Hamstrings

Heads and regions

Biceps femoris (long & short)
Semitendinosus
Semimembranosus

What it does

Knee flexion
Hip extension

How to train it

You need both jobs covered: a hinge (RDL, good morning) and a curl (leg curl, nordic).
Hip-hinge work with a long stretch is the single highest-return hamstring stimulus.
Strong hamstrings are the cheapest insurance policy against knee and hip complaints.

Common questions

How many sets of hamstrings a week?

10 to 16 hard sets, spread over 2x per week. A hard set is one taken close to failure — warm-ups and easy back-off sets do not count towards it. Below that range you are maintaining rather than building; above it, for most people, the extra sets cost more recovery than they buy.

How often should I train hamstrings?

2x per week. Splitting the week's sets across more than one session means each one is done fresher, and the quality of the last set matters more than the number of them. With 12 movements to choose from there is no need to repeat the same session twice.

Where should a beginner start?

6 of the 12 movements here are rated for a beginner. Learn the compounds first — they teach the pattern and they load the muscle hardest.

What else works the hamstrings

19 other movements in the library train the hamstrings as a secondary mover rather than as the target. That volume is real and it counts: if a week already contains a lot of these, the direct work needed to reach 10–16 sets is at the lower end of the range, not the upper.

7 more, across the whole library.