Many gym goers will spend a lot of time training their quadriceps by doing squats, leg press & lunges but neglect their hamstrings. The hamstring are just as important as the quadriceps because your hamstrings cross the knee and hip joints, they work to bend your knees and draw your hips backwards. When executing explosive movement, these muscles play an important part in shifting the load from your knees to your hips.

They also contribute to your ability to absorb the shock of movements involving high velocity or force. While your hamstrings contribute to functional motion, such as walking, they help you to achieve speed, power and agility in many sports. For example, a sprinter’s performance pivots on strong hamstrings.

The movements below are the best you can do to develop thick, strong hamstrings.

Move No. 1: Romanian Deadlifts

RDLs torch the hamstrings in the most athletic way possible, as a hip extensor and contributor to a properly functioning posterior chain. I generally keep reps between 8-10 when doing this exercise, try going heavier rather than lighter.

 

Move No. 2: Eccentric Glute Hamstring Raises

The reason many sprinters injure themselves is because of their hamstrings’ poor ability to decelerate the lower leg to stop it from extending. Exercises that focus on the eccentric strength  of the hamstrings are a crucial strength tool. The best news is that you can achieve this using bodyweight only. Assume a tall kneeling position, with your heels secured under anything immovable. Without bending forward at the waist, contract your hamstrings and dig in hard with your heels as you slowly let your body descend toward the floor for a 5-8 second negative rep. You should land gently on the ground in a push up position. At this point, push yourself back up to the start position using your hands to help, and repeat.

 

Move No. 3: Barbell Hip Thrust

Hip thrusts are the best way to get a heavy hip without large amounts of stress on the lower back. These can be a saving grace while you’re recovering from an injury. Sure, primarily they’re meant to target the glutes , but the hamstrings’ contribution is just as important to making the lift successful.

 

Move No. 4: Box Squats

The truth is, hamstrings are like the triceps of the legs. Their development is the key to true leg size, and their strength translates to plenty of other strong moves in the gym. It goes beyond just jumping on the hamstring curl machine and going to town. Here are the moves that deliver the most bang for their buck.

 This sounds like a shocker, but properly executed box squats can recruit a ton of hamstring tissue. For this particular purpose, they beat squatting to full depth because there’s less quad involvement due to lower-knee flexion and greater hip flexion. What matters most is that you come to a full stop on the box while staying tight. The second you let go of your tension through your lower and upper back, this becomes an unsafe movement. Remember to use a slightly wider, toes-out stance when squatting this way too. This will ensure that your shins stay more vertical to shift the emphasis away from your quads.