Hamstring Exercises Suggestions needed

[Ether]

Im hoping someone can suggest some exercises to target my hamstrings. However, these need to be body weight exercises as I have no access to weights and dont intend to buy any unless absolutely necessary.

Ive noticed that as a lot of my training concentrates on my thighs, my legs are becoming a little unbalanced. Id like to address this.
Anyone got any ideas?
All help appreciated.

[Former castleva]

I´ve got a decent gym at home and am still struggling with hamstrings.
However, http://www.netfit.co.uk/hammen.htm

Uh,also remember to work your outer and inner thighs,among the basics.

You may have hard time growing considerable muscle without any equipment (while I do not know what the case is) but such basic tools like a bar can help to get some kick out of-.
Have fun.

[Guile]

How about horse stance?
That works everything.

[Ford Prefect]

Glute-ham raises and reverse hyperextensions. Nuttin better. ;)

[Ether]

Hmmmz, seems I may have to find some machinery to work with.

After Fords suggestions I looked here:

http://www.betterbodz.com/hamstrings.html

but the stiff legged deadlifts and 'good mornings' sound a little dangerous to me. Anyone care to comment on that?

Guile, I do PLENTY of horse stance and im not sure but I think that may be part of the problem....


A friend suggested kneeling and having a partner hold my ankles (pinning them to the floor) then leaning forwards from the knees as far as possible and then returning to upright. This not only sounds Phucking difficult to me but also pretty hard on your knees! Anyone tried this?

Thanks for the help so far.

[Ford Prefect]

Good mornings are perfectly fine if you only go to parellel and don't round your back. It's probably the single best exercise for strengthening your posterior chain.

I'm not a fan of stiff-legged DL's because I think romanian dl's work much better. (and most people to SLDL's wrong anyway)

[Former castleva]

What kind of stuff is "good mornings"? :p
Not bodybuilding terms at their greatest,eh.

Stiff legged deadlifts are not to be done with completely stiff legs even if the name indicates so (only with relatively stiff compared)
Slightly bent and it will be safe,good to use a lifting belt.
There is little need to use massive weights in these exercises.

[harry_the_monk]

This is difficult if you have never done it. Be prepared to smash your face on the floor if you aren't used to the movement :)
Have your arms ready in front to catch you if you start plummeting. You could also try just going forward first before trying to go back and forward. It all depends on how strong you are.
Horse stance, or doing squats(one and two legged) will help build the hamstrings( along with the glutes and quads and other leg muscles)
If you are worried about your knees, kneel on a mat or something.
If you have a friend, I suggest that you get them to hold a towel around your ankle and then supply enough resistance to allow you to only just complete some curls. This is done by lying on your stomach with the friend behind you. The exercise is performed like a lying leg curl so you are bringing the heel towards your butt, but with your friend supplying the resistance. Unfortunately this is normally only possible over a short ROM(the towel slips off if your leg goes too far down).
Another more elaborate way is to stand withsomething secured to your ankle and curl the foot towards the butt. This could be cans(e.g. beans/soup.) or a rucksack, or anything else really. It's a bit like doing a biceps curl but with your hamstrings. The thing is I think it is a real pain to do all this and personally would go out and get some cheap weights.

[fa_jing]

These are part of the Yi-chin-jing calesthenics taught at my old Praying Mantis class:

Spread the legs 1.5 - 2 shoulder width apart. Bend forward with your back perfectly straight until it is horizontal. Do not round the back. There are three variations on this which are difficult to describe, one where you fold your arms and pull apart your shoulders, another where you hang down your arms and make quick scooping motions as if you are scooping up and tossing rice, and my favorite which is grasping one hand over the other, bringing your hands to your chest and then pushing them out directly in front of you, palms facing out, while watching your hands. If you do this after your horse stance practice for 21 slow reps, you will go a long way towards fixing your hamstring problem.

[TzuChan]

hey Ether, my teacher is also a personal trainer, and onf of the things he does to exercise a ****load of muscles at start of training is this :

-Stand straight
-Bend your legs, a little wider then your shoulders
-Now act as if you're taking a dump
-Keep your back straight
-Bend over, while keeping your back straight, and do this as far as you can while moving your hands over the floor (in a relaxed way)
-When you're at the end of this, return, and in a swing movement (controlled movement, slow movement) start standing up straight, and finally standing up straight (so now your hands and arms are pointing to the sky)
-From this point keep the movement nice and flowing and lean over to the back, you'll feel it in your back for sure =] Don'tfall over though =] Do it as far as you're comfortable with it.
-> Do this 50 times, and if you wanne test what muscles it works, do it 100 times at once, you'll know what it's working ;)

[Guile]

Originally posted by TzuChan
-Now act as if you're taking a dump



:D

[Ether]

yeah, thanks for the help guys. Im gonna try the 'knee busters' as i like to think of them, as they are pretty intense.

TzuChan. Everyone i know calls that exercise backbends and I do them regularly. Have you done 100 yet? LOL. Good for thighs, lower back and stomach but dont noticeably affect my hams mate.

BTW. Just found out I have 20% bodyfat, which is within normal levels for my age, but is NOT even close to what I want.

God **** it, i guess its time to do some HIIT. I phuckin hate running..........