Fitness Volt
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Exercise Guides
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
  • Nutrition
    • Supplements
    • Diet
    • Fasting
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Food Facts
  • Reviews
  • More
    • CrossFit
    • News
      • Arnold Classic
      • Mr. Olympia
      • Results
      • 2022 WSM
    • Fitness Calculator
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Exercise Guides
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
  • Nutrition
    • Supplements
    • Diet
    • Fasting
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Food Facts
  • Reviews
  • More
    • CrossFit
    • News
      • Arnold Classic
      • Mr. Olympia
      • Results
      • 2022 WSM
    • Fitness Calculator
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
No Result
View All Result
Workouts

Hamstring Training: Top 5 Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

F.V. Team

Written by F.V. Team

Last Updated onJune 17, 2017

Hamstrings are the ultimate bodybuilding body part. After all, most every other athlete trains them–if they train them–for injury prevention. You rarely notice hams of note on a nonbody-builder, and even most bodybuilders lack the density and dieted-down details to wow a crowd with rear-leg heft or vertical blind lines.

In this article, we help you hammer your hams as we lay bare the top five hamstrings-training blunders. The class is in session.

Mistake #1 Failure to work all areas

The muscles at the back of the upper legs were traditionally called the “thigh biceps” in reference to the largest ham muscle, the biceps femoris. We made a linguistic leap forward over the past three decades as the more inclusive “hamstrings” came into common usage. Still, most trainers think of their hams as two muscles (one at the back of each upper leg) or as a set of muscles with identical functions.

In fact, there are three muscles on the back of each thigh, which collectively form the hamstrings, and the biceps femoris has a somewhat different function from the semitendinosus and semimembranosus.

Solutions

  • Lying leg curls with your hips on the bench target the biceps femoris (outer hams). Make sure to do at least three sets in each ham workout.
  • Seated leg curls target your semitendinosus and semimembranosus (inner hams), so perform at least three sets of seated leg curls in each ham workout.

Pulling your hips off of the bench during lying leg curls will also focus the stress more on this area.

Mistake #2 Insufficient volume

We started this month’s lesson with the provocative argument that hamstrings are the ultimate bodybuilding muscle group, but if you’re like most weight trainers, not only have you not given your hams their due respect, you’ve also been dissing them. Too many bodybuilders still relegate the back of their thighs to the back of their leg workouts. After slogging through an assault of squats and leg presses, they only eke out a few lackadaisical sets of leg curls. In relation to bodyparts such as biceps, which you doubtless lavish with sets, your hams carry more muscle and deserve at least as much volume.

Solutions

  • Especially if your legs are lagging, consider training your hamstrings on separate days from your quadriceps. This allows you to focus more on each area.
  • If you train quads and hams in the same workout, try combining the two by following an exercise for one with an exercise for the other.
  • Do at least 10 sets for hamstrings, and at least three different exercises in each ham workout.

A sample 12-set routine consists of Romanian deadlifts, lying leg curls and seated leg curls, each for 4 sets.

Mistake #3 Lagging intensity

When was the last time you did forced reps, drop sets or rest-pause to extend a set of leg curls beyond full-rep failure? For that matter, when was the last time you psyched yourself up for a balls-to-the-wall set of Romanian deadlifts in the way you approach a blow-out set of squats or leg presses? Owing in part to the fact that hams are frequently relegated to second place behind quads, and in part to the fact that they’re not a flashy bodypart unless colossal and/or sliced, most bodybuilders slog through their ham work on autopilot.

Solutions

  • As mentioned previously, give hams their own workout to give them your maximum focus.
  • Doing drop sets on lying or seated leg curls is as easy as moving the weight stack’s pin into a higher slot. Make your last set of one-leg curls a drop-set sequence.
  • A training partner can easily remove stress from the positive halves of reps and add stress to the negative halves to keep sets going beyond failure.
  • If you train alone, you can increase the emphasis on the negative by raising the leg curl weight with both legs, but lowering with just one leg (alternating legs each rep).
  • Any ham set can be extended via rest-pause. Pause for 10-20 seconds in the ready position after reaching failure, and then do up to 4 more reps to failure, pause again, and again do up to 4 more reps to failure.

Mistake #4 Minimizing the importance of strength gains

As with insufficient intensity, a related mistake is a failure to emphasize strength gains. If you’re like most bodybuilders, you know your personal bests in the squat and leg press, and strive each workout to top the workout before. In comparison, bodybuilders tend to think of Romanian deadlifts as a “stretching exercise” and focus less on progressive strength gains, and many are content to churn out the same moderate-to-high rep sets of leg curls with the same weight month after month, believing it’s enough to merely pump blood into their hams.

Solutions

  • As with any exercise, focus on doing more reps with the same weight or the same reps with more weight from ham workout to ham workout. A workout log can help you monitor your short-term and long-range progress.
  • Don’t lock your reps into the 10-15 range. Pyramid at least one exercise per ham workout, increasing the weight and decreasing reps until you reach a maximum 6-rep set.

Mistake #5 Going too fast and too short

Too fast and too short commonly pair up, because when you’re reducing the time of your reps, you’re likely reducing their range of motion, as well. Bodybuilders tend to work the mid-range of leg curls, missing the crucial stretches and contractions.

Solutions

  • Slow down leg-curl reps. Take as long as 5 seconds (2 seconds up, 3 seconds down) on each rep.
  • Focus on getting a complete stretch and contraction on each rep. Pause briefly at contraction with your ankles as close to your glutes as possible.
  • Some machines employ smaller ankle pads or use foot cuffs, which allow you to get a longer range of motion. On the other hand, avoid machines with oversized pads or biomechanical designs that reduce the range of motion.
  • To slow down and target each leg individually, do at least one exercise per workout unilaterally.

Chose unilateral standing or kneeling leg curl machines or do your lying or seated leg curls with one leg at a time.

 

Lessons Learned

  • Do exercises for both your outer hams and inner hams in each hamstring workout.
  • Do at least 10 sets for hamstrings, and consider breaking up your ham and quad workouts.
  • Push sets to failure, and include intensifiers, such as forced reps, drop sets and rest-pause.
  • Focus on strength gains, and pyramid some sets.

Slow down your reps on leg curls, and be certain to get full stretches and contractions.


Author: Grer Merritt
References: flexonline.com
Copyright 2010 Weider Publications

Stay on top of the latest fitness news and updates by adding Fitness Volt to your Google News feed: Follow us on Google News You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for even more content.
Facebook Twitter Reddit Flipboard LinkedIn
Categories: Featured Legs Workouts
Previous Post

WATCH: Tom Platz At 61 Training Legs Harder Than Most Young Bloods

Next Post

Cheat Training: How To Cheat During Your Workouts For Extra Muscle Mass

F.V. Team

F.V. Team

Fitness Volt Team, Your #1 source for workouts, news, analysis, opinion, and entertainment in bodybuilding & fitness sports.

Related

Regan Grimes Leg Workout

Regan Grimes Annihilates a ‘Torturous’ Leg Workout With Milos Sarcev

Bodybuilder Regan Grimes is increasing the intensity of his training with each passing day as he prepares for the 2023...

Hassan Mostafa Off Season Leg Training

Hassan Mostafa Builds Tree Trunk Legs During Off-Season Training

Hassan Mostafa is making the most of his time to make up for the time lost in 2022 due to...

Hamstring Walkouts

Hamstring Walkouts Guide: Muscles Worked, How-To, Benefits, and Alternatives

If you train in a gym, you’ve got plenty of hamstring training options to choose from. Most gyms have at...

Dumbbell Hack Squat Guide

Dumbbell Hack Squat Guide: How To, Benefits, Muscles Worked, and Variations

The dumbbell hack squat is a squat variation that helps you better target your quadriceps. This exercise is a great...

Skipping Legday

The Dangers of Skipping Leg Day: 13 Ways It’s Hurting You

You’ve probably heard your friendly neighborhood gym bro say you should never skip a leg day. Interrogate him a little...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest

Mark Wahlberg Flaunts His Ripped Six-Pack Abs During Intense 4.AM. Leg Workout Video

Jeff Nippard Insists On Avoiding These Four Nutrition Mistakes

Weighted Bench Dip Exercise Guide: How-To, Benefits, Muscles Worked, and Variations

How To Eat Less: 16 Ways To Consume Less and Feel More Satisfied

Jay Cutler Looks Incredibly Jacked in Latest ‘Fit for 50’ Physique Update

Andrew Jacked Talks Steve Weinberger, 2023 Arnold Classic and Blood Work: ‘No Health Issues’

Reviews

Best Preacher Curl Benches

10 Best Preacher Curl Benches in 2023 (Review & Ranked)

Ancheer Treadmills Review

6 Best Ancheer Treadmills in 2023 (Review & Ranked)

Best Bone Broth Supplements

10 Best Bone Broth Supplements of 2023 (Reviewed & Ranked)

Fitness Volt

At FitnessVolt.com Our mission is to help our readers to achieve their fitness goals, regardless of where you’re at on your journey, we are on a mission to educate You with the latest from strength and fitness space. Read more.

Email: sm(at)fitnessvolt.com

Disclosure: FitnessVolt.com has an affiliate relationship with different brands and is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. However, our reviews are based on well research backed analysis.

Follow Us

Trending Topics

  • Mr. Olympia
  • Bodybuilding
  • Strongman
  • Powerlifting
  • CrossFit
  • At Home Workouts
  • Bodyweight Exercises
  • Best Pre-workout
  • Best Fat Burners
  • Bodybuilding Diet
  • Bicep Workouts
  • Triceps Workouts
  • Chest Exercises
  • Back Workouts
  • Leg Workouts
  • Front Squat Guide
  • Calf Workouts & Exercises
  • Forgotten Exercises
  • Jefferson Deadlift

Calculators

  • Calorie Burning Calculators
  • IF Calculator
  • TDEE Calculator
  • Calorie Calculator
  • Keto Calculator
  • RMR Calculator
  • Macronutrient Calculator
  • Creatine Calculator
  • Wilks Calculator
  • EER Calculator
  • FFMI Calculator
  • IBW Calculator
  • LBM Calculator
  • Fat Intake Calculator
  • Calories Burned Swimming
  • Calories Per Meal Calculator

  • Food Nutrition Analysis
  • Carb Cycling Calculator
  • Weight Gain Calculator
  • Weight Loss Calculator
  • Calories Burned Calculator
  • Strength Standards
  • One Rep Max Calculator
  • Body Fat Calculator
  • EER Calculator
  • Weight Loss Percentage
  • Treadmill Calorie Calculator
  • Body Surface Area Calculator
  • Running Pace Calculator
  • Bench Press Calculator
  • Protein Calculator
  • Water Intake Calculator
  • Body Type Quiz
  • Steps to Miles Calculator
  • Calorie Deficit Calculator
  • Home
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Syndication
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Copyrights
  • Terms
  • Privacy

© Copyright 2010 - 2023 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Bodybuilding
  • Arnold Classic
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • CrossFit
  • Workouts
  • Exercise Guides
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs and Glutes
    • Shoulders
  • Training
  • Nutrition
  • Reviews
  • More
    • News
    • Mr. Olympia
    • 2022 WSM
    • Diet
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • Food Facts
    • Fitness Calculator

© Copyright 2010 - 2023 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.