Here are the five best hamstring exercises you can do:
- Barbell Romanian Deadlift
- Barbell Good Morning
- Seated Leg Curl
- Lying Leg Curl
- Nordic Hamstring Curl
That’s it.
“But what about donkey kicks, ankle-weighted kickbacks, and reverse-hyper-single-leg-banded-lateral-hamstring curls that I saw on TikTok?”
Ignore them. In fact, you should ignore every other hamstring exercise aside from these five.
Why?
Training your hamstrings is not complicated, and you don’t need a dozen different exercises to do it. You don’t even need to do all five of the exercises listed above.
You can build strong, proportional, defined hamstrings with just two or three effective hamstring exercises—if you use proper technique, take each set close to failure, and strive to add weight over time. Keep reading to learn how.
1. Barbell Romanian Deadlift
How to:
- Adjust the pins or hooks in a squat rack so the bar is at your midthigh, and load it with plates (or load the bar on the floor if you don’t have a rack).
- Grip the bar just outside your thighs with your palms facing you, lift it off the rack (or floor), take one step back with each foot, and turn your toes out and bend your knees slightly.
- Stand up tall with your chest out and arms at your sides, take a deep breath into your stomach, and brace your abs.
- Squeeze the bar as hard as you can, press your upper arms into your sides, and, with a flat back, lower the bar toward the floor in a straight line, allowing your butt to move backward as the bar descends.
- Once you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, bend your knees just enough to let the bar keep descending, and continue lowering it until your lower back begins to round—just below the knees for most people, about midshin for the particularly flexible.
- Bring the bar upward by driving your hips toward it, keeping your arms straight, lower back slightly arched, and core tight, and return to the starting position.
- On the last rep of a set, finish it fully (legs locked), then move the bar back to the pins or hooks—don’t try to deadlift it directly back onto them.
Sets, Reps, and Rest: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 minutes rest
Why: The barbell Romanian deadlift is one of the best hamstring exercises you can do. It lets you use very heavy weights, add weight in small increments over time, and train your hamstrings through a long range of motion—and you can do it with just a barbell and plates.
It also trains your glutes, spinal erectors (the muscles that run up either side of your spine), traps, and forearms at the same time.
Mike’s tip: Use straps. The main downside of the Romanian deadlift is that your forearms often give out before your hamstrings are done, and lifting straps fix that by taking your grip out of the equation.
Alternatives:
2. Barbell Good Morning
How to:
- Adjust the hooks in a power rack or squat rack so the bar is at the height of your midchest.
- Duck under the bar and rest it across your upper-back muscles, grip it securely, stand up to unrack it, and take one step back with each foot into a stance about shoulder-width apart.
- Take a deep breath into your stomach, brace your abs, bend your knees slightly, and push your butt backward so your torso hinges forward, lowering the bar toward the floor in a straight line.
- Once you can’t lower the bar any further without rounding your back (usually when your torso is close to parallel with the floor), push your butt forward and lift the bar with your back to return to the starting position.
Sets, Reps, and Rest: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 minutes rest
Why: The barbell good morning is essentially the same exercise as the Romanian deadlift, except you hold the bar across your back instead of in your hands.
The main advantage of the good morning is that it doesn’t rely on your grip strength, and some people find it more comfortable than the RDL. Personally, I like to rotate between both exercises in my routine, though I typically favor the RDL.
Mike’s tip: Lower the bar only until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then stop. Injuries on the good morning are rare, but when they happen, it’s usually from trying to go lower than your anatomy safely allows.
Alternatives:
3. Seated Leg Curl
How to:
- Sit in the leg curl machine and adjust it so the heel pad sits across your Achilles tendons, the thigh pad rests snugly across your lower thighs, and your knees are a couple of inches off the front edge of the seat.
- Grab the handles, keep your back against the pad, and press your heels down and under toward the seat until your shins are at least perpendicular to your thighs, or until the machine runs out of range of motion.
- Return to the starting position under control.
Sets, Reps, and Rest: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 minutes rest
Why: A study from researchers at Ritsumeikan University in Japan found that the seated leg curl grew the hamstrings about 14% versus about 9% for the lying version over 12 weeks. That’s roughly 50% more muscle for the same work. Most of that extra growth was also in the upper portion of the hamstrings—where they connect with your hips.
One reason for this is that the seated leg curl forces your hamstrings into a stretched position at the start of every rep, which is generally better for muscle growth. There are still good reasons to do the lying hamstring curl too, but if I had to pick just one variation of the leg curl, it would be this one.
The seated curl’s one real drawback is that it gets awkward with heavier weights. Specifically, it becomes hard to keep your butt and back pressed against the pads.
There isn’t a great fix for this other than using your arms to keep yourself in position. Sometimes it feels more like a triceps and shoulder exercise than a hamstring exercise, but it is what it is (and it’s one reason I like to rotate this exercise with the lying hamstring curl from time to time).
Mike’s tip: Set the thigh pad as low as you comfortably can—ideally, you’ll feel tension in your hamstrings before you start your first rep. Also set the backrest so you’re seated as upright as possible, not leaning back. That tilts your hips slightly forward and puts even more tension on your hamstrings.
Alternatives:
4. Lying Leg Curl
How to:
- Lie face-down on the machine and adjust the heel pad so it rests across your Achilles tendons, just above your heels.
- Grab the handles and press your heels toward your butt until your shins are at least perpendicular to your thighs (a little further is fine).
- Lower your heels and return to the starting position.
Sets, Reps, and Rest: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 minutes rest
Why: The lying leg curl is the seated curl’s close cousin. You’re still curling your heels toward your butt to work your hamstrings, but you lie face-down instead of sitting, so your hips stay straight.
That makes it a useful second curl to pair with the seated version. It works your hamstrings from a slightly different position, and it’s easy to get into and stay put, so you can push each set hard without the machine shifting you around.
Mike’s tip: Set the heel pad to the lowest position possible so your hamstrings are under tension throughout every rep. Many people set the heel pad too high, which makes the exercise feel easier but shortens the range of motion and takes muscle-building tension off every rep.
Additionally, you can make this exercise even harder by flexing your glutes as hard as you can and lifting your thighs off the pad at the top of every rep. This helps target the upper portion of your hamstrings—the part close to your glutes.
Alternatives:
5. Nordic Hamstring Curl
How to:
- Kneel on a pad with your ankles anchored under a secure surface (the bottom of a squat rack, a partner’s hands, or a dedicated Nordic curl bench).
- Keep your body in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders, brace your core, and squeeze your glutes.
- Lower your torso toward the floor as slowly as you can, resisting the whole way down with your hamstrings.
- When you can no longer resist, catch yourself with your hands and take just enough weight off your hamstrings to keep lowering under control, then push off the floor to help your hamstrings pull you back to the starting position.
Sets, Reps, and Rest: 3 sets | 6–10 reps (or as many as you can do with good form) | 2–3 minutes rest
Why: The Nordic hamstring curl is the best bodyweight hamstring exercise you can do. If you don’t have access to a barbell, dumbbells, or machines, this is the best alternative.
Mike’s tip: Almost no one can do a full Nordic hamstring curl without using their hands to help at first, so you’ll probably need to regress the exercise (modify it to make it easier) in the beginning. Here’s how:
- Use your arms to assist (explained above).
- Do isometrics. Lower yourself only until you feel like your hamstrings are about to give out, hold that position for 5 seconds, and then return to the starting position.
- Reduce the range of motion. Lower yourself only until you feel like your hamstrings are about to give out, then return to the starting position.
Alternatives:
- Lying Leg Curl (above)
- Glute-Ham Raise
- Stability-Ball Leg Curl
- Slider Leg Curl
3 Hamstring Workouts
You don’t need a workout built around just your hamstrings. You’re better off training them as part of a lower-body or full-body workout, like these three.
Men’s Lower Body Workout
Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Leg Extension: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Standing Calf Raise: 2 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
A complete lower-body day. Your hamstrings get six hard sets from the Romanian deadlift and seated curl, which covers both extending your hips and bending your knees, while the squat, leg extension, and calf raise round out the rest of your legs.
Women’s Lower Body Workout
Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Hip Thrust: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Your hamstrings get the same six hard sets as the workout above, from the Romanian deadlift and seated curl. The hip thrust takes the calf raise’s place, and yes, it’s the same exercise I called a poor hamstring builder up top. It’s here for exactly that reason: it’s glute work, and building the glutes is a bigger priority for many women.
That’s the only difference between the two workouts. If glutes aren’t your priority, run the version above, or mix and match. A machine hip thrust works just as well as the barbell version.
Hamstring-Focused Leg Day
Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Leg Press: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Lying Leg Curl: 2 sets | 8–12 reps | 2–3 min rest
Leg Extension: 2 sets | 10–15 reps | 1–2 min rest
This one leads with the Romanian deadlift, while your hamstrings are freshest. Squatting after heavy RDLs is rough, and you want your best energy on the Romanian deadlift.
It also pushes your hamstrings to eight hard sets across three exercises, the most of any workout here, while the leg press and leg extension keep your quads covered.
This isn’t what I’d typically recommend for most people. But if you truly feel your hamstrings are a weak point in your physique and want to bring them up as quickly as possible, this is a great workout for just that.
Why You Don’t Need a Dedicated Hamstring Day
If you train properly, you don’t need to do that much volume to maximize your hamstring strength and muscle mass.
Doing more than necessary is time and energy that could be spent training other muscle groups, enjoying another activity, or doing literally anything else. Plus, it significantly increases your risk of injury.
More precisely, you only need to do about 10–20 hard sets per muscle group per week, and about 6-to-10 in any single workout. And if your goal is just to maintain muscle mass, you can do much less than this (just 2–4 hard sets per week is a good target).
That works out to around 15–30 hard reps per workout, or ~40–70 hard reps per week.
What is a “hard set,” though? It’s a set taken close to failure—the point where you can’t move the weight despite pushing as hard as you can.
The last couple of reps of every set should feel difficult and move noticeably slower than the first few. Some teeth gritting and swearing should occur.
And when your sets start to feel easier—you’re doing the same number of reps or more than you were before and the end of each set doesn’t feel as hard—then you add weight to make the exercise more difficult. This is referred to as progressive tension overload, and it’s the single most effective way to build muscle and strength.
If you train this way, you don’t need to do many sets per workout or per week. When it comes to training your hamstrings (and every other muscle), quality beats quantity.
Should Women Train Hamstrings Differently Than Men?
Finally, a note for the ladies reading this:
You don’t need to train your hamstrings differently than men. In my experience working with tens of thousands of women through my books and coaching, most women prefer strong, defined, “toned” legs, but don’t want them to get bulky.
The reality is that it’s exceptionally difficult (basically impossible) for your hamstrings to get “too big” if you follow the workouts in this article.
The reason men’s legs get bigger when they follow this workout plan is that they have 15-20 times more testosterone flowing through their veins than you do.
So unless you start taking steroids to alter your physiology to mirror that of a man, your legs will never “blow up” in the same way.
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