Ultimate Leg Day Workout You Can’t Miss

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The Ultimate Guide to Hamstring Strength: What Anatomy Teaches Us

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In this video, Jonathan from the Institute of Human Anatomy discusses the anatomy of the hamstrings as well as some of the most effective exercises for strength and injury prevention, including deadlifts and Nordic curls, and why understanding the biarticular nature of the hamstrings is a key to exercise choices and optimizing your leg day workouts.

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Chapters
0:00 - 0:54 Intro
0:55 - 1:25 Hamstrings Overview: Where Are They Located?
1:26 - 2:11 Biceps Femoris
2:12 - 2:57 Semitendinosus
2:58 - 3:15 Semimembranosus
3:16 - 4:05 What Do These Three Muscles Have in Common?
4:06 - 4:51 How Hamstrings Perform Multiple Functions
4:52 - 5:15 Best Hamstring Exercises for Strength
5:16 - 6:15 Romanian Deadlifts: Hip Extension
6:16 - 7:44 Additional Benefits of Romanian Deadlifts
7:45 - 8:44 Why Knee Flexion Exercises Matter
8:45 - 9:57 The Three Tendons (the "goose foot") and How They Generate Force
9:58 - 10:44 Best Knee Flexion Exercises: Nordics vs. Glute-Ham Raise
10:45 - 11:32 Which Exercise Is Better: Nordic or Glute-Ham?
11:33 - 11:59 How To Do Nordics Without Fancy Equipment
12:00 - 13:01 Basic Hamstring Training Protocol
13:02 - 14:42 How Hamstrings Work During Squats

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License code: U1MGVX3MMNTWZULJ

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Common Questions:
Where are the hamstrings located in the body?
What are the main muscles that make up the hamstrings?
How do hamstrings relate to the pelvis and movement?
What are the best exercises for strengthening hamstrings?
How do Romanian deadlifts benefit hip extension?
Which is better for hamstring strength: nordics or glute ham raises?

#humananatomy #instituteofhumananatomy #hamstring

[bc-guy]

As a Senior who didn't stretch enough years ago, some of these exercises are outright scary; it shows what can be done though.
What a super resource this channel is.

[derekw]

When it comes to squatting your hamstring usage will depend upon what type of squatting your doing. A front squat wont involve much hamstring at all but a low bar back squat will. A high bar back squat will also engage some hamstring usage but to a lesser degree than low bar. It all comes down to back angle. The more horizontal your back, the more your hamstrings will be engaged.

[hummingbirdinSoCal]

Awesome video ! Thank you Jonathon! I personally love leg day but still struggle with Nordic's! Thanks again for the amazing content!

[mariee.]

My hamstrings are thankful
I haven't seen Justin in awhile. I hope he's doing well.

[bandit]

I know there’s not a one size fits all resource but if you kept this series going for each muscleand then aggregated the information into some routines that could be followed daily that would be great. You could also segment based on how much time people have E.g.

1. The baseline you should aiming for.
2. Someone who’s an amateur athlete trying to be quite decent in the sport.
3. A full blown college athlete / professional athlete that has a lot of time to dedicate to their body.

If you could provide some guidance into how these three segments could train there muscles for mobility, injury prevention and also strength that would be insightful and also helpful to implement.

Thanks for the brilliant content as always!

[ShoutButterfly]

Very interesting video! I was told by my physical therapist to exercise the hamstrings more to improve knee mobility. I've got some exercises to do but I was surprised that here there wasn't really anything for people who stretch/exercise at home.

[timcountryman]

Amazing information and explanation. Thanks again for another great, useful video.

[chidionoh]

Super cool stuff! I like the complementary exercises. Could you do a knee episode?

[rdmckeever]

Great visuals & explanation of the kinetics.

[niptodstan]

Personal one here. Can you do a video on trapped nerves. I have one in my lower back. The hospital said they can't operate as I'd most likely be in a wheelchair. They said it was arthritis and calcification. The pain is so bad I feel like vomiting. It's like I've been hit in the buttock with a hammer. It's a very deep pain. I have fentynal patches, 1500 gabapentin each day and morphine to suit. Yet I'm still in agony. I can't walk far too. Could you show what it is and why it can't be fixed. Please. 🎉

[Luc-]

I do Nordics and Romanian deadlifts three times a week for a while now. I built a Nordic bench that I can put on an incline. I've seen a lot of improvement already.

[nativepride]

That eccentric stretch causes a huge amount of hypertrophic tissue damage. The sitting leg curl really gives a hypertrophic effect in the eccentric section of the exercise.

[brianbanks]

next video...calves....and why they are so career threatening for athletes....also achilles tendons

[Ecksterphono]

Great video. Maybe you should do a video on the aquilles tendon and to avoid injuries to it. A friend of mine played squash. Problem was a freak accident happened where he bent the foot forward way to far reaching with the racket way too far. All of a sudden he heard something within himself go off like a shotgun and like a slingshot he felt pain like his right calf muscle was being whipped and he fell on the ground in Great pain. The pain went away and he left it for a few weeks but he felt the back of his ankle and above and found that it was very thin back there. Also he tried running and instantly he couldn't even run without the right foot giving way. He went to the doctor and when they did further scanning and looking at his right leg and calf he completely ripped the aquilles tendon off the calcaneus ( I think that's the section of what the heel is called). Have you ever heard of experiences like this???

[Linkaara]

Someone should make a list of all of the exercises this channel reccomends for all of the different parts of the body, and acomodate them into the ultimate workout program

[amberblackford]

Great video! As a tiny side note there is a typo at about 12:25 and another at about 12:37. It says Nordic “Harmstring” lol. Not a huge deal but I thought you might want to know!

[Himhymn_]

Great video and i love the content. One thing to add is the Glute-Ham raise is far inferior to the Nordic since the knee stays extended the whole time vs the nordic, where the primary movement is at the knee and the hips stay extended. Furthermore this brings the hamstring curl back on the table and not all hamstring curls are equal! They lying hamstring curl with a dumbbell (shown in the video) is far inferior to all exercises shown because the bottom half, where the hamstring is the most exposed, is cut off due to the dumbbell being in the way and at the top there is not force produced by the muscle because the direction of gravity. The seated hamstring curl (cable machine) is probably the best knee flexion exercise (Romanian deadlift being one of the best hip extension exercises) since your hamstring is lengthened at the hip and knee, creating the most tension at both the hip and the knee insertion points.

Tldr: best knee flexion exercises: nordic or seated cable hamstring curl. Best hip extension: Romanian deadlift, conventional deadlift, good mornings.

Just my opinion folks and will happily discuss. Happy lifting!

[MagathasDarkCorner]

i love the typo "haRmstring" on top of a very informative video :D my new favourite after leg days :)

[jarrodlitonjua]

Do back extensions hit the hamstrings effectively?

[solarcrystal]

Do you already have videos like this for ACL/MCL? Because those things break much easier than hamstrings