6 Best Gym Machine Exercises for Hamstrings

May 2024 · 9 minute read

The hamstrings are three muscles that form the back of the thigh. Exercises for hamstrings flex the knee and extend the hip and are an essential muscle group for overall strength and power.

You can strengthen your hamstrings in a variety of ways — like doing squats, lunges, and deadlifts. However, there's no doubt you'll get even better results with machine exercises. The following gym machine exercises for hamstrings can help you build strong hamstrings in no time.

Best Gym Exercises for Hamstrings

Here's a look at six such exercises for hamstrings:

1) Lying Leg Curl

Lying Leg Curls. (Image via Freepik)

The lying leg curl is one of the most effective strengthening exercises for hamstrings.

To do this exercise:

Repeat for three sets of ten reps each with about two minutes between each set. Rest for 30 seconds between sets.

2) Seated Leg Curl

Seated leg curls. (Image via Freepik)

Seated leg curls are a great exercise for hamstrings. They can be done with or without ankle weights, which makes it easy to change the degree of difficulty.

Here’s how you do this exercise:

3) Standing Leg Curl

This machine helps to strengthen the hamstrings. Here's how the standing leg curl exercises for hamstrings are done:

4) Smith Machine Stiff-leg Deadlift

Stiff-leg deadlift on the smith machine is a great beginner exercise for hamstrings and advanced trainers alike.

While the classic deadlift is great by itself, the smith machine for hamstrings adds a layer of security and stability to an exercise that may seem risky and unnecessarily harmful to the lower back.

To do a Smith machine stiff-leg deadlift:

While doing this exercise, keep your arms straight at all times and maintain range of motion so that they don't get hurt by putting too much pressure on them or getting pulled back by the weight of the barbell. Also, try not to lean forward too much, as that will put unnecessary stress on the lower back. That could lead to injury if done incorrectly for extended periods.

5) Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

The Smith machine Romanian deadlift is a great compound exercise to target the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.

To do this exercise:

6) Leg Press

Leg press for hamstrings. (Image via Freepik)

The leg press machine is a great addition to add to your list of exercises for hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps. The leg press is beneficial for both men and women, as it can help develop stronger muscles in the lower body.

Here's how to do a seated leg press:

With the aforementioned exercises for hamstrings, you can build stronger and healthier hamstrings. You can also perform them as part of a leg workout, or do them on your own.

Start with any of these exercises for hamstrings per leg, and gradually increase the number of sets till you reach three sets per leg. Train hard, and balance these workouts with other variations of exercises for hamstrings. Soon, you'll be sporting a pretty hefty set of hamstrings.

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