The 8 Best Hamstring Exercises to Build Stronger, More Resilient Legs

Although many lower-body exercises activate the hamstrings, runners often place far more emphasis on the quads and glutes, unintentionally neglecting this crucial muscle group. For runners, however, strong hamstrings are essential for both performance and injury prevention.

The hamstrings are a group of three muscles — the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris — that run along the back of the thigh from the pelvis to the knee. They work in opposition to the quadriceps and play an important role in propulsion, stride control, and deceleration.

Every time your foot leaves the ground, your hamstrings help drive your leg backward and stabilize the knee as you prepare for the next foot strike.

Hamstrings are especially critical during higher-speed running, hill work, and sprinting, where they generate power and control.

Unfortunately, they are also among the most commonly injured muscles in runners, often due to weakness, fatigue, or strength imbalances, making targeted hamstring training a non-negotiable part of a smart running program.

The best hamstring exercises focus on one or both of the muscle group’s primary functions: hip extension and knee flexion. Strengthening these movement patterns helps improve running mechanics, increases efficiency, and reduces your risk of strains.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to structure effective workouts and provide step-by-step instructions for some of the best hamstring exercises runners can add to their strength training routine.

How to Structure Your Hamstring Workouts

For hamstring workouts focused on maximal strength, aim to build up to 2–6 sets of 3–5 reps using at least 85% of your one-repetition maximum (1RM). As the rep range decreases, your intensity should increase, meaning the closer you get to 3 reps, the closer your load should be to 100% of your 1RM.

If your primary goal is hypertrophy (muscle growth), perform around three sets per exercise using loads between 70–85% of your 1RM for 8–12 reps.

This rep range provides the ideal balance of mechanical tension and volume to stimulate muscle growth while still supporting functional strength for running.

The 8 Best Hamstring Exercises For Strength And Power

#1: Leg Curls

Note: The exercise featured above is a seated leg curl if you do not have the availability of the lying hamstring curl machine.

One of the best hamstring exercises is the lying leg curls for your hamstring workouts at the gym. Unfortunately, this exercise is often performed with poor form, which can increase the risk of injury and reduce its effectiveness.

When you add this move to your workout, it is crucial that you think about “gluing” your hips and upper body down so that you initiate and control the movement only from your hamstrings.

Moreover, in order to maximize the effectiveness, you need to move through the entire range of motion, straightening your legs fully and then bending your knee to bring your heels all the way up to your butt.

Here are the steps:

1. Lie on your stomach on the leg curl machine with the backs of your ankles slipped underneath the pad.
2. Keep your core tight and press your hips down, making sure to only move your lower legs by contracting your hamstrings.
3. Squeeze your hamstrings to curl the weight up towards your butt.
4. Squeeze in the top position when your heels or the pad of the machine is all the way up near your bottom.
5. Slowly lower back down, aiming to extend the eccentric (lowering) portion as long as possible.

#2: Stability Ball Hamstring Curls

The stability ball hamstring curl is an effective exercise for strengthening and stabilizing the hamstrings, hips, and core.

Here are the steps:

1. Lie on your back with your legs straight and your heels up on a stability ball. Place your arms at your sides, palms down on the floor.
2. Engage your abs and glutes to lift your hips so that your body is in a straight line from your heels to your head. Your shoulder blades should be on the floor.
3. Engage your hamstrings and glutes, and press your heels into the ball as you bend your knees to roll the ball in towards your butt.
4. Return to the starting position. Move slowly and with control.
5. Complete 15 reps per set.

#3: Toes-Elevated Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts

Romanian deadlifts (RDL) are a hip hinge movement and are one of the best posterior chain exercises for your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back extensors.

Performing a deadlift with your toes elevated on a weight plate or bumper plate so you sink into your heels helps isolate your hamstrings.

Therefore, when you are trying to do a hamstrings-focused leg workout, try this deadlift variation.

Keep in mind that because you are narrowing your base of support, this is a more challenging deadlift variation that requires greater activation from your core, as well as the smaller stabilizing muscles in your ankles and hips.

For this reason, you might not be able to lift as much weight, particularly at first. Once you become stronger and more proficient with this version, you may be able to move up to a barbell, but don’t rush this process.

Moreover, because the hamstrings are generally weaker than the glutes, and this is more of a hamstring isolation exercise relative to the normal Romanian deadlift, you should begin with a lighter weight than you normally deadlift.

Here are the steps:

1. Grab a 25-or 45-pound weight plate or bumper plate and set it on the floor. 
2. Prop the balls of your feet and toes up onto the edge of the weight plate so that you are weight-bearing with just your heels on the floor.
3. Your feet should be much closer together than with a standard deadlift.
4. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms down and your sides and your palms facing the wall behind you.
5. Hinge from your hips, reaching the dumbbells down towards your feet, imagining the dumbbells tracking up and down a vertical line that is extending above your toes rather than tracking along your shins with a typical Romanian deadlift.
6. Move as slowly as possible as you lower it, pausing at the bottom position. You want to try to keep your back straight and level throughout the whole movement.
7. Think about contracting your hamstrings to stand back up to the starting position, hinging back up at the hips rather than rounding your spine. Focus on good hip extension during this phase of the movement.

To make this exercise easier or more challenging, you can change the weight or variation, such as going from a double-leg to a single-leg deadlift or a stiff-leg deadlift.

#4: Razor Curls

The razor curl hamstring exercise is an advanced hamstring strengthening exercise.

Because your hips are flexed, you can get a more powerful contraction of the hamstrings at the knees.¹Oliver, G. D., & Dougherty, C. P. (2009). The Razor Curl: A Functional Approach to Hamstring Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(2), 401–405. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e31818f08d0

‌You should not add this move to your workouts until you have built up hamstring strength and mastered the basic curl technique.

Here are the steps to perform this advanced hamstrings exercise:

1. To improve knee comfort, kneel on a pad or cushioned weight bench with a straight back and upright torso.
2. Have a partner hold your ankles and feet, or find a secure bar or weighted object to hook your heels under to keep your feet anchored.
3. Cross your arms over your chest. As you progress in your hamstrings workouts, you can hug a weight plate to your chest.
4. Flex your hips slightly so you are hinged forward at the hips by about 10°. This will increase the potential contraction force of the hamstrings at your knees.
5. Fall forward, meaning your entire body from the knees rather than just hinging at the hips, maintaining the slight flexion in your hips, and moving your body from the knees to the head as one solid plank.
6. Try to “fall” towards the floor in a slow, controlled manner. If you are not using a weight, you can use your hands to touch the floor and help you press back upward lightly. As you get stronger, squeeze your hamstrings to reverse the motion and initiate the concentric contraction back up to the starting position. 

As you progress through this exercise, gradually increase the angle of movement, bringing your chest much closer to the floor as your strength increases.

#5: Nordic Hamstring Curls

The Nordic hamstring curl is very similar to the razor curl. The only real difference is that you do not hinge your hips, which is slightly easier on your hamstrings.

Studies have found²Al Attar, W. S. A., Soomro, N., Sinclair, P. J., Pappas, E., & Sanders, R. H. (2016). Effect of Injury Prevention Programs that Include the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Injury Rates in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine, 47(5), 907–916. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-016-0638-2 ‌that this is an effective exercise for hamstrings in terms of injury reduction. 

Therefore, adding the Nordic hamstring curl to your hamstring workouts can help keep your hamstrings healthy.

To perform this hamstring exercise, follow the exact same steps as you did for the razor curl, but keep your hips fully extended so that your body is in a straight line from your knees to your head.

#6: Kettlebell Swings

Kettlebell swings are a fantastic posterior chain exercise that not only works the hamstrings, glutes, and low back extensors but also works the anterior side of your body, strengthening your hip flexors, core, and shoulders.

In fact, according to a research study by ACE Fitness, kettlebell swings are among the most effective exercises for the hamstrings.A³CE CERTIFIED • February 2018. (n.d.). https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/February2018/ACE_HamstringsStudy.pdf

‌Here are the steps:

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, gripping the horn of a fairly heavy kettlebell with both hands. Your arms should be fully extended so the kettlebell is hanging down in front of your body.
2. Keep your heels firmly planted but allow a gentle bend in your knees.
3. Engage your core and glutes as you press through your heels and explode through your hips, in a hip thrust motion, to drive the kettlebell upward until it’s roughly chest height and your arms are fully extended out in front of you.
4. Control the kettlebell as it descends, loading your glutes and hamstrings. The kettlebell should swing backwards through the opening between your legs.
5. At the end of the arc of the swing, snap your hips forward again to drive the kettlebell back up to chest height.
6. Complete 12-20 reps.

Be very aware if you experience any back pain during this exercise. If you do, seek advice from a physical therapy professional.

#7: Glute-Hamstring Raises

As you get stronger, you can add weight plates or chains for hamstring hypertrophy workouts.

Here are the steps:

1. Secure your feet on the machine and then rest your quads in the middle of the glute-ham raise machine pad. Cross your arms over your chest.
2. Bend your knees to 90 degrees and keep the rest of your body completely straight.
3. Press your toes into the pad as you straighten your legs.
4. Hinge at your hips to slowly lower your torso until your chest is parallel to the ground.
5. Contract your hamstrings and glutes to lift your body back up to the starting position.

#8: Hamstring Slides

Unlike exercises like the curl, which primarily focus on one of the two joint actions of the hamstrings (knee flexion in this case), slides are among the best functional exercises because they involve both joint actions, maximizing your functional strength gains.

It is also a joint- and beginner-friendly hamstring exercise because it is a bodyweight movement that does not load your hamstrings.

You will improve your eccentric hamstring strength.

To perform this exercise in your hamstrings workouts, you will either need to use a slide board with the booties or perform it at home on a hardwood floor with slippery socks or nylons on your feet. 

You need to be on a surface with very little friction between your heels.

Here are the steps:

1. Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart, knees bent at a 90-degree angle, shins perpendicular to the floor, and heels on the slide board or hardwood floor underneath your knees.
2. Squeeze your glutes to lift your hips up as if performing a standard glute bridge.
3. Keeping your upper back on the ground, slowly extend your heels away from your body, straightening out your knees. Beginners can start with just one leg at a time, keeping the other heel planted in the bridge position. As you get stronger, move both heels and try to extend your legs as far out as possible without flopping all the way down, maintaining tension in your hamstrings so that you can control the movement.
4. Contract your hamstrings to pull your heels back in towards your butt until they are underneath your knees.
5. To make it even more challenging, you can add a resistance band.

While there are many hamstring exercises out there that we haven’t mentioned, such as good mornings, lunges, and split squats, these are some of our editor’s picks of the best.

Before you complete any of these exercises, make sure you complete a good warm-up. After your workouts, try our foam-rolling leg exercises to loosen up, and throw in some hamstring stretches. You can find our foam-rolling guide:

The 7 Best Foam Roller Exercises For Legs

References

• 1
  Oliver, G. D., & Dougherty, C. P. (2009). The Razor Curl: A Functional Approach to Hamstring Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(2), 401–405. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e31818f08d0
• 2
  Al Attar, W. S. A., Soomro, N., Sinclair, P. J., Pappas, E., & Sanders, R. H. (2016). Effect of Injury Prevention Programs that Include the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Injury Rates in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine, 47(5), 907–916. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-016-0638-2
• 3
  CE CERTIFIED • February 2018. (n.d.). https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/February2018/ACE_HamstringsStudy.pdf