When it comes to planning a workout routine, hamstring exercises don’t tend to get much attention or glory—but they very well should. After all, developing these back-of-the-leg muscles is crucial for building lower-body strength, maintaining balance, performing daily functional movements, and staving off potential injury.

Ahead, discover the benefits of building strong hamstrings and the best exercises to get the job done, courtesy of Peloton instructor Jermaine Johnson. But first: a quick refresher on what the hamstring muscles are, exactly.

Which Muscles Do Hamstring Exercises Work?

Hamstring exercises typically work—you guessed it—the hamstrings. The hamstrings aren’t one muscle, but a group of three muscles on the posterior (back) of the thigh, including the:  

The hamstrings originate from the pelvis and attach to the bones in your lower leg. Together, they play a crucial role in functional movements like hip extension (movement of the leg backward at the hip joint, or “straightening” the hips) and knee flexion (bending your knee). As such, they’re involved in daily mobility tasks as simple as standing up straight and walking. 

“Strong hamstrings are crucial for activities like running, jumping, and lifting objects from the ground,” Jermaine says. More on the fitness front: The hamstrings play an important role in overall lower body strength, and powering workouts, including (but not limited to) cycling and rowing. 

How do you know if you need to strengthen your hamstrings? “Tightness or discomfort at the back of your thighs, and sometimes even the knee, often indicate a need to strengthen your hamstrings,” Jermaine says.

The Benefits of Building Strong Hamstrings

As Jermaine alludes to above, there are many benefits of developing strong hamstrings; here are some of the most notable of the bunch.

Improved Athletic Performance

Want to take your athletic output to greater heights or set new PRs? In many cases, developing your hamstring muscles will prove to be advantageous. “Strong hamstrings contribute to overall leg strength, which can enhance athletic performance and daily activities,” Jermaine says. “Strong hamstrings can complement modalities like running, cycling, and boxing by providing enhanced performance and injury prevention. For running and cycling, powerful hamstrings improve speed and efficiency by aiding in leg extension and flexion. In boxing, they contribute to stability and balance during quick footwork and pivoting movements.”

In fact, one sign that you may need to do more targeted hamstring strength work is a decline in performance during activities like running or squatting, Jermaine says.

Balanced Leg Strength

Most people are quad-dominant, meaning they have stronger quads (the muscle group on the front of the thighs) than hamstrings. While this is normal (fun fact: the quads contain the most mass of all the muscles in your body), you don’t want to become too quad-dominant at the expense of weakened hamstrings. If this muscle imbalance is significant enough, it can negatively impact your performance and put you at risk of injury. Working your hamstrings helps keep things more balanced, even if you’re doing a lot of quad-focused workouts, such as running and cycling. 

Reduced Chance of Injury

“Strong hamstrings act as crucial stabilizers, reducing the risk of strains or injuries during physically demanding activities,” Jermaine continues. More specifically, well-developed hammies help stabilize the knee joint, thus reducing the risk of knee injuries, which are especially common in sports.

Strengthening your hamstrings can also help prevent injury to the hamstring itself. A 2023 research review published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine found that improving hamstring strength—specifically by focusing on eccentric training, which strengthens the hamstring in the lengthened state—reduces the incidence of hamstring injury by 56.8 to 70.0 percent and improves the balance of functional strength between the hamstring and quad.

Finally, “a balanced lower body, which includes strong hamstrings, can improve posture and reduce lower back pain,” Jermaine adds.

Increased Mobility 

Hamstring exercises can help increase your flexibility and mobility while building strength. For example, a Romanian deadlift and single-leg deadlift ask you to move your hamstrings through a large range of motion while contracting, which can pay off in real life when you pick something up off the floor, for example. This mobility work can also stave off hamstring tightness, which many of us experience from long stints of sitting down. 

The 9 Best Hamstring Exercises to Add to Your Strength Routine

“Incorporating hamstring exercises into your routine—like deadlifts and leg curls—can lead to a stronger, more resilient body,” Jermaine shares. See what other hamstring exercises make it on the list for muscle gains and functional wins, as well as how to perform each safely and effectively.

1. Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift (aka RDL) is done with less of a knee bend compared to a traditional deadlift. This move strengthens the hamstrings while in a lengthened position, making it one of the best exercises for targeting this muscle group. You can perform RDLs with dumbbells, barbells, or even a kettlebell.

2. Bulgarian Split Squat 

Jermaine also recommends doing Bulgarian split squats, also called rear-foot-elevated split squats, to strengthen your hamstrings on one side at a time. You can do this exercise with just your bodyweight or holding dumbbells in both hands by your sides, as shown above.

3. Prone Leg Curl

If you’re at the gym or somewhere else with a prone leg curl machine, definitely include this movement in your hamstring routine. Aim to do this move slowly and with control, Jermaine advises. “Ensure proper alignment and use an appropriate weight to target your hamstrings effectively.” 

4. Kettlebell Swing 

When doing kettlebell swings, “it’s important to note that the power comes from your hips, not your arms,” Jermaine says. Performing this hamstring exercise with this tip in mind will ensure you’re effectively engaging your glutes and hamstrings and also minimizing the risk of injury.

5. Good Morning 

When performed with just your bodyweight, the good morning is a fantastic warm-up exercise for your hamstrings and glutes. To increase the challenge, add weight by holding a single dumbbell horizontally in front of your chest, as shown here. No matter which variation you choose, “ensure proper form and avoid rounding your back,” Jermaine advises.

6. Single-Leg Deadlift

Single-leg deadlifts allow you to target the posterior muscles (including those hamstrings) in one leg at a time while also drilling your balance and activating your core. Do this move with just your bodyweight, or hold one or two dumbbells to increase the challenge.

7. Glute Bridge 

The glute bridge primarily targets your glute muscles, but it also asks your hamstrings to help out with hip extension (i.e., straightening your hips). Make sure you’re keeping your core engaged and initiating the movement at your hips, not your lower back.

8. Bridge Walkout

To make the glute bridge an even more hamstring-focused exercise, try this variation. The farther your feet move away from your body, the more difficult it gets. If needed, modify by only taking one small step with each foot.

9. Lateral Lunge

Lateral lunges work many of the muscles in your lower body, including your hamstrings. By moving laterally (i.e., side to side), you’re introducing a new plane of motion and targeting the hamstrings in a slightly different way. To level up, hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides.

Common Hamstring Injuries and How to Prevent Them

Hamstring injuries occur when one of the three hamstring muscles are strained or pulled, often as a result of overstretching or overloading the muscle, according to the Mayo Clinic. These injuries are common in runners, dancers, and athletes engaging in sports that involve quick stops and starts (think: soccer, tennis, basketball, and the like). A 2012 research review published in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy found that hamstring strains account for 12–16 percent of all injuries in athletes, with a reported reinjury rate as high as 22–34 percent.

You’ll know that you have a hamstring injury if you experience a sudden, sharp pain in the back of your thigh. A tearing sensation or a “pop” may also indicate a hamstring injury. If you can’t walk without feeling pain or if you can’t put weight on your injured side, it’s time to visit the doctor.

To keep your hamstrings in fighting shape, both strength work and stretching are important. Tight, weak, and inflexible muscles are all more likely to be injured, according to the Mayo Clinic. In addition to including the above hamstring exercises in your resistance training routine, consider stretching both before and after your training or sports activities; do dynamic stretches as part of your warm-up and static stretches as part of your cooldown.

Incorporating Hamstring Exercises Into Your Routine

To seamlessly integrate hamstring exercises into your fitness routine, Jermaine offers a few helpful tips and insights.

Target Hamstrings 2–3 Times Per Week

To start, Jermaine advises doing both hamstring exercises (such as those listed above) and hamstring stretches two or three times per week. 

Jermaine suggests incorporating these strength moves into your lower-body and full-body strength workouts. “By including them in both types of sessions, you ensure well-rounded development and minimize the risk of muscular imbalances targeting the hamstrings,” he explains. 

If you’re a more advanced exerciser, you can also opt to do dedicated hamstring workouts or hamstring and glute workouts—perhaps as part of a workout split—to really focus on fatiguing the muscle group. “Hamstring-focused workouts can isolate and target these muscles more intensively, leading to improved strength and power,” Jermain continues. “It allows for specific training that might not be achievable during combined full body or lower body sessions, making it a valuable option for those aiming to prioritize hamstring development.”

Pair Them with Cardio

A dedicated cardio workout is just as crucial as strength training to keep your body (and overall health) in tip-top shape. That said, is it better to do hamstring strength exercises before or after cardio? There are advantages to either approach; the ideal sequencing will depend on your personal preferences and goals.

“Training hamstrings before cardio can help ensure they are adequately warmed up and less prone to injury during the cardio session,” Jermaine explains. For example, doing some bodyweight good mornings and glute bridges can help activate your hamstrings and glutes and prep them to work hard during whatever’s coming in your workout, whether you’re running, rowing, cycling, or something else. Doing hamstring exercise before cardio “can also promote muscle engagement and strength development,” Jermaine says. 

On the other hand, “training hamstrings after cardio can serve as an effective way to stretch and lengthen the muscles after they've been engaged, promoting flexibility and recovery,” he says. It also allows you to go into your cardio workout with fresh legs, which is important if your main fitness goal is cardio-related (for example, training for a marathon).

Know When to Level Up

If your goal is to build muscle and strength in your hamstrings, you’ll need to continually level up the challenge placed on your muscles by increasing reps, sets, or the amount of weight you use. (This is a training principle called progressive overload.) However, the trick is to know when to do so and how to scale up safely. 

“The frequency at which a person should level up their hamstring exercises depends on their fitness level and goals,” Jermaine explains. A good rule of thumb is that you should feel challenged in the last few reps of each set, while still being able to move with proper form; if you’re able to breeze through your sets, you likely aren’t challenging yourself enough. 

To avoid plateaus and maintain a steady challenge, Jermaine suggests the following timelines for boosting intensity:

“Ultimately, the key is to periodically modify exercises to maintain steady gains and prevent monotony in your training routine,” Jermaine concludes. “Remember: A balanced body is a happier body, so keep working on those hamstrings for an injury-resistant you!”