With deadlifts....
I know the major muscle it works is the lower back... but should you feel it in the hamstrings at all? I feel like my hamstrings don't really "activate" much.
I've rarely ever in the past felt much in my hamstrings from any exercises. It seems like my quads and other muscles always take over. When I was in physical therapy a year ago, my therapist told me about some of my issues- my quads are much much stronger than my hamstrings, my inner thigh muscles are stronger than my outer thigh muscles (so my knees like to go inward), and my kneecaps are not aligned properly ("anatomically crooked" is what we joked). We worked together on doing deadlifts- but I didn't feel like my hamstrings were doing anything. We tried deadlifts on a box- still couldn't get the hamstrings to fire. The only way we ever found a solution was by kneeling while the therapist crouched behind me and held my ankles down. I would "fall" as slowly as possible into a push-up position, then push back up again and repeat. That seems like it's been the only time I really feel my hamstrings doing a lot of work.
So now, I've been doing the NROLFW workouts for a couple of weeks.. and I'm doing the deadlifts... but again- I feel like my hamstrings aren't working much. Is this normal? I mean... I know it's sort of a secondary muscle being worked... but I just feel like it isn't working much at all.
I've been reading "Starting Strength" and watching videos online, trying to watch myself in the mirror and repeat the movements as they should be... I feel pretty good that I'm using correct form (although I might still hire a trainer anyways just to be double sure). Maybe the hamstring thing isn't that critical?
Any thoughts?
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05-27-2010, 03:02 PM #1
- Join Date: May 2010
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Trouble getting hamstrings to "activate" during deadlifts
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05-27-2010, 04:20 PM #2
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Are you sure you're pushing through your heels? I think you should check your form. Watch the videos on this site, it really helped me with my form. Hopefully others will weigh in
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05-27-2010, 05:03 PM #3
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Have you tried Romanian deadlifts? They really hit my hamstrings like nothing else. You have to stick your butt back really far for these in order to feel it, but once you do, you'll see what I mean.
Also, consider using a really wide grip with your conventional deadlifts. You might have to lower the weight to try this, but taking a wide grip forces you further down at the start and recruits more of the butt and hamstrings.I hate qualifiers.
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05-27-2010, 05:11 PM #4
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05-27-2010, 06:36 PM #5
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05-28-2010, 11:38 AM #6
Hamstrings are a stabilizer in the dead lift.
It is entirely possible for you to have a very low hamstring activation and do a very good dead lift.
Deadlifts are great and reliably hit the glutes, quads and spinal erectors.
But if your having trouble hitting the hams, you might want to add a ham exercise.But those who fight for right must remember St. Augustine's sage words,
"right is right even if no one is doing it...and wrong is wrong even if every one is doing it!"
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Got Causality?
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God, Duty, Honour, Country
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05-28-2010, 11:57 AM #7
When I began really prioritizing my hamstrings, I would superset lying leg curls (usually the 21's version), with Stiff-legged deadlifts- then I would stretch my hamstrings really well afterwards to further get that "mind/muscle" connection.
When I'm training a client and they can't feel their hamstrings working, I usually find it's because they either have really flexible hammies to the point where their legs almost hyperextend or extremely poor flexibility. Those who fall somewhere in the middle seem to do the best, not sure if this is an issue for you at all. I will put them up on a box to get more of a range of motion (my advanced clients only), bring their feet closer than shoulder-width together and lighten the weight a bit so they can really focus on the hamstrings without the lower back coming in too much.NASM CPT, NFPT Master Trainer, Psychology Major
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05-28-2010, 12:34 PM #8
Looks like this, no?
A pretty good direct hamstring movement.
Hard to modulate the intensity however.
Seated Hamstring machines are pretty good at hitting all the heads of the hamstrings.
If you really want to hit the hams, do a set of standing calfs just before the set of hamstrings.
This will pre-exhaust the Soleus (the Soleus can bend the knee) and force all of the work to be done by the hams.But those who fight for right must remember St. Augustine's sage words,
"right is right even if no one is doing it...and wrong is wrong even if every one is doing it!"
-----------
Got Causality?
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God, Duty, Honour, Country
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05-28-2010, 06:01 PM #9
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08-04-2015, 11:33 AM #10
Try this
I had the same issue a simple fix is to work on your hip hinge so instead of bending your knees at setup first poke your butt out till you feel your hammys stretch then bend your knees to get the rest of the way all while keeping your hips hinged so you feel your hammys pull. You may just need your hips raised a little and knees less bend to put the tension on the hamstring.
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08-07-2015, 03:12 PM #11
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08-17-2015, 04:15 AM #12
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Stretch stretch and more stretches you need to activate the glutes and the hamstrings. I'm also "knock-kneed" but have learned to activate using my glutes too with so much stretching which is so important - it will then come but we have to work harder than most!
Sometimes I feel like giving up....
Then I remember I have a lot of mother****ers to prove wrong!
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08-17-2015, 07:11 AM #13Harmonia Early Music: http://www.harmoniaearlymusic.org
SymphonyCast: http://symphonycast.org
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Studio360: http://www.studio360.org
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08-18-2015, 01:10 PM #14
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08-18-2015, 05:53 PM #15Harmonia Early Music: http://www.harmoniaearlymusic.org
SymphonyCast: http://symphonycast.org
Performance Today: http://performancetoday.publicradio.org
Studio360: http://www.studio360.org
RadioLab: http://www.radiolab.org
TED Radio Hour: http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/
This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org
On Being: http://www.onbeing.org
Snap Judgment: http://www.snapjudgment.org/radio-show
Radio IQ: http://wvtf.org
LibriVox: https://librivox.org/
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08-20-2015, 06:13 AM #16
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08-20-2015, 06:59 AM #17
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09-16-2015, 11:58 AM #18
I had this problem.
It all comes down to imagination, as silly as it may seem.
I imagine deadlifting whilst hitting my hamstrings.. This has helped my form and activation. Try and feel those hams.
Stiffed leg deads is what I sick to...not brave enough to do the bent legged... Nearly injured myself the last time!A fail is never a fail, just so long as there was an attempt.
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