Most people think of working the hamstrings with leg curls only – but in fact, the hamstrings have two functions. They not only curl the knee but also extend the hip. Hence, to get maximal development, you must work the hamstrings through both functions.
Most people have significant strength imbalances between their hamstrings and their quadriceps. This comes from excessive reliance upon quad work and not much attention being paid to the out-of-sight, out-of mind hamstrings. Why this is so, I do not know. Many knee injuries occur because of strength imbalances on either side of the knee joint (i.e. hyperextensions, blown out hamstrings). Optimal speed occurs when hamstring strength is approximately 66% of quadricep strength. This was visible in the Canadian Sprinters at the Olympics who most of which had this hamstring to quadricep ratio. I trust their gold medal performances will be enough to convince you of the importance of hamstrings during sprinting. The easiest way that you can test your ratio is to compare your maximal front squat to your maximal back squat. Ideally, your front squat should be 85% of your back squat.
Leg Curls are pretty much idiot proof. You get on the machine and go. But there are some pointers that are beneficial.
1. Train one leg at a time. When you train both legs at a time, there is usually a tendency for the dominant leg to take over the movement and create a strength imbalance over time
2. Use a lying leg curl apparatus that is bent in the middle. This places your hamstrings at a stretch and makes the movement a little safer. With outdated lying leg curl machines, the bench is flat. Because your hamstrings function not only in extending the hip but in curling the knee, when you reach the top of the movement, the contraction at the knee joint causes the hamstrings to want to extend the hip as well. What happens is that your body rises up off the machine. When there is a bend in the machine, this effect is removed.
3. Think about pressing your hips into the pad of the machine.
4. Utilize a slow tempo! Most people train their hamstrings so explosively they wonder why they never grow. There is never any tension on them! Use a 3-1-4-1 tempo.
5. Think about moving through a circular arc when executing the movement.
6. Vary using a seated leg curl with a lying leg curl periodically. They affect the hamstrings in different ways. The seated leg curl prestretches the hamstrings (i.e. the seated position stretches the hip extension function of the hams) and as such provides a different stimulus. You might feel the seated leg curl more in your lower hamstrings.
7. Your knee joint should be equally aligned with the pivot joint of the machine. Your knee should not be in front or behind the part that machine that rotates.
8. The calves partially assist in knee flexion. As a result, point your toes upwards during leg curls to remove the calves as much as possible and focus the tension on the hamstrings.
9. Emphasize the first portion of the movement – people who accelerate through this movement rob the exercise of it’s value. The hamstrings contribute less force as you approach the top of the movement.
Most of you have probably never heard of what a Reverse Hyperextension is. The baby of powerlifting guru Louie Simmons, the reverse hyperextension works the hamstring extension function in the most pure way possible. It is far superior for working this capability of the hamstrings than conventional exercises such as dumbbell stiff legged deadlifts (which are still great) because it allows the posterior chain (i.e. glutes, lower back, hamstrings) to contract in the way and order they are supposed to. Powerlifters around the world are using this exercise as secret weapon to enhance their squat and deadlift poundages. In fact, several Australian powerlifters added 77 lbs. to their squat and 110 lbs. to their deadlift after implementing it into their training. Several of Simmons’ lifters use the reverse hyper exclusively during precontest training; without doing deadlifts specifically. However, these people still put up awesome scores in the deadlift. Simmons created the exercise after sustaining several devastating back injuries over his lifting career in the early 1980′s. After a steady diet of reverse hypers, he found his back health resurrected and his poundages shooting through the roof. Ra-ra-ra bullshit, I know, but this is truly an incredible exercise that I highly reccomend. I also saw my front squat poundages increase greatly by implementing this in my training. Having blown out the upper part of my left hamstring during the 1997 football season, this exercise is also important to me for restoring the hip extension function that is not only critical to strong squats and deadlifts, but powerful running as well. As you can see, the athletic application of the reverse hyper is great. Martial arts kicks, sprinting, wrestling, basketball, baseball, bobsledding, football…you name it, hip extension matters. A lineman blasts an opponent out of a hole during a run block thanks to strong hip extension. Similarly, all the power you get at the bottom of a squat comes from hip extension.
Reverse Hypers, unfortunately, require a special bench that Louie Simmons manufactures and sells. But thankfully, you can perform them without the bench, using common gym equipment. So you can smoke your erector spinae, hamstrings and glutes without killing your pocket book. It would be nice if we could all afford the machine – because it does make life easier – and most gym owners are pretty unreceptive towards new equipment. In 5-10 years, however, you should start seeing this machine popping up all over hardcore gyms in the world. The cutting edge gyms have already clued in on this great exercise. Until that happens, here is how you do it.
1. Find a hyperextension bench, but rather than lying on it normally (i.e. with your upper body hanging over the edge and your feet locked down), lie on it facing backwards, on your stomach, so that your arms are holding onto the leg supports and your legs are hanging down over the edge of the bench.
2. Your waist should be right at the edge of the bench.
3. For most people, you will need to elevate the hyperextension bench so that your legs can hang down fully at the bottom of the movement. Find a wooden crate or a weight plate and stick it under the feet of the hyperextension bench closest to your legs. This should increase the height of the bench more than enough for most people so that their legs can hang freely. You MUST have your legs hanging down so that they are perpindicular to the ground at the start of the exercise. There should optimally be a 90 degree angle at your waist. If your hyperextension bench is bolted down like the one at my gym – try to find some of the pads used with Nautilus machines to raise the height of your body from the ground. These pads are used on the machines to make them more comfortable for shorter/smaller users. Place them on top of the padded part of the hyperextension bench, where you lay down.
4. Get a weight belt and make it small enough so that it fits relatively tightly around your ankles.
5. Place a dumbbell between your ankles. Tip the dumbbell slightly forward so that the top inside plates “hang off” the belt. Now all you have to do is lightly squeeze your legs together to hold the dumbbell in place during the movement. It helps to have a training partner do this for you and also ensure that the dumbbell doesn’t fall out during the movement. The tighter the belt is around your ankles, the better.
6. The movement is simple. Just extend your hips so that your legs move from being perpindicular to the ground until they are parallel with the ground. You will feel a great activation in your lower back, glute and hamstrings. Keep your legs straight throughout the movement.
7. Hold your breath during the positive portion of the rep – this increases spinal stability by increasing intrathoracic pressure
8. Use a slow tempo, i.e. 3-1-4-1 positive-pause-negative-pause, as the range of motion is great on this exercise.
9. Make sure to keep a slight bend in your knees throughout the movement.
While reverse hyperextensions work the hip extension function of the hams in the purest way possible, most people will still get excellent results from stiff legged deadlifts. Here’s how to perform stiff legged deadlifts.
1. Use a loaded barbell or dumbbell from a raised position, i.e. on top of a wooden box.
2. Do not use straps. Straps SUCK! Chalk up instead.
3. Keep your weight concentrated on your heels. Be careful not to fall backwards; but keeping your weight centered on your heels helps activate your hamstrings more effectively.
4. Keep the bar within one inch of your body at all times.
5. Keep the natural curve in your lower back throughout. When your back starts curling forward during the eccentric portion of the rep, the repetition is over. That is the limit of your flexibility at the present time. Over time this will become better, however. Do not ever allow the lower back to round at any time during the movement.
6. Keep the knees bent slightly throughout the movement. The stiff legged deadlift does not mean straight, locked legs. This position compromises the safety of the knee joint.
7. Head position is important – keep it neutral i.e. in line with your body. If you extend your head backwards, you risk damage to the cervical vertebrae, if it is too far forwards, you encourage rounding of the back.
8. Inhale before the eccentric portion of the rep, then hold your breath until you have completed the rep entirely (i.e. when you are at the top position again). This enhances intrathoracic pressure and stabilizes the spine. If you find that you are getting a little dizzy from the buildup of pressure; exhale slowly through pursed lips during the positive portion of the rep.
9. Bend at the waist until you hit the point where your lower back starts to round forward.
10. Pause for a second at the stretched position before starting the concentric.
11. Use a 3-1-4-1 tempo.