Popsugar Health & Fitness Fitness Tips How to Make Your Hamstrings Stronger 2 Training Techniques That Will Transform Your Hamstrings 17 August 2018 by Maria Garcia Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Rima Brindamour When I started my fitness journey, I loved training my legs and glutes. With very few mobility issues and strong quads, I killed every workout that included squats and deadlifts. Lucky me? Not quite. What bothered me was that I always had nonexistent hamstrings, and the prospect of muscular imbalances quickly developing from my love of squats and deadlifts freaked me out. I had to figure out a solution for my lagging hamstrings. While I had the strength-training component down, I found that plyometrics was the missing piece. Since I knew from research that hamstrings are made up of mostly fast-twitch muscle fibres (the kind that responds to heavy weights and fast movements), and as the wannabe scientist that I am, I experimented and combined the two concepts. What do you know? I started seeing a dramatic change within a few weeks. Here's how I did it: I completed one heavy set of a hamstring exercise, then followed it up with plyometric movement. At the end of it, if I was walking out of the gym with heavy legs, I knew I trained them just right. I strongly recommend trying it for yourself and with different combinations. Pairing the following exercises together is my favourite combo. 1 Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells in each hand with straight arms. Allowing your arms to trace the front of your legs, flex at the hips. Begin pushing your butt back and slowly putting your weight to your heels. Lower your torso forward, feeling the hamstrings stretch. Make sure your back is straight throughout the movement. When you've reached maximum hamstring stretch, slowly extend your hips using tension from your hamstrings and back to standing position. Note: This move can also be done with a barbell. Related: 7 Deadlift Variations That Work Every Part of Your Body 1 / 2 2 Switch Lunge Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography Take a lunge stance position: one foot forward with the knee bent, and the back knee an inch or two away from the ground. Shoulders should be slightly in front of hips. Jump up, extending both legs. Switch legs in midair, bringing the back leg to the front and front leg to the back. If you're a beginner, don't switch legs in midair. Instead, start in a standing position with feet together, then jump and land into a lunge. Then jump back into standing position. Alternate legs. 2 / 2 Fitness TipsBeginner WorkoutsLeg WorkoutsLeg ExercisesStrength TrainingWorkouts