Ideas for adding extra meat to hamstrings

[Tortoise]

Rdls with a 4 count eccentric. Progressively add range of motion each week until you can kiss the floor then add load

 

[kastro]

Rdls with a 4 count eccentric. Progressively add range of motion each week until you can kiss the floor then add load

I usually just go until I don't feel my hamstrings working anymore.Sldl I will touch the floor but rdl's to about shins.Do you feel touching the floor hits your hams better?

 

[danieltx]

can you elaborate on this?

Plenty of guys, including on here, say they have muscles that don't respond and their usual solution is more volume and / or frequency. @qbkilla with his shoulders is a good example.

In 99% of cases the solution for a lagging muscle is not more volume and / or frequency - if it's not growing with what you're doing now why would it grow if you do more of the same?

The solution is almost always developing a better mind-muscle connection and / or using different exercises to better hit the muscle. This might mean slowing down your concentric and eccentric, shortening your range of motion, holding the squeeze, or just finding some really out there way to hit the muscle.

Guys shouldn't think about bodybuilding training as doing exercises - they should think about it as stressing the muscle through multiple planes. Your muscle doesn't know what exercise you're doing or how much weight you're using, it only knows how hard it has to work.

 

[Tortoise]

I usually just go until I don't feel my hamstrings working anymore.Sldl I will touch the floor but rdl's to about shins.Do you feel touching the floor hits your hams better?

The further back you can get your hips the more the hamstrings will work.

This should have been worded better. Go as far as you can keep tension in your hamstrings. With the goal of increasing ROM until you can reach the floor, then begin adding load to the movement.

Example

Wk 1: 135x6-10 5 inches from the floor
Wk 2: 135x6-10 4 inches from the floor
Wk 3: 135x6-10 3 inches from the floor
.............
Wk 6: 135x6-10 kissing floor each rep
Wk 7: 155x6-10 kissing floor each rep
Continue to progress load and reps from here.

During that ROM accumulation phase it is ok to try and steal a rep or 5lbs as well.

This can be applied to any hinge as well GM or DL variation.

Would also advise having a knee flexion (curl) movement in your program.

Hip hinges and knee flexion work different areas of the hamstring. I have noticed that really loading the stretch causes lots of disruption acutely and soreness the next day. Do not rush through the eccentric follow the stretch and keep it in the hamstring

 

[alfresco]

Plenty of guys, including on here, say they have muscles that don't respond and their usual solution is more volume and / or frequency. @qbkilla with his shoulders is a good example.

In 99% of cases the solution for a lagging muscle is not more volume and / or frequency - if it's not growing with what you're doing now why would it grow if you do more of the same?

The solution is almost always developing a better mind-muscle connection and / or using different exercises to better hit the muscle. This might mean slowing down your concentric and eccentric, shortening your range of motion, holding the squeeze, or just finding some really out there way to hit the muscle.

Guys shouldn't think about bodybuilding training as doing exercises - they should think about it as stressing the muscle through multiple planes. Your muscle doesn't know what exercise you're doing or how much weight you're using, it only knows how hard it has to work.

best post yet.

 

[headtrainer]

If you can’t get big hamstrings by doing basic leg curls (lying, seated or standing), then you simply do not have the genetics to get big hamstrings. If you have the genetics to get big hamstrings, then you’ll get them by doing only leg curls.

 

[kastro]

The further back you can get your hips the more the hamstrings will work.

This should have been worded better. Go as far as you can keep tension in your hamstrings. With the goal of increasing ROM until you can reach the floor, then begin adding load to the movement.

Example

Wk 1: 135x6-10 5 inches from the floor
Wk 2: 135x6-10 4 inches from the floor
Wk 3: 135x6-10 3 inches from the floor
.............
Wk 6: 135x6-10 kissing floor each rep
Wk 7: 155x6-10 kissing floor each rep
Continue to progress load and reps from here.

During that ROM accumulation phase it is ok to try and steal a rep or 5lbs as well.

This can be applied to any hinge as well GM or DL variation.

Would also advise having a knee flexion (curl) movement in your program.

Hip hinges and knee flexion work different areas of the hamstring. I have noticed that really loading the stretch causes lots of disruption acutely and soreness the next day. Do not rush through the eccentric follow the stretch and keep it in the hamstring

I see what you mean now.That's what I do actually on my back off set But anything over 350 it becomes a little harder.

 

[buck]

I see the hips as a hinge i push the hinge back as i bend stretch the hams out then bring it forward as i contract the muscles. keeps the weight more over the center of the foot as opposed to having it hang out in front of you and stressing the lumbar region.

 

[bbxtreme]

I was wondering what some people like to do to add size to their hamstrings. I’ve been doing stand-up hamstring curls, seated hamstring curls, feet high on the leg press and both narrow and wide stance stiff legs for my hamstrings. Unfortunately my gym doesn’t have a lay down hamstring machine. I want to hear what some people do for their hamstring routine. I usually keep my reps between 10-15 and go to almost failure on every set. I basically want to improve hamstring thickness from side poses. Thanks

Watch John Meadows videos on hamstrings. But to sum it up if you want thick hanging hamstrings take ego out of it and focus on the contraction and especially the stretch doing seated leg curls. Then throw in some partials. It’s rare to see people training hamstrings right. Build your other exercises around that.

Other suggestions- always start with hamstrings on leg day and add a second hamstring day on back day.

 

[Bigtwinjc]

Watch John Meadows videos on hamstrings. But to sum it up if you want thick hanging hamstrings take ego out of it and focus on the contraction and especially the stretch doing seated leg curls. Then throw in some partials. It’s rare to see people training hamstrings right. Build your other exercises around that.

Other suggestions- always start with hamstrings on leg day and add a second hamstring day on back day.

I will start looking up his videos & thank you for the advice!

 

[Bigtwinjc]

Good RDL then real kill some curls. Go to failure and BEYOND failure with negatives , drop sets and partial like seen here.
each workout beat your previous with more weight or more reps.
going to almost failure on everything isn’t going drastically impact the muscle , you don’t almost training legs or almost go the the gym , get in there and knock that shit out on a couple exercises.

Thank you

 

[Bigtwinjc]

Plenty of guys, including on here, say they have muscles that don't respond and their usual solution is more volume and / or frequency. @qbkilla with his shoulders is a good example.

In 99% of cases the solution for a lagging muscle is not more volume and / or frequency - if it's not growing with what you're doing now why would it grow if you do more of the same?

The solution is almost always developing a better mind-muscle connection and / or using different exercises to better hit the muscle. This might mean slowing down your concentric and eccentric, shortening your range of motion, holding the squeeze, or just finding some really out there way to hit the muscle.

Guys shouldn't think about bodybuilding training as doing exercises - they should think about it as stressing the muscle through multiple planes. Your muscle doesn't know what exercise you're doing or how much weight you're using, it only knows how hard it has to work.

Thank you for the advice

 

[Elvia1023]

Plenty of guys, including on here, say they have muscles that don't respond and their usual solution is more volume and / or frequency. @qbkilla with his shoulders is a good example.

In 99% of cases the solution for a lagging muscle is not more volume and / or frequency - if it's not growing with what you're doing now why would it grow if you do more of the same?

The solution is almost always developing a better mind-muscle connection and / or using different exercises to better hit the muscle. This might mean slowing down your concentric and eccentric, shortening your range of motion, holding the squeeze, or just finding some really out there way to hit the muscle.

Guys shouldn't think about bodybuilding training as doing exercises - they should think about it as stressing the muscle through multiple planes. Your muscle doesn't know what exercise you're doing or how much weight you're using, it only knows how hard it has to work.

Exactly (great post).

You can get 10 guys to perform a SLDL and at least half of them will do it where it's hitting their glutes more than their hams. First you need to get the execution perfect then you can worry about getting stronger. Another thing so many are trying to get as strong as possible that often their form slowly declines the stronger they become because they are too concerned with lifting the weight as opposed to working the targeted muscle. This couldn't be more true for when guys are using a hip hitch movement to target hamstrings. Even some of the big names on IG do exactly that. They start bending their legs more and it becomes more and more glute and they do that because they can lift more weight. That's fine if you just want to lift more weight but if you are trying to grow your hamstrings it's far from ideal.

Everyone is different and there are many effective movements. However for most people if they abuse their hams with a SLDL (or similar) and a seated leg curl using different rep ranges for both and getting progressively stronger with great form they are going to build their hamstrings as good as their genetics permit. Obviously rotate in some other movements as well (many mentioned in this thread) and do the same for those but concentrate on the basics and trying to simply target your hamstrings (not just lift more weight) and you will get there it just takes years of consistency.

 

[juggy38]

@danieltx pretty much nailed all of it. Dante used to say….”you gotta get weird with” it to bring up a lagging muscle. The normal exercises are not stimulating the target muscle because of technique, or just the way you’re built. (Torso/arm/leg length)

An example for me…..RDLs if feel fuck all in my hamstrings. It’s a glute and hip movement. And I can do HEavy good looking RDLs…..no sore hams.

Dumbell SLdL with the dbs almost neutral to my legs, knees jsut barely not locked out….good mix of hams/glutes…..

Safety bar good mornings, very minimal knee bend, with keeping chest high as I can……obliterates my hamstrings.

So my best hamstring hing I need to focus on getting retard strong in the 6-12 rep range is the SSB GM.

Also…I think a proper GHR curl is a much stronger stimulus than a leg curl, due to the extra eccentric nature of the exercise. Have a band helping if you need to keep good form until you get very good at these

 

[control]

Hamstrings are often tight/"angry" muscles, and they won't grow to full capacity unless it's corrected. You can bomb them with every leg curl variation there is, but they'll just lock up even more. Unfortunately it isn't always an easy fix. You can't just do static stretches for them to increase flexibility/mobility; and you can actually makes the problem worse if you do static stretches too aggressively (I know this from experience). I have to do a lot of dynamic stretching, and active release therapy (as well as other stuff) but it's been an ongoing struggle. Obviously tight glutes will exasperate the problem as well.
If your flexibility is good, I really like good mornings as opposed to RDLs. I feel them more in my hamstrings. My glutes try to take over on RDLs towards the end of a set.

 

[jcc80]

Hamstrings are often tight/"angry" muscles, and they won't grow to full capacity unless it's corrected. You can bomb them with every leg curl variation there is, but they'll just lock up even more. Unfortunately it isn't always an easy fix. You can't just do static stretches for them to increase flexibility/mobility; and you can actually makes the problem worse if you do static stretches too aggressively (I know this from experience). I have to do a lot of dynamic stretching, and active release therapy (as well as other stuff) but it's been an ongoing struggle. Obviously tight glutes will exasperate the problem as well.
If your flexibility is good, I really like good mornings as opposed to RDLs. I feel them more in my hamstrings. My glutes try to take over on RDLs towards the end of a set.

Would you elaborate on this a bit, if you can? I absolutely have tight hamstrings. Even when I was young, I was never able to touch my toes with straight legs. Never had a clue why.

Hamstrings have always been comparatively weaker than my quads too, so your post caught my interest.

What stinks is that I'm very limited on what I can do, due to a jacked up spine.

 

[control]

Would you elaborate on this a bit, if you can? I absolutely have tight hamstrings. Even when I was young, I was never able to touch my toes with straight legs. Never had a clue why.

Hamstrings have always been comparatively weaker than my quads too, so your post caught my interest.

What stinks is that I'm very limited on what I can do, due to a jacked up spine.

 

[control]

Would you elaborate on this a bit, if you can? I absolutely have tight hamstrings. Even when I was young, I was never able to touch my toes with straight legs. Never had a clue why.

Hamstrings have always been comparatively weaker than my quads too, so your post caught my interest.

What stinks is that I'm very limited on what I can do, due to a jacked up spine.

 

[control]

Would you elaborate on this a bit, if you can? I absolutely have tight hamstrings. Even when I was young, I was never able to touch my toes with straight legs. Never had a clue why.

Hamstrings have always been comparatively weaker than my quads too, so your post caught my interest.

What stinks is that I'm very limited on what I can do, due to a jacked up spine.

 

[control]

Would you elaborate on this a bit, if you can? I absolutely have tight hamstrings. Even when I was young, I was never able to touch my toes with straight legs. Never had a clue why.

Hamstrings have always been comparatively weaker than my quads too, so your post caught my interest.

What stinks is that I'm very limited on what I can do, due to a jacked up spine.

Probably the easiest thing to start off with, is just doing good mornings (with no weight) a few times a day. I'll get up and do them for like 45 seconds while I'm watching TV or whatever. Just get a smooth rhythm going where you're getting a light stretch at the bottom.