Build bigger hamstrings with a dumbbell

This exercise is easy … if you do it wrong, but if you do it right, it could become your favorite hamstring builder.

You have many options for isolating your hamstrings, but most likely your first choice is to use the lying or seated leg curl machine. Well, this can be boring in some instances, but there are other exercises like this one, where you’ll use a dumbbell and can adapt it to your mind and body.

The dumbbell hamstring curl is a highly underrated exercise; it’s a little uncomfortable at first, but if you set yourself up correctly, it will become your new favorite exercise. We don’t want to talk too much about everything… let’s simply see how you could perform it by following your instincts…

 

How to do the dumbbell hamstring curl?

First, use a decline bench: any decline between 10 and 30 degrees will help keep your hamstrings under tension through the greatest range of motion. Then consider the mechanics because, due to gravity and leverage factors, the dumbbell load is greater toward the bottom position.

• As you lift the dumbbell upward, the moment arm shortens and the weight feels lighter.
• With a flat bench, you’ll feel a faster loss of muscular tension as you lift your heels, but with a decline bench, the moment arm is slightly longer when you reach the top, making it a better exercise.

Some benches will have a footrest you can grip, while others will have a seat you can hold on to… well, get ready for your hamstrings to become the main focus.

• Use a foam roller: even a rolled-up towel will work; place it under your hips, right in the crease. This will put your hips in a more flexed position, loading your hamstrings through a greater length in the bottom position; you can also use this trick to get better results with a leg curl machine (when lying down).

• Use a dumbbell: place the dumbbell on its side, about two feet from the bottom of the bench.
  – Point your toes: hold the dumbbell properly, forcing this to happen anyway.

Plantar flexion of your ankle will activate the gastrocnemius portion of your calf; this co-contraction causes active insufficiency, forcing the hamstrings to do more work. Pointing your toes also helps initiate the curl with the hamstrings rather than the gastrocnemius, a common mistake that could compromise the development of the entire muscle group.

On the other hand, don’t lift all the way up; depending on your degree of decline, you’ll find a point as you reach the top of the curl where your hamstrings lose tension. Avoid this unnecessary range of motion by limiting how high you lift the dumbbell; it may take a few repetitions to determine your active range.

Finally, lower it all the way; due to the effects of gravity on the dumbbell, the point of maximum loading is toward the bottom. In that position, you’ll load your hamstrings through their mid-to-lengthened range. You should position yourself to fully extend your knees, but without locking them completely.