Full Hamstrings Hypertrophy Guide for the Best Legs

Learn how to get big legs with this excellent hamstrings hypertrophy guide designed by Dr. Mike Israetel.

How often should you train hamstrings for hypertrophy?

• Maintenance: If you simply want to maintain gains, training 4 sets per week is enough.
• Minimum effective volume: you can see some growth after a minimum of 6 sets per week from hard and heavy training.
• Maximum adaptive volume: between 10 and 16 sets per week is around the maximum volume you can do to grow your hamstrings.
• Maximum tolerated volume: 20 sets per week, but this should only be followed by athletes with a long history of high level training volume (such as former endurance runners).

If you want to grow your hamstrings start with 6 sets per week and work your way up from there nice and slow, recommends Dr. Israetel.  

Read more: What Makes Muscles Grow?

Hamstrings Hypertrophy Guide

Frequency

Training your hamstrings 2-3 times per week is sufficient.

Intensity

• You’ll want to do your hip hinge movements between 75 and 80% of your 1RM for anywhere between 6-10 reps.
• For hamstring curls, 60-70% of your 1RM for 10-15 reps should do the job nicely.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

Read more: Rep Ranges Explained: Learn How to Boost Your Strength and Hypertrophy

Exercises

Curls are great, but heavy hip-hinge movements are absolutely necessary to build big hamstrings.

• Good Mornings
• Glute Ham Raises
• Stiff Legged Deadlift
• Hamstring Curls

Other hypertrophy guides

Learn how to grow specific areas of your body with these guides:

• The Best Glutes Hypertrophy Guide You Will Find
• The Best Hypertrophy Guide for Triceps
• The Ultimate Abs Hypertrophy Guide for Men and Women
• The Best Front Delt Hypertrophy Guide for Impressive Muscle Gains
• The Best Hypertrophy Guide to Rear and Side Delts

Who is the coach?

Dr. Mike Israetel holds a PhD in Sport Physiology from East Tennessee State University and is the cofounder of Renaissance Periodization.

He is a training and nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder, and author.

He has “worked as a consultant on sports nutrition to the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Johnson City, TN, and has been an invited speaker at numerous scientific and performance/health conferences worldwide, including nutritional seminars at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY.”