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Exercises

Hamstring activation exercises: a 9-minute routine before RDLs, sprints or leg day

Published October 24, 2026

To activate your hamstrings, pedal a bike easily for 4 minutes, do 10 leg swings and 5 walkouts per side, then 2 rounds of 10 standing band leg curls per leg and 8 single-leg glute bridges per leg, and finish with 8 band good mornings. That takes about 9 minutes. Before Romanian deadlifts or leg curls, follow it with 2 to 3 light sets of the lift itself, climbing toward your working weight.

  1. Stationary Bike Quads, Hamstrings
  2. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  4. Band Leg Curl Hamstrings
  5. Single-Leg Glute Bridge Glutes
  6. Band Good Morning Hamstrings, Lower Back
  7. Single-Leg RDL Hamstrings, Glutes

Step 1: raise your temperature (4 minutes)

Cold hamstrings feel tight and short on the first hinge. Four minutes of easy pedaling or jogging in place with heel kicks is enough to make the first rep of anything feel smoother. Keep it easy; you are warming up, not training.

Raise: easy cardio

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

Pedaling warms the whole leg without loading the hamstrings at long length, so it is the gentlest way to start.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee keeps a small bend at the bottom of each pedal stroke.
  2. Pedal at a pace where you could still hold a conversation, with light resistance.
  3. Nudge the resistance up one or two notches in the last minute so you finish slightly warm and breathing faster.

Cues

  • Easy, chatty pace
  • Smooth circles, not stomping

Common mistakes

  • Starting hard: the first minutes should feel almost too easy.

Swap for: Air Bike, Rowing Machine

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Raise: jogging drill

Butt Kicks

Hamstrings

Heel kicks bring the knee into a deep bend repeatedly, which is the hamstring curl in its fastest, lightest form. Use them when you have no bike, and before sprinting.

How to do it

  1. Jog in place with a tall torso.
  2. Pull each heel up toward your glutes as it leaves the floor.
  3. Keep your knees pointing down and build the pace gradually.

Cues

  • Heels to seat
  • Knees under hips

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the knees forward: keep the thigh pointing at the floor.

Swap for: High Knees, Skipping in Place

Build a session with Butt Kicks

Step 2: move the hips through their range (2 minutes)

Hamstrings run from your sit bones to below the knee, so they lengthen when you hinge and when you swing a straight leg forward. Leg swings and walkouts take them through that range with control, which is all a warm-up needs. Long static holds belong after training.

Mobility: dynamic hamstring range

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Each swing forward takes the hamstring a little longer, and you control the speed. Ten per leg is enough.

How to do it

  1. Stand beside a wall or rack and hold it with one hand.
  2. Swing the outside leg forward and back like a pendulum, letting it go a little higher each rep.
  3. Keep your torso upright, then turn around and swing the other leg.

Cues

  • Swing, don't kick
  • Tall standing leg

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to swing higher: let range build on its own.

Swap for: Walkout, High Knees

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Mobility: hinge and plank

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

The hinge down stretches the back of the legs under control, and the plank wakes up the trunk you'll need to brace later.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, feet under your hips.
  2. Hinge forward and plant your palms on the floor, bending the knees only as much as you need to.
  3. Walk the hands out to a high plank, pause, walk them back to your feet and stand up.

Cues

  • Long legs
  • Plank is a straight line

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the plank: hold it for a breath before walking back.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Plank to Push-Up

Build a session with Walkout

Step 3: wake the hamstrings up (3 minutes)

The hamstrings do two jobs: bend the knee and extend the hip. Pick one curl and one hip-extension drill so both jobs get a few light, crisp reps. Stop every set with 3 or more reps left; the goal is to feel the back of the thigh working, not to tire it.

Activation: knee bend

Band Leg Curl

Hamstrings

A band around the ankles lets you curl one heel at a time anywhere, with tension that grows at the top where the hamstring is shortest.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with a loop band around both ankles and hold a support if you need it.
  2. Curl one heel up toward your glutes while the thigh stays still.
  3. Lower slowly and repeat before switching legs.

Cues

  • Thigh stays put
  • Slow lowering

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the leg forward: keep the knee pointing down.

Swap for: Lying Leg Curl, Cable Leg Curl

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Activation: hip extension, one side

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Glutes

One leg at a time shows you quickly if one side is doing less. Keep the planted heel close to feel it more in the hamstring than the glute.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up with one foot flat, the other leg pointing straight up, and a kettlebell resting on your hips if you want load.
  2. Drive through the planted heel to raise your hips level.
  3. Lower with control and finish the reps before switching legs.

Cues

  • Hips stay level
  • Drive through the heel

Common mistakes

  • Letting one side of the pelvis drop: keep both hips at the same height.

Swap for: Dumbbell Glute Bridge, Single-Leg Hip Thrust

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Activation: loaded hinge

Band Good Morning

Hamstrings, Lower Back

This is the RDL pattern with a band, so it rehearses exactly the movement your first heavy lift will use.

How to do it

  1. Stand on a band and hold its ends at your shoulders.
  2. With a soft knee, push your hips back and lower your chest toward the floor.
  3. Drive the hips forward to stand tall.

Cues

  • Hips back
  • Flat back

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat: keep the shins near vertical.

Swap for: Band Pull-Through, Dumbbell Good Morning

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Activation: hinge with a finish

Band Pull-Through

Glutes

With the band pulling from behind, you get the stretch at the bottom and a strong squeeze at the top. A swap for the good morning if you have an anchor point.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a band low behind you and hold it between your legs.
  2. Hinge your hips back and let the band pull your hands through.
  3. Snap your hips forward to stand up tall and squeeze.

Cues

  • Reach the hips back
  • Finish tall

Common mistakes

  • Squatting down instead of hinging: knees stay soft, hips travel back.

Swap for: Cable Pull-Through, Band Good Morning

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Step 4: ramp-up sets of your first lift

Finish with the first exercise of the session. Do 2 to 4 lighter sets of it, fewer reps each time, until the next set is your working weight. RIRLift logs these as warm-up sets, so they don't count toward your hard sets.

Ramp-up: one-leg hinge

Single-Leg RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

Light single-leg RDLs are both the last warm-up drill and the first set of a hamstring session at home. Balance improves fast after two sets.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light dumbbell in one hand and stand on the opposite leg.
  2. Hinge forward while the free leg reaches back, until your torso is near parallel to the floor.
  3. Stand up by driving the standing hip forward.

Cues

  • Hips square
  • Reach the back heel away

Common mistakes

  • Opening the hip toward the ceiling: keep the toes of the back foot pointing down.

Swap for: Dumbbell B-Stance RDL, Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Single-Leg RDL

First main lift

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

The barbell RDL is the main hamstring builder for most lifters, and it is the lift this routine prepares. Ramp up in 2 to 3 sets before your working weight.

How to do it

  1. Stand holding a barbell at your thighs with a shoulder-width grip.
  2. Push your hips back and slide the bar down your legs until you feel a strong pull behind the thighs.
  3. Drive the hips forward to stand tall.

Cues

  • Bar stays on your legs
  • Hips back, not down

Common mistakes

  • Lowering until your back rounds: stop where the hamstrings run out.

Swap for: Single-Leg RDL, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Romanian Deadlift

First main lift (machine)

Lying Leg Curl

Hamstrings

If your session starts with leg curls, two lighter sets on the machine finish the warm-up and you are ready for working sets.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the machine face down with the pad just above your heels.
  2. Curl the pad toward your glutes while your hips stay pressed into the bench.
  3. Lower slowly over two to three seconds.

Cues

  • Hips down
  • Slow on the way back

Common mistakes

  • Hips lifting off the pad: lighten the weight.

Swap for: Seated Leg Curl, Band Leg Curl

Build a session with Lying Leg Curl

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Heavy Romanian deadlift day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Resistance Bands, Barbells

You open a leg or pull session with barbell RDLs and want the first heavy set to feel smooth instead of tight.

The routine stays short so the hamstrings arrive warm but fresh. The band drills stop with 4 reps left, and the ramp-up sets on the RDL climb in three steps so your first working set is the hardest set of the day, not the warm-up. Working sets end at 2 reps in reserve to leave room for the rest of the session.

RDL day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Easy pace. 4 × 60 5 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg, front to back. 1 × 10 5 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 5 0 s
Band Leg CurlPer leg. 2 × 10 4 15 s
Band Good Morning 1 × 8 4 0 s
Romanian Deadlift3 warm-up sets firstLower in 3 s. 3 × 6–8 2 2:30 min
How to run it
Run the warm-up blocks in order with almost no rest, then start the RDL. The three warm-up sets are logged separately from your three working sets.
How to progress
Add weight to the RDL when every working set reaches 8 reps at 2 reps in reserve. Leave the warm-up blocks the same.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Before sprints, field sports or jumping

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Resistance Bands

You sprint, play soccer or football, or do plyometrics, and want your hamstrings ready for fast running.

Sprinting asks the hamstrings to work fast and at long length, so this version swaps the bike for heel kicks and finishes with single-leg RDLs held light, at 3 reps in reserve, then two short sets of leg curls. Nothing goes near failure, because the hard work is the sprinting that follows.

Sprint primer
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Butt KicksSeconds. Build the pace. 2 × 20 5 15 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 12 5 0 s
Single-Leg Glute BridgePer leg. 2 × 8 4 15 s
Band Pull-Through 1 × 10 4 0 s
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. Light dumbbell. 2 × 6 3 30 s
How to run it
Do it on the field or in the gym right before practice. Go straight from the last block into your sprint drills.
How to progress
Keep the loads light. Progress by moving the butt kicks faster and adding a few reps to the single-leg RDL, not weight.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Home leg day with bands and a dumbbell

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Resistance Bands

You train hamstrings at home and the session starts with curls and single-leg RDLs instead of a barbell.

Without a barbell, the single-leg RDL is your heaviest hamstring lift, so it gets two ramp-up sets after the band work. The band curl turns into the second exercise once you're warm, done closer to failure, which is how home sessions stay hard without heavy weights.

Home hamstrings
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Butt KicksSeconds. 2 × 30 5 0 s
Walkout 1 × 6 5 0 s
Single-Leg Glute BridgePer leg. 2 × 10 4 15 s
Single-Leg RDL2 warm-up sets firstPer leg. 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Band Leg CurlPer leg. 3 × 12–20 1 45 s
How to run it
Warm-up blocks first, then the single-leg RDL with its two warm-up sets, then the band curls as working sets.
How to progress
On the single-leg RDL, add reps until you hit 12 at 2 reps in reserve, then hold a heavier dumbbell or slow the lowering to 4 seconds.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do you activate your hamstrings before a workout?

Warm up for a few minutes with easy cardio, move through leg swings and walkouts, then do two light drills: a knee curl (band leg curl) and a hip extension (single-leg bridge or band good morning). Finish with lighter sets of your first lift.

What are the top 3 exercises for hamstrings?

For building them: the Romanian deadlift, a leg curl (lying or seated), and the Nordic curl. For activating them before training, use the band leg curl, single-leg glute bridge and band good morning.

Are squats good for hamstrings?

Squats work the hamstrings only a little, because the muscle barely changes length during a squat. Hinges and curls are what train them, which is why this routine is built from both.

How many reps should activation exercises be?

Usually 8 to 12 reps per set for one or two sets, stopping with 3 or more reps left. You want to feel the muscle, not tire it before the session.

Should I stretch my hamstrings before lifting?

Use movement, not long holds, before you lift: leg swings and walkouts get the range you need. Long static stretches fit better at the end of the session.

Do I need activation exercises if I do warm-up sets?

Warm-up sets alone are fine for many lifters. The activation drills earn their place when the back of your thighs feels tight on the first sets, or before sprinting, where you skip the barbell entirely.