Exercise of the Week: All About the Hamstrings!

This one is all about the hammies.  It is called the Single Leg Straight Leg Elevated Hip Extension (man, that’s a mouthful).  It’s another great bodyweight exercise.  It’s amazing what we can get done with just our bodyweight as the “equipment!”

To perform, lie face up on the ground with your foot on a bench.  From there, rise your hips as high as possible, and squeeze the glutes at top.  Even know this is primarily a hamstring exercise, try your best to bring your glute into play at the top of the movement.  As soon as you feel like you have lost even a little bit of range of motion (you can’t get as high), stop the set.

Progressions and Regressions

-If you can’t fully extend your hip, start with two legs, and as you get stronger, progress to the one leg version

-If you can get one leg with good form, but can’t get many reps (6 or less), use this exercise early in your workout while you are fresh

-If these are fairly easy for you, perform high rep sets (15 + reps).  Even for the strongest people, these can also become very difficult if they are performed in a fatigue state.  In this case, perform these as the 3rd or 4th leg exercise in that workout.

For example; Leg exercise one = sumo deadlifts; Leg exercise two = bulgarian split squats; And finally, leg exercise three = Single Leg Straight Leg Elevated Hip Extension.  In this case, 10-12 reps will be hard for most.

-You can also perform the version that I learned from Bret Contreras.

Here, you hold onto a barbell and elevate your entire body.  This increases the range of motion making the exercise more difficult.

So, if you want to jump higher, run faster, or just have nicer looking hammies, give these a try!