Training hamstrings

[PHIL HERNON]

Here is my favorite ham builder......Stiff leg deadlifts.Some people call them straight leg dead lifts, but NEVER have your knees straight. 1. Knees slightly bent but locked, ass out, back arched (NOT ROUNDED), DO NOT USE A BLOCK FOR EVEVATION....if you do your back is not arched enough. Shoulders back, feel shoulder width apart. I feel the hip flexion builds more ham than knee flexion (leg curl).
Try 1 set of these before a set of leg curls and see what happens.

 

[Big_K]

I do these in my leg workouts, IMO they just can't be beaten by any other exercise.

 

[MAINEVENT]

Phil, how heavy do you think one should/could safely go on these as far as poundages are concerned?

 

[toby99]

I have always included these in my training, great for hamstrings and butt, prefer to keep my reps around 5 thru 8 range, any higher and my low back gets to pumped and tighten's up on me.

 

[bigbadasian]

reply

i do them, but my lower back tightens up like a bitch! suggestions pls

 

[PHIL HERNON]

My thoughts

1. Go heavy......I have guys like JBEARCE doing 400 pounds and up.

2. Try dumbells......less stress on lower back. Hold them at your side and use grip straps.

 

[MAINEVENT]

OK, ive went as heavy as 315 before, but i also like using the db's better. I think i feel it better when using db's.

The reason i asked is because somewhere along the line, ive seen where both lee haney and lee priest talked about going light on these.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Good training info.

Every once in a while I'll get my fat ass up on a bench of a stand of some sort just because I see someone else in books doing them like that. I never feel it more in my hams...just my back! lol.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

I know

Every once in a while I'll get my fat ass up on a bench of a stand of some sort just because I see someone else in books doing them like that. I never feel it more in my hams...just my back! lol.

I see it all the time.........hahahahhaha......it is hard to balance with the feet so close on a bench isnt it?

 

[Massive G]

Great exercise dumbells are great as well as doing stiff leggeds prior to leg curls.
Will turn your nams into gams for sure.

 

[bulldog21]

Great exercise dumbells are great as well as doing stiff leggeds prior to leg curls.
Will turn your nams into gams for sure.

bar none best movement for building better hams.....Either DB or BB works great imo

 

[Steak Helmet]

Here is my favorite ham builder......Stiff leg deadlifts.Some people call them straight leg dead lifts, but NEVER have your knees straight. 1. Knees slightly bent but locked, ass out, back arched (NOT ROUNDED), DO NOT USE A BLOCK FOR EVEVATION....if you do your back is not arched enough. Shoulders back, feel shoulder width apart. I feel the hip flexion builds more ham than knee flexion (leg curl).
Try 1 set of these before a set of leg curls and see what happens.

I also see people trying to come straight down...that causes them to round their back and shoulders giving them bad posture.

I say try and put you nose on a spot 15ft in front of you...this allows the back to stay arched and good posture throughout the movement...this movement avoids the shoulders from rounding forward and in turn the lower back tends to follow.

just my .02

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Yes!

I see it all the time.........hahahahhaha......it is hard to balance with the feet so close on a bench isnt it?

It's hard for me to NOT appear to be a dumbass even when I am not teetering around precariously!

 

[littlemack]

Incredible Exercise! I love it! My only trouble is when I do these, I've just come off squats and I'm so damn winded that I think it hurts my performance with them. Maybe I'll become better conditioned with time. 10-15 reps can be brutal when your already out of breath.
One thing I've noticed also. As my strength went up on this, say from 225-315 for reps, my leg curl strength exploded up automatically. I really love this exercise.

 

[Steak Helmet]

MACK,

do them first before squats

 

[Shelby]

ANyone here like Romanian deadlifts? Can be done w/ bb or db, push hips back to start movement and let bar go down to just below knees, until you feel a huge stretch in your glutes / hams, then return. SImilar to SLDLs but the range of motion is a bit truncated, seems to hit the glutes a bit harder for me than SLDLs too

 

[PHIL HERNON]

That is

ANyone here like Romanian deadlifts? Can be done w/ bb or db, push hips back to start movement and let bar go down to just below knees, until you feel a huge stretch in your glutes / hams, then return. SImilar to SLDLs but the range of motion is a bit truncated, seems to hit the glutes a bit harder for me than SLDLs too

That is it. That is how a stiff leg dead lift is preformed.

 

[MAINEVENT]

That is it. That is how a stiff leg dead lift is preformed.

Im glad you cleared this up, because thats how i've always done them. I've read the descriptions and thought "aren't those the same thing?".

 

[Shelby]

Well I do one where my hips stay relatively stationary and I go a lot deeper (touch my toes with the barbell or db) while still keeping my knees unlocked, I refer to those as SLDLs. When I shoot my hips back and the bar doesn't travel too much below my knees, I call those RDLs. Two different movements, maybe I have the names confused.. both have merits.

 

[littlemack]

Im glad you cleared this up, because thats how i've always done them. I've read the descriptions and thought "aren't those the same thing?".

Same here. When you do these right. You'll definitely feel your hamstrings stretching!