhale, keep your torso as still as possible and bend your knees and push the circular pad down to bring your heels towards your glutes. You should feel tension in your hamstrings (on the underside of your legs).

3. Inhale. Slowly extend your knees to return to the starting position.

Cable hip extension

Upper body exercises like lat-pulldowns, tricep pushdowns and cable flies are usually among the most popular cable machine exercises, but this cable hip extension shows just how useful it can be for working your hamstrings, too.

1. Connect the rope attachment and set the cable pulley at the bottom of the pole. Turn to face away from the cable pulley. Standing one step away with your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart, keeping one foot on either side of the cable pulley. 

2. Place both hands on the rope with a neutral grip (palms facing inwards) and find a neutral standing position, holding the rope directly in front of your body with arms extended. This is your starting position.

3. Inhale. While maintaining a slight bend in your knees, hinge forward from your hips until your torso is parallel to the floor.

4. Once your torso is parallel with the floor, exhale, push through your heels and use your glutes and hamstrings to extend your hips to return to the starting position. Keep your arms extended and relaxed.

Sumo deadlift

A small change in your stance can make a big difference when it comes to your deadlift. Mix things up with this variation on your next leg day.

1. Holding a barbell or kettlebell with an overhand grip (palms facing towards your body) in front of your legs, stand with your feet further than hip-width apart and your feet pointing slightly outwards. This is your starting position.

2. Inhale. Bending from the hips only, allow the barbell to run along the length of your thighs. Once the barbell reaches your knees, bend your knees and allow it to run halfway down the length of your shins, keeping your chest proud and your head in line with your spine.

3. As you reach halfway down your shins, exhale, push through your heels and use your glutes and hamstrings to extend your knees and hips to return to the starting position. Ensure that the barbell remains close to your legs.

Barbell glute bridge

What's the simplest way to take your glute bridge to the next level? Add extra weight with a barbell or weight plate.

1. Start by lying flat on your back on a yoga mat. Bend your knees and position your feet firmly on the mat, hip-width apart with your spine in a neutral position. Lay a barbell across your hip bones, holding it with an overhand grip (palms facing towards your body). This is your starting position.

2. As you exhale, press your heels into the mat, activate your glutes and raise your pelvis off the floor until your body forms one straight line from chin to knee, resting on your shoulders.

3. Inhale. Lower your pelvis to return to the starting position.

Barbell hip thrust

This glute and hamstring barbell exercise may look similar to a glute bridge, but it makes use of a bench. Both have a place in a good lower body program! Like deadlifts, this is a great exercise to track your weights as it uses large muscles and has potential for huge strength gains.

1. Begin seated on the ground, with a bench placed horizontally behind you, and your knees bent. Lay a barbell across your hips, holding it with both hands on either side of your hips. Depending on the weight of your barbell, you may want to place a barbell pad or towel around the bar to increase comfort. With your knees bent and feet firmly planted on the floor, lean back onto the bench so that it is gently pressing into your upper back. This is your starting position.

2. As you exhale, hold onto the barbell, press your heels into the mat and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips off the floor until your body forms one straight line from chin to knee, resting your shoulders on the bench and keeping your head in line with your spine.

3. Inhale and lower your hips to return to the starting position, but without resting your glutes on the mat.

Level up your lower-body workouts

Whether you prefer to train at home or enjoy a challenging leg day with a full selection of gym equipment, including hamstring exercises in your workout routine will help promote strength, stability and athletic performance. Don’t forget to warm up, cool down and relieve any muscle tightness with our go-to hamstring stretches.