Deadlift for hamstrings

[Qonix]

I always do deadlift as hamstrings exercise.. bur I really feel it more in my lower back than hamstrings. It might be cause I do it wrong or cause of my mobility sucks (aka round lower back).
Could you explain me the exact difference between deadlift for hamstrings and for lower back?

Also.. The only other exercise I do is leg curls.. do you also suggest something else?

 

[HIT4ME]

The difference between the two may seem counter-intuitive at first. Also, the idea that any exercise works any single muscle group is slightly untrue - for instance, doing a dumbbell fly may "isolate" your chest, but it still certainly involves your delts and biceps as stabilizing muscles, etc. Even opposing muscles get some activation in an exercise.

Having said that, regular deadlifts where you bend at the knees, squat down and pick a bar up typically work your back more. You get glute work as you pull from the floor, but once you're past your shins it requires lower back work to complete the movement.

To work your hamstrings, you typically use a "straight-legged" deadlift. I put straight-legged in quotes because you don't need to (and probably shouldn't) keep your legs "straight". You bend at the knees just slightly to remove pressure from your lower back, but you keep your legs in one position throughout the entire movement. Your knees don't bend or unbend once you are set.

You still keep your back straight with no rounding. The idea is that when you bend down to pick up the bar, you are stretching your hamstrings - as if you were touching your toes. When you stand up, your hamstrings are pulling your butt closer to the back of your knee.

You will need to lower the weights from what you typically use for a deadlift and depending on your mobility/range of motion you may choose to stop lowering the weight when it gets around your shins without it hitting the floor. The key here is to NOT round your back. At least for me, sometimes the tendency is to roll my shoulders forward (rounding my back) to reach the bar as it sits on the floor. I have good mobility, so I don't need to do this and I can touch the floor without rounding my back, but you have to be aware of this and if you can only lower to mid-shin without rounding your back, don't go further.

 

[herderdude]

Deadlift hits grip, traps, lats, abs, lower back, glutes, quads, and hamstrings. It can throw a wrench in a body part split, but it's not impossible to program.

A lot of people don't have the mobility for perfect deadlifts, but with lower back flexion in the deadlift, it usually comes down to not knowing how to brace your core. A video of your form at like 85-90% of your max is usually best to diagnose what you're doing well and what you could improve upon.

As far as exercises to hit your hams better, the Romanian deadlift might be the thing to add to leg curls for complete development. Are you familiar with them?

 

[herderdude]

The difference between the two may seem counter-intuitive at first. Also, the idea that any exercise works any single muscle group is slightly untrue - for instance, doing a dumbbell fly may "isolate" your chest, but it still certainly involves your delts and biceps as stabilizing muscles, etc. Even opposing muscles get some activation in an exercise.

Having said that, regular deadlifts where you bend at the knees, squat down and pick a bar up typically work your back more. You get glute work as you pull from the floor, but once you're past your shins it requires lower back work to complete the movement.

To work your hamstrings, you typically use a "straight-legged" deadlift. I put straight-legged in quotes because you don't need to (and probably shouldn't) keep your legs "straight". You bend at the knees just slightly to remove pressure from your lower back, but you keep your legs in one position throughout the entire movement. Your knees don't bend or unbend once you are set.

You still keep your back straight with no rounding. The idea is that when you bend down to pick up the bar, you are stretching your hamstrings - as if you were touching your toes. When you stand up, your hamstrings are pulling your butt closer to the back of your knee.

You will need to lower the weights from what you typically use for a deadlift and depending on your mobility/range of motion you may choose to stop lowering the weight when it gets around your shins without it hitting the floor. The key here is to NOT round your back. At least for me, sometimes the tendency is to roll my shoulders forward (rounding my back) to reach the bar as it sits on the floor. I have good mobility, so I don't need to do this and I can touch the floor without rounding my back, but you have to be aware of this and if you can only lower to mid-shin without rounding your back, don't go further.

I disagree with your second paragraph. The lower back should be held in an isometric contraction throughout the movement, legs get the bar off the floor, and your glutes finish the move. If you're using your lower back to finish the pull, you're putting it in unnecessary danger as well as leaving somewhere in the neighborhood of 50lbs on the table.

I agree with everything else you've said though, good advice.

 

[grinnell27]

I never used to feel it in my legs until I practised form over and over again, you almost 'squat' the weight up to your knees then pull with back... Well that's how I find best, after a session of deads my hams are fried, along with my glutes and back of course.

Drop the weight and practise sitting down lower into the pull and then just basically 'squat'. Sounds weird but it worked for me.

 

[kisaj]

Romanian or stiff leg dead and ham glute raises.

 

[HIT4ME]

I disagree with your second paragraph. The lower back should be held in an isometric contraction throughout the movement, legs get the bar off the floor, and your glutes finish the move. If you're using your lower back to finish the pull, you're putting it in unnecessary danger as well as leaving somewhere in the neighborhood of 50lbs on the table.

I agree with everything else you've said though, good advice.

Yeah, I didn't really say that 100% right and I guess I demonstrated the inefficiency of saying something works "this muscle and not that".

From what I've read, glutes get the most work in the bottom half of the movement, lifting from the floor. This is the reason Dorian Yates said he never went past his shins on deadlifts - it kept tension on the lower back and didn't activate glutes as much. To say it is all back on one part of the motion or all glues in another is so simplistic it is wrong.

And yes, you should basically be in an isometric contraction throughout - on squats and regular deads the thing that I think was a big learning point for me was realizing the your back shouldn't be parallel to the floor, but as close to perpendicular to the floor as possible throughout the movement, in order to minimize sheering forces on the spine.

 

[herderdude]

HIT4ME I've learned not to trust everything I hear from pro bodybuilders about proper technique. Top end deadlifts without glutes is just not a good plan, and glutes get their best work at the top in a properly executed deadlift. Look at any powerlifter turned bodybuilder, for the most part their physique is behind except in the musculature of the spinal column, and none of those guys build that from dynamic spinal action during squats and deadlifts but rather from isometric. You're right about trying to get upright in your deadlift though, That is for the best.

 

[kisaj]

I'd never listen to a body builder regarding workouts, form, or methods.

 

[puccah8808]

I do Romanian deads for hams. Freaking kills my hams.

 

[JezPudzian]

I always do deadlift as hamstrings exercise.. bur I really feel it more in my lower back than hamstrings. It might be cause I do it wrong or cause of my mobility sucks (aka round lower back).
Could you explain me the exact difference between deadlift for hamstrings and for lower back?

Also.. The only other exercise I do is leg curls.. do you also suggest something else?

I think the main difference on the emphasis of hamstrings or lower back during a deadlift is whether the lift is seen as a "push" or a "pull".

Adding a move that stretches the hamstrings like stiff leg deadlifts or good mornings would be beneficial imo.

 

[MARK_]

There is a great article in the AM news section on this by Lee Haney. If your looking to build mass he recommends the stiff legged dead lift.

 

[koi1214]

There is a great article in the AM news section on this by Lee Haney. If your looking to build mass he recommends the stiff legged dead lift.

Can you post the link?

 

[MARK_]

Can you post the link?

I can try

 

[MARK_]

I can try

By Lee Haney, 8X Mr. Olympia QUESTION It’s driving me crazy that I can’t build my hamstrings. My thighs look good from the front, but from the back, there’s nothing. Do I just have bad genetics? ANSWER You’re not the first person to have a tough time building hamstrings. In fact, I’ve known many people who share your dilemma. That muscle group in the back of each thigh is a tough sucker! Take heart, however, that everybody I know who had a problem was able to bring up their hams with some targeted training and a little elbow (knee) grease. Hamstrings, known technically as biceps femoris (because they have two heads and span the femur), are worked with two primary movements. One, with which you’re already familiar, is the curling motion. There are several variations of leg curls: lying on your stomach, sitting, even standing on one leg. Each exercise works the hamstrings in a slightly different way, which I will describe momentarily. The other type of hamstring exercise is the stiff-leg deadlift. Although any kind of deadlifting will have an effect on your hamstrings, it’s stiff-leg deadlifts that hit them most directly. Your leg workout should have at least one curling movement to go with stiff-leg deadlifts if you want to ensure complete hamstring development. If I could pick only one kind of curling movement, it would be lying leg curls. They are the most basic of all hamstring exercises and can be altered to place the stress on different parts of the back of the legs. If you point your toes inward, the exercise will focus on the inner of the two heads of your hams. This is good for filling in the inner portion of your upper thighs. By pointing your toes outward, you shift the stress to the outer hamstring heads and the glutes. Doing lying leg curls this way really helps carve detail into your outer hams, which is what the judges see when you’re doing a side chest shot. Seated leg curls have come into fashion within the past few years. When I was competing, these machines weren’t around, but nowadays most gyms are equipped with them. Performing curls while seated hits the inner hams and adductors for the most part. It also gives you a different feeling from the lying version. I particularly like the stretch at the top of the movement. Standing one-leg curls are an old standby for me. What’s great about this exercise is the way it allows you to focus on one ham at a time and to really squeeze at the top. I consider these curls a great finishing movement. Stiff-leg deadlifts are essential for massing up hamstrings and for strengthening the legs, hips, glutes and lower back. It’s important to remember the name of this exercise. They’re called stiff-leg deadlifts, not straight-leg deadlifts. Keep your knees rigid while performing them, but not locked out, because this could lead to tendon damage and back injury. I’ve included a hardcore hamstring routine for you. Normally, I would train my quads in the morning and my hamstrings in the evening, so this is a standalone program. Give it eight weeks and see if it doesn’t put some hanging hams on the back of your legs! - FLEX <im.bcYtjizH.dpuf[/URL][/QUOTE]

 

[SBH]

Romanian or stiff leg dead and ham glute raises.

^this. Slds are a great stretch movement for hamstrings.

 

[money0351]

I always do deadlift as hamstrings exercise.. bur I really feel it more in my lower back than hamstrings. It might be cause I do it wrong or cause of my mobility sucks (aka round lower back). Could you explain me the exact difference between deadlift for hamstrings and for lower back? Also.. The only other exercise I do is leg curls.. do you also suggest something else?

good mornings are absolute killers. They are a staple in my leg days

 

[Swolljaboi]

I hit stiff leg deadlifts for the first time last week and I've never felt such soreness in my hamstrings. I like it!

 

[grinnell27]

I hit stiff leg deadlifts for the first time last week and I've never felt such soreness in my hamstrings. I like it!

They are a beast exercise, and the carry over strength to deadlift and squat really well too.

I've been working my way up recently, trying to hit 405x3 soon. The definatley kill my hams too.

 

[mountainman33]

SLDLs/RDLs programmed with variations of leg curls will bring up hamstring strength and mass in no time. I split my leg days though, quads and calves one day, hams and calves a couple days later.