Hamstrings: moves, progressions and balance

Set up. Kneel on a padded surface with your ankles held down by a partner or a fixed pad, body upright from knees to head.

1. Lower your body forward slowly as one straight line, resisting with your hamstrings.
2. Go as far as you can control.
3. Catch yourself with your hands at the bottom.
4. Push off lightly and pull yourself back up with the hamstrings.

Form cues

• Keep the hips straight.
• Lower as slowly as you can.
• Use your hands to help at first.

Common mistakes

• Bending at the hips to shorten the lever.
• Dropping fast into the bottom.

Take care. Start with the assisted version and only a few reps: this movement is very demanding on the hamstrings.

Set up. Set up in a glute-ham developer with your feet locked in, knees just behind the pad and torso upright or level with the floor.

1. Lower your torso forward under control until your body is level with the floor.
2. Curl your body back up by pulling with the hamstrings, pressing the toes into the plate.
3. Finish upright with the hips straight.

Form cues

• Keep the hips extended.
• Pull with the hamstrings.
• Use your hands to help at first.

Common mistakes

• Bending at the hips so it becomes a back extension.
• Setting the pad in the wrong place.

Set up. Attach a harness or straps to a loaded sled and hold them, facing the sled to walk backward or facing away to walk forward.

1. Lean slightly and start walking with steady steps.
2. Keep tension on the straps.
3. Keep going for the distance or time.

Form cues

• Walk forward for the hamstrings and glutes, backward for the front of the thighs.
• Keep the steps short and steady.
• Stay tall.

Common mistakes

• Jerking the sled.
• Rounding the back.

Set up. Hold a broomstick or dowel vertically along your back so it touches the back of your head, upper back and tailbone. Stand with feet hip width apart.

1. Push your hips back and lean forward, keeping all three contact points on the stick.
2. Lower until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings.
3. Drive the hips forward to stand.

Form cues

• Keep the stick touching head, back and tailbone.
• Keep the knees softly bent.
• Move from the hips.

Common mistakes

• Losing contact at the head or tailbone.
• Bending the knees so it becomes a squat.

Set up. Stand on a long band with your feet hip width apart and loop the other end behind your neck and over your upper back.

1. Push your hips back and lean forward with a flat back.
2. Lower to a hamstring stretch.
3. Drive the hips forward to stand tall against the band.

Form cues

• Keep the back flat.
• Keep the knees soft.
• Squeeze the glutes at the top.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back.
• Letting the band slip up to the neck.

Set up. Kneel on a pad with your ankles held down. Anchor a band high in front of you and loop it around your chest or hold it.

1. Lower your body forward as one straight line, using the band for help.
2. Go as far as you can control.
3. Pull yourself back up with the hamstrings and the band.

Form cues

• Keep the hips straight.
• A stronger band gives more help.
• Lower slowly.

Common mistakes

• Bending at the hips.
• Using a band that slips.

Set up. Anchor a band low and loop it around one ankle. Lie face down with your feet toward the anchor, or stand facing it holding a support.

1. Curl your heel toward your backside against the band.
2. Pause at the end.
3. Return under control.
4. Finish the set and switch legs.

Form cues

• Keep the hips still.
• Move slowly.
• Keep tension at the start.

Common mistakes

• Lifting the hips.
• Letting the band snap the leg back.

Set up. Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, feet hip width apart and knees nearly straight.

1. Push your hips back and lower the dumbbells along your legs.
2. Keep your back flat and knees nearly straight.
3. Lower to a strong hamstring stretch.
4. Drive the hips forward to stand up.

Form cues

• Keep the weights close to your legs.
• Keep the back flat.
• Stop where the stretch is, not where the floor is.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back to reach lower.
• Locking the knees hard.

Set up. Attach a straight bar to a low cable. Hold it in front of your thighs and step back so there is tension, feet hip width apart and knees soft.

1. Push your hips back and let the bar travel down your legs.
2. Keep your back flat.
3. Lower to a strong hamstring stretch.
4. Drive the hips forward to stand tall.

Form cues

• Hips back, not chest down.
• Keep the knee bend fixed.
• Squeeze the glutes at the top.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back.
• Turning it into a squat.

Set up. Stand tall holding a kettlebell by the handle in front of your thighs, feet hip width apart and knees soft.

1. Push your hips back and slide the bell down your legs.
2. Keep your back flat.
3. Lower to a hamstring stretch.
4. Drive the hips forward to stand.

Form cues

• Hips back.
• Keep the bell close.
• Keep the knee bend fixed.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back.
• Letting the bell drift away from the legs.

Set up. Stand on one leg with a slight knee bend, holding a dumbbell in the opposite hand.

1. Hinge forward at the hip as the free leg reaches straight back.
2. Lower until your torso and back leg are near level, or to a strong stretch.
3. Drive the hip forward to stand up.
4. Finish the set and switch sides.

Form cues

• Keep the hips square to the floor.
• Move as one line from head to back heel.
• Hold a support to learn it.

Common mistakes

• Opening the hip so the back leg turns out.
• Rounding the back.

Set up. Lie face down on the leg curl machine with your knees just past the bench edge and the pad resting above your heels. Hold the handles.

1. Curl your heels toward your backside.
2. Squeeze the hamstrings at the top.
3. Lower under control to almost straight legs.

Form cues

• Keep your hips pressed into the pad.
• Line the knees up with the pivot.
• Lower slowly.

Common mistakes

• Lifting the hips to swing the weight.
• Letting the weight drop on the way down.

Set up. Sit in the seated leg curl with your knees in line with the pivot, the lower pad behind your ankles and the thigh pad locked down over your legs.

1. Curl your heels down and back under the seat.
2. Squeeze at the end.
3. Return under control to almost straight legs.

Form cues

• Keep the thigh pad snug.
• Sit tall or lean slightly forward.
• Control the return.

Common mistakes

• Letting the weight pull the legs straight quickly.
• Lifting the hips off the seat.

Set up. Stand at the standing leg curl with your thigh against the pad and the roller behind one ankle. Hold the handles.

1. Curl your heel up toward your backside.
2. Squeeze at the top.
3. Lower under control.
4. Finish the set and switch legs.

Form cues

• Keep the thigh against the pad.
• Keep the hips still.
• Lower slowly.

Common mistakes

• Swinging the leg.
• Lifting the hip to finish.

Set up. Stand tall holding a barbell in front of your thighs with an overhand grip about shoulder width apart, feet hip width apart and knees softly bent.

1. Push your hips back and let the bar slide down the front of your legs.
2. Keep your back flat and the knee bend fixed.
3. Lower until you feel a strong stretch in the hamstrings, usually around mid-shin.
4. Drive your hips forward to stand back up.

Form cues

• Think hips back, not chest down.
• Keep the bar against your legs.
• Keep the shins nearly vertical.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back to reach lower.
• Bending the knees more so it becomes a squat.

Set up. Rest a barbell on your upper back as for a squat, feet hip width apart and knees softly bent.

1. Push your hips back and lower your torso forward with a flat back.
2. Stop at a strong hamstring stretch, usually before the torso is level with the floor.
3. Drive your hips forward to stand back up.

Form cues

• Keep the back flat throughout.
• Keep the knee bend small and fixed.
• Start with a light bar.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the back as you lean.
• Bending forward further than your hamstrings allow.

Take care. Start very light and progress slowly; perform it in a rack with the safety pins set.

Set up. Stand with the bar over the middle of your feet, feet about hip width apart. Hinge down, grip the bar just outside your knees and bring your shins to the bar.

1. Flatten your back, pull your chest up and take the slack out of the bar.
2. Push the floor away with your legs, keeping the bar close to your shins.
3. As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward until you stand tall.
4. Lower the bar by pushing the hips back first, then bending the knees once it passes them.

Form cues

• Keep the bar touching or close to your legs.
• Keep your back flat from start to finish.
• Brace your stomach before each rep.

Common mistakes

• Rounding the lower back as the bar leaves the floor.
• Letting the hips shoot up first so the back does all the lifting.

Take care. Learn the hinge with light weight first, and end the set when your back can no longer stay flat.

Set up. Set the bar in a rack at about upper chest height. Step under it, rest it across your upper back and grip it just outside your shoulders, then stand up and step back with feet about shoulder width apart.

1. Brace your stomach and take a breath.
2. Bend your hips and knees together to sit down between your heels.
3. Go as deep as you can while keeping your back flat and heels down.
4. Drive up through the whole foot to stand tall.

Form cues

• Keep your knees in line with your toes.
• Keep your chest up.
• Keep the bar over the middle of your feet.

Common mistakes

• Letting the knees cave inward.
• Rising with the hips first so the chest drops.

Take care. Squat inside a rack with the safety pins set just below your lowest point, so a missed rep can be set down.

Set up. Sit in the leg press with your back and hips against the pad and your feet about shoulder width apart in the middle of the platform.

1. Push the platform up and release the safety handles.
2. Lower the platform by bending your knees toward your chest.
3. Stop before your lower back lifts off the pad.
4. Press back up without locking your knees hard.

Form cues

• Keep your hips on the seat.
• Keep your knees in line with your toes.
• Push through the whole foot.

Common mistakes

• Lowering so far that the lower back rounds off the pad.
• Snapping the knees straight at the top.

Set up. Stand a long step in front of a bench with a dumbbell in each hand, and place the top of your back foot on the bench.

1. Lower your back knee toward the floor, bending the front knee.
2. Go down until the front thigh is about level with the floor.
3. Drive through the front foot to stand back up.
4. Finish the set and switch legs.

Form cues

• Keep most of your weight on the front foot.
• Keep the front knee in line with the toes.
• Keep the torso tall or leaning slightly forward.

Common mistakes

• Standing too close to the bench.
• Pushing off the back foot.

Set up. Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides and clear space in front of you.

1. Take a long step forward and lower your back knee toward the floor.
2. Go down until both knees are bent at roughly right angles.
3. Push through the front foot and bring the back leg through into the next step.
4. Keep alternating legs as you walk.

Form cues

• Keep your torso upright.
• Keep the front knee over the foot.
• Lower the back knee gently.

Common mistakes

• Taking steps so short the front heel lifts.
• Banging the back knee on the floor.

Set up. Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and a padded barbell over your hips. Bend your knees and plant your feet about hip width apart.

1. Brace and drive through your heels to lift your hips.
2. Finish with your hips level with your knees and shoulders, shins vertical.
3. Squeeze the glutes at the top.
4. Lower under control.

Form cues

• Tuck your chin and look forward.
• Keep the ribs down at the top.
• Push through the heels.

Common mistakes

• Arching the lower back instead of extending the hips.
• Placing the feet so far out that the hamstrings take over.

Set up. Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips and a kettlebell on the floor a short way in front. Hinge down with a flat back and grip the handle with both hands.

1. Hike the kettlebell back between your legs.
2. Snap your hips forward to stand tall, letting the bell float up to about chest height.
3. Let it swing back down and hinge to meet it.
4. At the end, hinge and park the bell on the floor in front of you.

Form cues

• It is a hip hinge, not a squat.
• The arms guide the bell, the hips move it.
• Stand tall with glutes tight at the top.

Common mistakes

• Lifting the bell with the arms.
• Rounding the back as the bell swings down.

Set up. Set the Smith bar at upper chest height and the safety stops just below your lowest point. Step under it, rest it on your upper back and place your feet slightly in front of the bar.

1. Unhook the bar by rotating it.
2. Squat down under control, keeping your chest up.
3. Drive up to standing.
4. Rotate the bar back onto the hooks after the set.

Form cues

• Find a foot position where your heels stay down.
• Keep the knees over the toes.
• Brace before each rep.

Common mistakes

• Placing the feet so far forward the lower back rounds.
• Forgetting to set the stops.

Set up. Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.

1. Step one foot back and lower the back knee toward the floor.
2. Go down until both knees are bent at roughly right angles.
3. Push through the front foot to step back to standing.
4. Alternate legs or finish one side first.

Form cues

• Keep most of your weight on the front leg.
• Keep the torso tall.
• Lower the back knee gently.

Common mistakes

• Stepping straight back on a line so you wobble.
• Pushing off the back foot.

Set up. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat about hip width apart, arms by your sides.

1. Brace your stomach and push through your heels to lift your hips.
2. Rise until your body is in a line from shoulders to knees.
3. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
4. Lower under control.

Form cues

• Push through the heels.
• Keep the ribs down.
• Pause at the top.

Common mistakes

• Arching the lower back to get higher.
• Pushing through the toes.