Proper Training for the Hamstrings

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper hamstrings training.

In the quadriceps post, we already discussed the importance of training your legs for achieving a proportionate physique. However, some people tend to do only quadriceps dominant exercises when training legs, forgetting about the other muscles of the upper thigh. Of course, this is not recommended either, because you will ruin the muscular balance, which is not also an aesthetic problem, but also can lead you to injury.

The hamstring body-part comprises the major part of the back of the thigh and performs two major functions, namely hip extension and knee flexion, but also assists in knee rotation movements (medial and lateral rotation). The hamstring is made up of 4 different heads: the long head of the biceps femoris, the short head of the biceps femoris, the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus.

For proper development of the hamstrings, you'll need at least 2 or 3 exercises including movements for exercising the two major functions of the hamstrings: knee flexion and hip extension. The first is accomplished using leg curls, which is an analogous exercise to biceps curls. You can choose among seated, lying, or standing versions, though the one-legged versions have the added benefit of avoid muscle unbalances. Use always a full range of motion and squeeze your hamstrings at the top of the movement. You can vary your foot position (inward, neutral, or outward) to shift the focus among the different hamstrings heads.

The second is accomplished using stiff-leg deadlifts (or variations such as Romanian deadlifts). This is a power exercise that has demonstrated to be very effective for stimulating the hamstrings fibers, involving in addition other muscles such as the glutes or the lower back. This is an isometric exercise because the muscle contracts without significant movement (a.k.a. static tension). Proper form is essential when performing stiff-leg deadlifts, because bad form will put your lower back in a potentially injurious position. Bend at the hips while keeping your back straight and knees slightly bent during the whole movement. Do not fully stretch the legs at any point. As you descend, your butt should move back slightly and you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. This form can be difficult to master, hence practice a lot and start using light weights.

Hamstrings are also involved to a certain extend when training other body-parts such as the quadriceps (e.g. when doing lunges) or the lower back (e.g. when doing hyperextensions or good mornings). For this reason, some typical workout splits place the hamstrings routine in the quadriceps day (for instance when these two parts are supersetted), while others advocate for splitting legs routine among several days and place hamstrings workout together with the lower back.

If you need more information for designing your hamstrings workout, you can read the article “Hamstring Paradigm!” by Charles Poliquin or the article “Training the Hamstrings and Calves!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Quadriceps

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper quadriceps training.

Leg workout is certainly the most skipped, probably because while training legs you suffer as with no other body-part. However, leg muscles comprise about 50% of your body mass, thus their training is mandatory if you want to achieve a proportionate physique.

The quadriceps is the muscle that comprises the major part of the front of the thigh, and its main function is to extend and straighten the leg. As the name implies, the quadriceps is made up of 4 heads: the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, the vastus medialis (a.k.a. inner head), and the vastus lateralis (a.k.a. outer head). Despite this complexity, balanced quadriceps development is not difficult, since all the heads are involved in almost all quadriceps exercises. You can only shift the focus to inner or outer head to some extend by varying your feet stance in some exercises (e.g. squats).

An adequate quadriceps workout should consist of 3 o 4 exercises. The squat is a basic compound movement that builds overall power and strength and it is the most effective way for developing the quadriceps, hence it should be present in almost every quadriceps routine. The squat has the added value of all the exercises that move the body and not the weight, namely stimulating your hormonal release. This exercise is relatively safe if you use correct form, though it is not easy to master, so you have to practice a lot. Keep your back straight and the head fixed in a straight line looking ahead of you during the whole movement, while bending through your knees. Control the weight during all the exercise and use a full range of motion (but without locking out the knees at the top of the motion).

Although none of them can substitute squats, there other good exercises for completing your quadriceps routine. You can use leg presses and hack squats for introducing some variety or if you cannot perform squats with adequate form. Lunges (done with a barbell on your shoulders or a dumbbell in each hand) involve also the glutes to a great extend. Leg extensions are more an isolation exercise that can be used for finishing your routine, or as a pre-exhaustion exercise. Once in a while, try also other squat variations, such as dumbbell squat, front squat, sumo squat, or barbell hack squat.

Many people include exercises for other body-parts such as the glutes and the abductors/adductors in their quadriceps workout, since these muscles already receive a certain amount of work with quadriceps exercises. For the same reason, another popular approach is training these muscles along with the hamstrings. Though specialized machines exist to train the glutes (which can be used for some variety), the best way to work them is using a full range of motion when doing squats. Lunges hit also the glutes and the hamstrings to a great extend. For training the abductors/adductors you can also use specialized machines (which work by opening and closing the legs respectively). Other options are attaching an ankle handle to a low cable pulley or using some squat variation (i.e. sumo squat).

If you need more information for designing your quadriceps workout, you can read the article “Build Monster Quads!” by David Knowles or the article “Training the Quadriceps!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Forearms

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper forearms training.

The forearm is a complex body-part, which is made up of a muscle located in the upper/outer portion called brachioradialis and two counteracting muscle-groups: the wrist flexors, which run the length of the inner forearm, and the wrist extensors, which run the length of the outer forearm. The wrist flexors are composed of six heads: flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, palmaris longus, and flexor pollicis longus. The wrist extensors are comprised of eight heads: the extensor digitorum, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis, extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor indicis, extensor digiti minimi, extensor pollicis longus, and the extensor pollicis brevis. All these muscles are in charge of controlling the movement of the hand and the fingers, and for this reason, the forearm is the main responsible of your grip strength.

The forearm is a commonly neglected body-part, but an adequate development is mandatory not only for strengthening your grip, but also for symmetry and aesthetic reasons. Good grip is necessary in almost every exercise, especially when training back and biceps. Hence, increasing your grip strength has an added benefit for the rest of exercises, allowing better returns for the target muscles of those exercises since your forearms are not the weak link anymore.

A few genetically blessed people have achieved great forearms only with the indirect stimulation provided in their general training, but the most with less favorable genetics will require 2 o 3 exercises of specialized forearm training. Typically, this training uses to be performed after the biceps routine. In any case, since forearms are used when training almost every body-part, save your forearm routine for last of your workout, in order to not compromise other body-parts training. This is also the reason for avoiding training back the day after the bicep/forearm workout.

As usual, for maximum results, it is best to include in your routine exercises for targeting each of forearm muscles. As commented in the biceps post, the brachioradialis is stimulated to a great extend with all the curl exercises that use a hammer grip or a reverse grip (refer to that post for the list of exercises). Wrist flexors can be stimulated using all versions of wrist curls (barbell, behind-the-back, cable or dumbbell). Wrist extensors are worked using a reverse grip on wrist curl exercises (barbell, cable or dumbbell).

In addition, forearms training should regularly include some specific exercises for improving grip strength. This includes developing the crushing grip strength (fingers work to close the hand against a resistance) and the pinch grip strength (the resistance is held just between the thumb and fingers). I’ll go into details of grip strength training in a future post dedicated to this.

If you need more information for designing your forearms workout, you can read the article “How To Develop Fantastic Forearms” by David Robson or the article “Training the Forearms!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Biceps

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper biceps training.

When referring to biceps body-part, two different muscles are actually considered: the biceps brachii and the brachialis, which are responsible for elbow flexion (moving the hand toward the shoulder) and elbow supination (rotating the palm upwards). As the name suggests, the biceps have two heads, the short head (a.k.a. inner head) and the long head (a.k.a. outer head). The brachialis is a small muscle which lies just beneath the biceps.

In order to get a biceps body-part that looks both big and proportionate, your routine must include exercises for stimulating the two biceps heads and also the brachialis. Don’t use too much exercises (2 or 3 exercises will be enough), because the biceps receives already some work when working the back and, in the same way as the triceps, since it is an explosive and small muscle, it tires quickly.

When training biceps, it is very important to use a full range of motion in all curl exercises, lowering the arms until they are fully stretched. Using an incomplete range of motion will create a gap between the biceps and the elbow (a condition named ‘midgety biceps’). In addition, in single arm exercises you should start always with the weaker arm and perform the same number of reps with the stronger arm to prevent creating imbalances.

The main compound movement for training the biceps is the standing barbell curl. This is a vital exercise for building overall mass in the biceps. Use a shoulder-width grip and keep your elbows pinned to your sides and the back straight to avoid cheating. Using a straight bar involves more the short head, but you can use an EZ-curl bar to save the wrists by putting the hands into a more ergonomically correct position, hitting in this way both biceps heads more evenly.

Other exercises such as alternate dumbbell curls, standing cable curls (barbell and one arm versions) or incline dumbbell curls, which involve also mainly the short head, can be used as a complement/alternative to standing barbell curls. Cable exercises have the added benefit of constant tension, while incline curls allow a maximal stretch. On dumbbell exercises, remember to twist the inside of the dumbbell even further inward as you reach the shoulder in order to exercise the elbow supination movement.

Supinated versions of preacher curls (barbell, dumbbell and cable), spider curls and concentration curls work very well for isolation and peak development. These exercises focus also in the short head, providing in addition a great stimulation for the lower portion of the biceps. For this reason, they are recommended for fixing the ‘midgety biceps’ problem (together with full range of motion, of course).

For shifting the focus to the long head and additionally working the brachialis, you have to use a hammer grip (palms facing each other) or a reverse grip (palms facing down). Hammer grip is used in all hammer curl versions (dumbbell, rope, incline, alternate, cross-body), while reverse grip is used in reverse curl variations (barbell, cable, preacher and drag curls). These exercises (especially all the reverse curls) involve also some forearm muscles (particularly the brachioradialis) to a great extend. You can also focus in the long head of the biceps by using a close grip in some exercises such as standing barbell curls or barbell preacher curls.

If you need more information for designing your biceps workout, you can read the article “Want Big Biceps? Here’s How to Get Them!” by David Robson or the article “Training the Biceps!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.