The Major Muscle Group You Might Be Missing In Your Lower-Body Workouts

When most of us think about leg day, it’s all about that booty-building burn—glute bridges, squats, maybe some inner-thigh moves for good measure. But there’s another major lower body muscle group you might be missing: hamstrings. Targeting the hamstrings is not complicated, but it is essential for any well-rounded lower body workout. “There are so many ways that we use our hamstrings in sports and activities,” says Kristina Earnest, CPT. “It is imperative that we keep them happy through strength, mobility, and proper warmup/cooldown exercises.”

Meet the experts: Kristina Earnest, CPT, is a cycling and strength coach and founder of Kristina Earnest On Demand, an online fitness platform. Roxie Jones, CPT, is a strength and nutrition coach in New York City, founder of BodyRox training, a personal and small group training program, and an strength coach.

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Your hamstrings are actually made up of three separate muscles. This trio runs along the back of your thigh from the hip to the knee and plays a role in pretty much every lower-body movement pattern you can think of. Together, they’re super important for everyday activities like walking, running, jumping, and even just standing up from a chair.

And if you want to squat lower, lunge a little deeper, and run faster? Yup, you guessed it—strong hamstrings can help there, too. Part of the posterior chain, your hamstrings drive a major portion of your walking gait and cycling stroke, helping you power up hills and crush incline treadmill walks or runs (12-3-30 workout anyone?).

Your hamstrings aren’t just a single muscle.

Here’s the lowdown on each of the three muscles that make up the hamstrings, according to Roxie Jones, CPT, a strength and nutrition coach in New York City:

1. Biceps Femoris: This muscle is on the outer side of your thigh and has two parts—a long head and a short head. It helps with bending your knee and rotating your leg outward. Think about when you’re kicking a ball or running; that’s the biceps femoris at work.
2. Semitendinosus: This one’s more towards the middle, next to the biceps femoris, but closer to your body’s midline. It helps you bend your knee and also extends your hip, such as when you’re doing a hip thrust or the back leg in a lunging position.
3. Semimembranosus: Right underneath the semitendinosus, this muscle ventures more towards inner-thigh territory than the other two. It helps you flex your knee and extend your hip, and also assists in rotating your leg inward.

Benefits Of Hamstring Exercises

Hamstring strength is not just about aesthetics (though, hello, sculpted hamstrings look killer); muscular hammies make everyday tasks and movement a bit easier, like standing up from a seated position, climbing stairs, or bending over to pick up, says Earnest. Aside from the basics, strengthening your hamstrings can help with the following:

• Prevent injury: “These muscles play a big role in stabilizing your knee joint, as well as maintaining hip and spinal alignment,” says Earnest. “If we neglect our hamstrings or overcompensate with our quads, we increase the risk of injury to our knee joints as well as the hamstrings themselves.”
• Run more efficiently: “You need strong hamstrings as you rapidly switch your legs as each heel kicks up towards its corresponding glute,” says Earnest. “Alongside the glutes, they help to push the body forward as you run by extending the hip joint.”
• Level up athletic performance: “The hamstrings are among the muscles responsible for our ability to run fast, stop short, and cut quickly,” says Earnest. “The stronger the hamstrings are, the faster you can stop and switch directions, a critical piece of sports performance.”

Best Hamstring Exercises

The most effective hamstring exercises include movements with a hip hinge, according to Earnest. Think deadlift variations, the glute bridge, kettlebell swings, and good mornings.

These hamstring exercises work whether you’re a total beginner or a leg day pro, because they can be modified easily with weight and reps (you can even start out doing these with bodyweight only). That means you can keep coming back to these moves and find new way to integrate them in your training program as you get stronger!

Sprinkle a few of these hamstrings exercises into your existing leg workouts—or follow the instructions below to do your own dedicated hammy circuit.

Time: 15-20 minutes | Equipment (optional): Dumbbells, resistance band, stability ball | Good for: Hamstrings, glutes, quads

Instructions: Choose three to four hamstring exercises from the list below. Perform 10 to 12 reps of each, then continue to the next move, resting only as needed. Once you’ve completed one round of each exercise, repeat the entire circuit twice more for a total of three rounds.

1. Weighted Good Morning

How to:

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width, hands behind neck, holding a pair of dumbbells resting on shoulders. (Modification option: Hold one weight behind your neck with both hands.)
2. With knees slightly bent and torso straight, slowly hinge hips back until upper body is nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Hold for a moment, then squeeze hamstrings and glutes to return to standing. That’s 1 rep.

2. Banded Glute Bridge

How to:

1. Wrap a resistance band around both legs, just above the knees, and lie on back with knees bent and feet planted hip-distance on the floor.
2. While engaging the core and maintaining tension in the band, drive through the heels and squeeze glutes to raise hips toward ceiling.
3. Hold for a moment at the top, then lower hips back to the mat with control. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: Minimize rest at the botton of this move by simply tapping hips to the floor between reps.

3. Dumbbell Donkey Kick

How to:

1. In a quadruped position, carefully place a dumbbell in the crease of right knee and squeeze to hold in place.
2. Keep right knee bent at 90 degrees, squeezing the dumbbell in place, and kick right leg towards the ceiling until thigh is parallel to the floor.
3. Lower right leg with control to return to start, briefly tapping the knee to the floor in between reps. That’s 1 rep.

4. Banded Staggered-Stance Deadlift

How to: Stand on left leg with center of resistance band under the foot, holding one end of the band in either hand.

1. Stand on left leg with center of resistance band under the foot, holding one end of the band in either hand.
2. Step right back slightly, lift as you push hips back and lower torso forward to 45-degree angle.
3. Drive through left heel to reverse the movement to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.
4. Complete all reps, then switch sides and repeat with right leg.

Pro tip: You can also perform this exercise by holding weights in hands as resistance.

5. Bridge Hip Cook Lift

How to:

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet planted hip-distance on the floor.
2. Bend right leg toward your chest and hug your right knee with both hands.
3. Engage your glutes and lift your hips up until your left thigh forms a straight line with your back.
4. Lower down with control. That’s 1 rep.
5. Complete half the total number of reps on the right side, then switch sides to complete the remaining reps with left leg.

Pro tip: Lift the toes of your foot on the floor to amp up the burn.

6. Stability Ball Hamstring Squeeze

How to:

1. Lying face down with arms bent, forehead resting on top of palms, and legs extended, place a stability between the feet and squeeze to hold.
2. Press into hands and engage glutes and hamstrings to lift legs into the air as high as you can while keeping the legs straight.
3. Hold for a moment at the top of the movement, squeezing in on the ball throughout. Slowly lower the legs back down to briefly tap the floor. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: No stability ball? No problem! You can do this one without it; just really focus on squeezing those hammies and glutes.

7. Glute Bridge March

How to:

1. Lie on back with knees bent and feet planted hip-width on floor.
2. Engage core, drive through heels, and squeeze glutes to raise hips toward the ceiling until body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
3. Maintaining a 90-degree bend in the knee, lift right leg toward chest and pause.
4. Lower right foot back to floor with control.
5. Repeat with the other leg. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: Keep hips square and core engaged to protect the lower back.

8. Glute Bridge Tiptoe Walk

How to:

1. Lie on back with knees bent and feet planted hip-width on the floor.
2. Engage core, drive through heels, and squeeze glutes to raise hips towards ceiling until body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
3. Keeping hips elevated and glutes engaged, take one step back toward glutes with right foot, balancing on toes.
4. Repeat with the left.
5. Reverse the movement to return to start. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: Move slowly and take the smallest steps possible to increase the amount of time your hamstrings spend under tension.

9. Single-Leg Glute Bridge

How to:

1. Lie on back with knees bent and feet planted hip-width on the floor.
2. Extend right leg toward ceiling, foot flexed so that sole points up.
3. Engage core, drive through heels, and squeeze glutes to raise hips towards ceiling until body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
4. Keeping right leg extended toward the ceiling, lower hips back to the mat with control. That’s 1 rep.
5. Complete half the total number of reps on one side, then switch sides to complete the remaining reps on the other side.

10. Kettlebell Swing

How to:

1. Stand with feet hip-distance with a soft bend in the knees. Holding the handle of a kettlebell with both hands with arms extended straight toward the floor, begin to hinge the hips back.
2. In one swift motion, squeeze glutes to straighten legs, stand up, and thrust hips forward, while swinging the weight no further than shoulder-height. The grip on the kettlebell should be relaxed and elbows slightly bent.
3. Reverse the movement, bringing the kettlebell between thighs this time when you hinge to go straight into the next rep. That’s 1 rep. These move fast!

Option: Don’t have a kettlebell? Hold the end of a dumbbell between both hands to perform dumbbell swings instead.

11. Stability Ball Hamstring Curl

How to:

1. Lie on back with arms at sides, legs extended, and feet resting on stability ball.
2. Press into upper back and arms to lift hips off mat.
3. Engage hamstrings and bend knees to pull heels toward seat.
4. Re-extend legs. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: You can also try this one with towels or sliders beneath your feet.

12. Resistance Band Kickback

How to:

1. In a quadruped position, loop a mini resistance band around lower legs, securing under left knee and right foot.
2. Kick right leg backward until it’s completely extended.
3. Return to start with control. That’s 1 rep.
4. Complete all reps on one side, then switch sides and repeat on the other side.

Pro tip: Keep core engaged and actively squeeze through glutes and hamstrings as you press back.

13. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

How to:

1. Stand with feet hip-width, knees slightly bent, holding a pair of weights in front of thighs, palms facing body.
2. Keeping knees slightly bent, press hips back as you hinge at the hips and lower the weights toward the floor. (Keep weights close to thighs/calves as you lower.)
3. Squeeze glutes to return to standing. That’s 1 rep.

Pro tip: Lower only as far as you can while maintaining tension in your glutes and hamstrings.

14. Banded Single-Leg Deadlift

How to:

1. Stand on left leg with left foot over the middle of a long resistance band, holding one end of the band in either hand.
2. Hinge hips back while lowering torso toward floor and extending right leg back until both are parallel to floor.
3. Drive through left heel to reverse the movement to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.
4. Complete all reps on same side, then repeat on the other side.

Pro tip: This move seriously challenges your balance, so try practicing the move without the band first and using a wall to steady yourself, if needed.

15. Bulgarian Split Squat

How to:

1. Stand in front of a low bench or platform with feet hip-width, holding two dumbbells in hands at your sides.
2. Place left foot onto the platform behind you, gently resting the top of the foot to stabilize.
3. Engage your core and glutes and lower down with control, and stop when your back knee hovers just off the floor.
4. Drive through your front foot and squeeze your glutes as you stand back up. That’s 1 rep.
5. Complete all reps on one side, then switch sides and repeat.

How can you add hamstring exercises into your workout routine?

Hitting the hamstrings one or two times a week is more than enough, according to Earnest. “As important as your hamstrings are to your daily routine, you don’t want to be adding these exercises to your workouts too often,” she says.

To make the most of your hamstring work, don’t forget to warm up. “It is very important to make sure your hamstrings are warm before putting them under tension,” says Earnest. “A thorough warmup includes both light aerobic activity to increase blood flow and heart rate as well as static and dynamic stretching to loosen and temporarily lengthen muscle fibers.”

Pro tip: The key to making every rep count is to concentrate on squeezing your hamstrings and let them be the muscles that initiate each movement—don’t let your quads or glutes take over!