10 Hamstring Strengthening Exercises Physical Therapists Want You to Try

Your muscles — especially the big muscle groups in your legs, including your hamstrings — are designed to handle a lot, whether you’re lifting something heavy, hiking up a hill, or simply getting out of a car. Since your hamstrings are involved in so much, weakness in these muscles can affect a lot of different daily activities and make you more prone to injury or knee pain. The good news: Hamstring strengthening exercises can make many activities easier and prevent pain. 

Your hamstrings, which are made up of three muscles on the back side of your thighs — and cross both your hip and knee joints — serve two primary functions: to help bend your knees and extend your hips. “Hamstrings also help other muscle groups rotate your knees, along with slowing your feet down to protect your knees when you kick forward,” says Dorian Logan, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Hinge Health. 

Read on to learn which hamstring strengthening exercises are recommended by Hinge Health physical therapists and how to perform them. 

Interested in getting a personalized exercise therapy plan? Learn more about Hinge Health’s digital physical therapy program and see if you’re eligible.

10 Hamstring Strengthening Exercises

No matter where you are on your exercise journey, taking time to strengthen your hamstrings can increase your quality of life. Dr. Logan typically recommends a mix of open-chain and closed-chain exercises to activate the hamstrings. That means a combination of movements where your foot is on the ground and off the ground. Both types of movement work the hamstrings in different ways that improve strength, flexibility, and mobility. 

The exercises below are recommended by Hinge Health physical therapists and are a great place to start.

If you’re dealing with a hamstring strain or another acute knee injury, Dr. Logan says this move is a gentle way to engage the hamstring without a lot of resistance and a shorter range of motion. 

How to do it: 

• Sit in a chair with one foot resting directly in front of the chair leg. Your other foot is flat on the floor. 

• Bend your knee and pull your heel straight back into the chair leg, applying pressure. Your foot may lift slightly off the floor. 

• Hold this position, then relax your leg.

Another beginner-friendly exercise (as long as you don’t use resistance), the standing hamstring curl moves you through a full range of motion from a straight to fully bent knee as you bring your foot toward your buttocks. 

How to do it: 

• Stand with both hands resting on a sturdy surface like a table or chair. 

• Lift one leg’s heel off the floor and move it toward your butt. 

• Squeeze the muscles in the back of your leg while you hold this position. 

• Lower your foot back to the floor.

Get more information on how to do a hamstring curl.

Your hamstrings play a role in helping with hip extension, or bringing your leg behind you. The donkey kick targets this movement specifically. Consider adding a resistance band for an extra challenge.

How to do it: 

• Get into a comfortable position on your hands and knees. Your hands should be below your shoulders, and your knees below your hips. 

• Extend your leg back toward the ceiling while keeping your knee bent.

• Focus on squeezing your butt muscles as you hold this position.  

• Lower your knee back to the floor to return to the starting position. 

Get more information on how to do donkey kicks.

Like the donkey kick, this foundational exercise helps target hip extension and knee flexion movements. “In this case, you’re doing it in a different position — on your back instead of your hands and knees,” says Dr. Logan.

How to do it: 

• Lie comfortably on your back. With your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, push through your feet to raise your hips off the floor.

• Squeeze your butt muscles at the top of the move. 

• Relax your hips back to the floor.

Get more information on how to do a bridge.

If you want to engage your hamstrings more deeply, try the bridge curl. “You’re using your hamstrings in two ways — to bend your knee and extend your hip. And you’ll do that in a good, stabilizing way,” says Dr. Logan.

How to do it: 

• Place an object between your feet and the floor that will slide easily, such as a folded towel on a hard floor or a paper plate on a carpet floor. 

• Start on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.

• Tighten your butt muscles and push through your feet to raise your hips.

• Slide your feet away from your hips by straightening your knees. 

• Pull your feet back toward your hips.

This exercise works the quads of the leg that’s stepping forward. But it’s also a great way to activate your hamstrings. The leg that remains behind you, Dr. Logan explains, uses your hamstrings to help pull your body weight back into a standing position.

How to do it: 

• Start by taking a big step forward with one foot. 

• Bend through your front knee while keeping most of your weight on your front heel. Your back heel can lift off the floor, coming onto your toes. 

• Hold this position while you find your balance. 

• Push through your front foot to return to a standing position.

Get more information on how to do a lunge.

The kickstand Romanian deadlift is a good way to begin eccentric strengthening of the hamstring, which means you’re lengthening it as you hold some resistance. “You’re holding the weight of your upper body as you lean forward over that leg, and the muscle is working while it’s actively lengthening,” explains Dr. Logan.

How to do it: 

• Stand with your feet in a staggered stance and your hands at your sides. Your front foot is flat on the floor holding most of your weight, and your back foot is resting lightly on your toes to help you balance. 

• Lower your chest and hands toward the floor by hinging at your hips while you keep your back mostly straight. 

• Keep most of your weight in your front foot.

• Squeeze your glutes to lift your chest up as you continue to keep most of your weight on your front foot. 

This move is a step up from the kickstand RDL, because you’re asking one leg to do all the work of supporting your body weight as opposed to both legs working together.

How to do it: 

• Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart. 

• Move your chest toward the floor by hinging at your hips. 

• Lift one leg off the floor behind you and up toward the ceiling. Your knee can be slightly bent as you hinge. 

• Slowly return to the starting position.

Getting out of a chair helps target the hip extension function of the hamstring. “With the single leg chair squat, you get to rest once you sit down into the chair, so it's a great way to begin single-leg strengthening exercises,” says Dr. Logan.

How to do it: 

• Start by standing on one leg. Your other leg should be slightly lifted in front of you with your knee straight. 

• Reach your arms forward to help you balance and control the motion. 

• Bend through your knee and reach your hips back to sit slowly into the seat of the chair. 

• Push back up to stand on one leg. 

With this squat, you remain standing on one leg while you squat down rather than resting on a chair. You engage your hamstrings longer and in two different ways in this exercise, both as you squat down and as you return to a standing position before resting, notes Dr. Logan.

How to do it: 

• Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. 

• Lift your arms out to your sides to help keep you steady. 

• Stand on one of your legs by lifting one foot off of the floor behind you while hinging at the hips to bring your chest forward. 

• Bend your knee with control into a squat position, focusing on your balance. 

• Straighten your knee, and then return to standing. 

The information contained in these videos is intended to be used for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or treatment for any specific condition. Hinge Health is not your healthcare provider and is not responsible for any injury sustained or exacerbated by your use of or participation in these exercises. Please consult with your healthcare provider with any questions you may have about your medical condition or treatment.

Benefits of Hamstring Strengthening Exercises 

Maintaining strong and healthy hamstrings has many benefits for your body and quality of life, including:

• Greater ease with daily and recreational activities. Activities like gardening, getting up and down off the floor to play with your kids or grandkids, or bending down to grab something are all made easier by strong hamstrings.

• Reduced risk of injury. Strong hamstrings are more prepared to support your movement during daily activity and exercise, which means you’re less likely to experience an injury. 

• Better muscle balance. Dr. Logan says strengthening your hamstrings can also promote muscle balance between the muscles on the front and back of your legs. “We want your hamstrings and your quads to work in an equal and balanced way so your quads don’t pull more prominently on your knee joints,” she says. This type of imbalance is associated with some knee injuries.

How Hinge Health Can Help You

If you have joint or muscle pain that makes it hard to move, you can get the relief you’ve been looking for with Hinge Health’s online exercise therapy program.

The best part: You don’t have to leave your home because our program is digital. That means you can easily get the care you need through our app, when and where it works for you.

Through our program, you’ll have access to therapeutic exercises and stretches for your condition. Additionally, you’ll have a personal care team to guide, support, and tailor our program to you.

See if you qualify for Hinge Health and confirm free coverage through your employer or benefit plan here.

This article and its contents are provided for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.

References

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2. Feland, J. B., Myrer, J. W., Schulthies, S. S., Fellingham, G. W., & Measom, G. W. (2001). The Effect of Duration of Stretching of the Hamstring Muscle Group for Increasing Range of Motion in People Aged 65 Years or Older. Physical Therapy, 81(5), 1110–1117. doi:10.1093/ptj/81.5.1110

3. Heiderscheit, B. C., Sherry, M. A., Silder, A., Chumanov, E. S., & Thelen, D. G. (2010). Hamstring Strain Injuries: Recommendations for Diagnosis, Rehabilitation, and Injury Prevention. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 40(2), 67–81. doi:10.2519/jospt.2010.3047

4. López-de-Celis, C., Izquierdo-Nebreda, P., González-Rueda, V., Cadellans-Arróniz, A., Rodríguez-Sanz, J., Bueno-Gracia, E., & Pérez-Bellmunt, A. (2022). Short-Term Effects of Three Types of Hamstring Stretching on Length, Neurodynamic Response, and Perceived Sense of Effort—A Randomised Cross-Over Trial. ProQuest, 12(10), 1666. doi:10.3390/life12101666

5. Poudel, B., & Pandey, S. August 8, 2023. Hamstring Injury. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK558936/ 

6. Shamsi, M., Mirzaei, M., Shahsavari, S., Safari, A., & Saeb, M. (2020). Modeling the effect of static stretching and strengthening exercise in lengthened position on balance in low back pain subject with shortened hamstring: a randomized controlled clinical trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 21(1). doi:10.1186/s12891-020-03823-z