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Fast Track to Bulging Hamstrings

A specialization program for this powerful muscle group

The strength and conditioning community goes through phases in which one type of training is emphasized over another. There was the plyometric phase, the speed phase, the core training phase, and now there is the functional training phase. Perhaps, someday, the profession will put everything together and start focusing upon a structural balance phase.

The Level 1 and Level 2 PICP courses focus on learning how to perform structural balance assessments, which is especially important for athletes. Why? Because I found it is critical to identify any structural, mechanical and muscle imbalances in the athlete – along with any compensation patterns an athlete has developed from their sport. I’m not saying that knowing how to teach plyometrics and Olympic lifting movements are not useful, but mastering the skills of structural balance testing will do a lot more in the areas of preventing injuries and improving all aspects of athletic performance.
 
Structural imbalance is an assessment of the individual athlete, but I have found that one of the most common weaknesses in American athletes, especially those of college age, is the hamstrings. The reason is that most athletes train their hamstrings at the end of their leg routines by doing some halfhearted leg curls, which work only one function of this muscle group. But the good news is that the hamstrings can be developed rather quickly if you follow a good training methodology that includes periods of specialization. And if you can find the time to train the hamstrings twice a day, I have a great program for you.

Before going into the specifics of the routine, let’s review the kinesiology of the hamstrings. By the way, when I work with clients, I always find that educating them as to the “whys” of the routine increases their belief in the program and their commitment to it, thus enhancing the results.

Using Function to Dictate Design
The hamstrings muscle group is composed of three separate muscles. There are the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus, collectively referred to as the medial hamstrings. And then there is the biceps femoris, often simply referred to as the leg biceps.

The medial hamstrings cross the hip and the knee joint, and as such are involved in extending the hip and flexing the knee. They also assist in turning the knee inward (medial rotation). Like its cousin the biceps brachii, and as its name suggests, the leg biceps consists of two heads: the long head and the short head. The long head crosses both the hip and the knee joint and is therefore involved in extending the hip and flexing the knee. The short head also flexes the knee, but because it does not cross the knee joint, it cannot extend the hip. However, both heads assist in turning the foot outward (lateral rotation of the knee).

In addition to these three hamstrings muscles, there are additional muscles that are considered “synergistic” to the hamstrings in that they assist in flexing the knee and extending the hip. The muscles that assist the hamstrings in their knee flexor function are the sartorius, gracilis and gastrocnemius. The muscles that assist the hamstrings in their hip extensor function are the glutes and the erector spinae muscles. This is a concept that track and field coaches have known for years, which is that the hamstrings are connected as a chain to the glutes and back extensors – or, to be more specific, a posterior chain of muscle.

This anatomy lesson is not just academic. First, the information above implies that for complete development your hamstrings workouts should involve exercises for both the hip extension function and the knee flexor function. Also, understanding these specific muscle functions enables my PICP coaches to determine which muscles are weak and need remedial specialization. Although I can’t go into all the solutions I have for lower body structural balance testing (again, structural balance training is covered in my first two PICP courses), let me give you a few examples.

If the knee flexion function is deficient, I would prescribe variations of leg curl exercises such as seated, prone, kneeling and standing. MRI studies show the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, sartorius and gracilis being recruited when performing this movement. At the Poliquin Strength Institute, I have an Atlantis machine for each of these exercises so coaches can try out the exercises they will be teaching. The morning workout of the routine I will share with you focuses on the knee flexion aspect of hamstrings.

If the hip extension function is deficient, I would prescribe variations of exercises that involve extension of the trunk, such as the semi-stiff-leg deadlift, Romanian deadlift, good mornings (including seated good mornings), back extensions, and reverse hypers. MRI studies of a couple of these movements show the adductor magnus, adductor brevis, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus being recruited when performing these movements. The evening workout focuses on the hip extension function of the hamstrings.

The Morning Workout
As mentioned previously, the morning workout of this hamstrings specialization program focuses on the knee flexor function of the hamstrings. The muscles involved in this function have a higher fast-twitch muscle fiber makeup, and as such, a low-rep tri-set method is best to develop them.



Tri-sets are effective here because they extend the training stimulus to a wider pool of motor units, along with increasing the total time under tension for the associated muscle fibers. Tri-sets entail performing three different exercises with minimal rest between sets. And simply adding a 15-second rest between exercises makes a world of difference in terms of training response, as this short rest makes it possible to use significantly greater loads than if no rest is taken, thereby putting greater tension on the muscles. Hypertrophy is determined in large part by the product of time under tension and load. If you move immediately (as opposed to taking a 15-second rest) from one exercise to another, the reduced loads that must be used produce a suboptimal training effect.

Finally, note that the foot position is different in every exercise. Because of the different line of pull of the various hamstrings muscles, a variety of foot positions is necessary to maximize recruitment of all the hamstrings motor-unit pool. Also, it is normal to have to reduce the weight 4-5 percent with each successive tri-set due to fatigue.

A-1. Lying Leg Curls, Feet Inward, 4 sets x 4-6 reps, 40X0, 15 seconds rest
A-2. Lying Leg Curls, Feet Neutral, 4 sets x 4-6 reps, 40X0, 15 seconds rest
A-3. Lying Leg Curls, Feet Outward, 4 sets 4-6 reps, 40X0, 240 seconds rest

Another technique point I need to bring up with leg curl exercises is the flexion and extension of the calf. When your feet are pointed away from the body (i.e., plantar flexion), the gastrocnemius (upper calf muscle) is somewhat inhibited in its function as a knee flexor. The gastrocnemius is a bi-articular muscle in that it crosses two joints, in this case the knee joint and the ankle. However, the muscle fibers are too short in the gastrocnemius to do both knee flexion and plantar flexion at the same time. Therefore, this calf muscle is more effective as a knee flexor when the toes are pulled towards the body (i.e., dorsiflexion) and more effective as a plantar flexor if the knee is locked in extension.

This muscle contraction effect can be clearly illustrated when driving a car while sitting too close to the steering wheel. When the knees are bent, the gastrocnemius becomes ineffective, and it is thus more difficult to apply the brakes. It is the same reason that seated calf raises are prescribed to recruit the soleus (lower calf) muscle at the expense of the gastrocnemius muscle.

Conversely, when you bend the knee with the feet in plantar flexion, the overload shifts from the gastrocnemius and goes onto the hamstrings, making it a more effective hamstrings exercise. The cramping you are experiencing comes from the gastrocnemius, which is used to the old motor pattern trying to activate itself. This situation is only temporary. The way to get around the problem rapidly is to do the concentric contraction with the feet dorsiflexed and lower the resistance for the eccentric contraction with the feet plantar flexed. And because you are stronger eccentrically than concentrically, the hamstrings will start getting a greater overload during that eccentric lowering because the gastrocnemius will be inactive due to the plantar-flexed position. This is a much more effective way to do leg curls. But I have a few more tips before getting into the evening workout.

You should stretch the quadriceps between sets of hamstrings exercises. Increasing the range of motion of your quadriceps prior to a leg curl exercise will increase the amount of motor units used in the hamstrings during the exercise and, therefore, the effectiveness of the chosen exercise. Because the quadriceps is the antagonist muscle to the hamstrings, and thus stretching will allow it to relax, the force of the contraction in the hamstrings will be much greater in the subsequent contraction.

Finally, consider that this leg curl workout is designed for someone who is structurally balanced for knee flexion strength. Here is a simple structural balance test I use to determine this. Select a weight you can do for a six-repetition maximum (6RM) in the leg curl with your feet in the neutral position. As you reach muscular failure, your feet will rotate in one direction if there is a lack of balance between the two heads of the hamstrings. If they turn toward the midline of the body (medial rotation), your semitendinosus and your semimembranosus are too strong for your biceps femoris. If they turn away from the midline of the body (lateral rotation), your biceps femoris is too strong for your semitendinosus and semimembranosus.

The Evening Workout
The evening workout focuses on the hip extension function of the hamstrings. The synergistic glutes and erector spinae are added into the mix to extend the time under tension for the hamstrings, and a higher rep bracket is used to exhaust all available motor units. As with the morning workout this program uses tri-sets, but with these exercises expect to reduce the weight about 6-7 percent on each successive tri-set. Here is what it looks like:

A-1. Standing Good Mornings, 4 sets x 6-8 reps, 4020, 10 seconds rest
A-2. Romanian Deadlifts, 4 sets x 8-10 reps, 4020, 10 seconds rest
A-3. Reverse Hypers, 4 sets x 15-20 reps, 20X0, 120 seconds rest

After this workout you will probably find yourself feeling as though you are six inches shorter because of the “pump” in the lower back muscles. To prevent this from happening (and to help avoid potential muscle spasms later in the evening or the next day), simply stretch your hip flexors statically between sets. Also, because the hip flexors are the antagonists to the hip extensors, stretching them will increase the force of the contraction of the hip extensors.
A word of caution: If during the evening workout you are forced to drop the initial load by more than 20 percent for any of the given exercises, you are doing too much work for your level of conditioning. So, for example, if in A-1 you were using 100 pounds for your first set, and by the second round you can use only 75 pounds in the good morning, stop. By the next workout, you should be able to do at least a second round of tri-sets. It is not uncommon for trainees to do poorly on the evening workout, as they are still wiped from the morning workout. Hence, I strongly recommend taking a shake with Quadricarb and Whey Stronger right after the morning workout. Quadricarb will replenish glycogen stores, and Whey Stronger is one of the purest forms of whey protein on the marker. Using these products will make a significant difference in how you can handle the evening workout.
If you can’t train twice a day, do the full morning routine unchanged, followed immediately by the evening routine for only two sets. Also, no not do this routine more than once every five days, and for no more than six weeks.

Hamstrings strength and development is commonly deficient in both bodybuilders and athletes, but give workouts like this a try and you will be well on your way to achieving structural balance.