Today I want to talk about corrective exercise for your hamstring. There are certain exercises that are hamstring dominant like deadlifts, barbell rows, good mornings, and romanian deadlifts. Most don’t execute these exercises correctly because they have poor form due to lack of flexibility. A lot of people say things like “it hurts my back to deadlift”, “I deadlift but not with a lot of weight”, or “i feel good mornings more in my back then my hamstrings”. These compound exercises use more then one muscle at a time, yes your back will be involved in the movement but there should never be an amount of discomfort that leaves you in pain. There is a difference between challenging yourself and doing something completely incorrect that leads to injury. If something hurts it means you’re not able to do that just yet and you should go figure out why. Here’s a great way to know if you’re ready to deadlift or attempt any of these great compound exercises. It’s called the 90/90 stretch.
- Lay on the floor on your back
- Keep your left leg completely straight on the floor
- Without bending your right knee, try to bring up your right leg to 90 degrees (you could use a band around the foot or have a friend assist)
- If you bend the knee you’re cheating. By bending the knee you take the tension away from the hamstring
- If you can’t get to 90 degrees, you have no business attempting those compound exercises