Last Monday, I did a post titled Let's Talk Legs, Specifically Hamstrings. Well, I got a great question back from a reader: "One thing I've never understood that maybe you know the answer to: how come the deadlift is supposed to be a hamstring muscle workout when it seems like the resistance is in the wrong direction? Because with leg curls, you are moving your ankles towards your butt against resistance, while with the deadlift, the resistance works against you trying to move them apart. How can the same muscle control both extension and contraction? Does that make any sense? But I've often seen deadlifts listed as a hamstring move and have somehow never quite believed it."

You know, I have done stiff-legged deadlifts for years & years and they just worked. I never really thought through this question above & it makes sense as a question to this exercise. So, not being an exercise physiology person, I turned to a good friend/fellow blogger, Fit Jerk (FJ), for some technical help. FJ is a slap in the face, right in your face, brutally honest type of guy. He gets results but with his MORE than Jillian of the Biggest Loser style. SO, be prepared for that as you read his answer to the question above. Also, this is a different version of the move I described in my post. This version below is used more by hard core lifters BUT I have seen women use it & I have tried it a couple times but I think I will try it again. I don't use heavy weights just because I tend to get too big but even using lighter weights, this is going to work! PLUS PLEASE USE MINIMAL WEIGHT WHEN FIRST TRYING THIS NEW VERSION. ALWAYS GET THE FORM DOWN FIRST BEFORE ADDING MORE WEIGHT!

Also, I want to provide a link to a "toes up" version on my stiff-legged deadlift. I tried this last Thursday & really liked it! I also do my version as described in this link especially with pushing out that butt on the descent, looking straight ahead & I squeeze big time coming up.

Now, let's get to FJ's answer to the question & another way to do hamstrings! He drew the pic above to add to the post! OH, and do check out his giveaway here. It ends Tuesday so get there today!

The Theory And Application Of Working Your Hamstrings Using DeadLifts

For those that want a great hamstring workout, today is your lucky day because I’m going to be talking about an awesome hamstring exercise that will give you the sexiest results possible... especially if you don’t have access to the fancy leg curl machines. Actually, even if you do have access to those machines, this exercise is second to none.

Before I get to the exercise I want to take a look at one of the main questions that triggered this post: “how come the deadlift is supposed to be a hamstring muscle workout when it seems like the resistance is in the wrong direction?” 

Jody received this question and she bribed me with lots of baked goods asked me nicely if I was willing to do a guest post response. I guess she assumed that I knew what the hell I was doing...

Hah, actually I do.

So let’s answer that shall we? The first thing you need to understand is that the deadlift isn’t just a hamstring workout... its a full body workout. The deadlift is considered the KING of all exercises for a good reason – it triggers the maximum number of muscle groups. Having said that, it CAN be a great hamstring workout provided you know what the hell you’re doing.

To explain why and how a deadlift can effectively work the hammies we need to understand the 3 phases of a lift: the eccentric phase, the isometric phase and the concentric phase.

Let’s apply these phases to a simpler exercise for now. I’m going to pick the bench press since everyone knows what a proper bench press looks like. As you lift that bar off the rack the very first thing you do is lower it towards your chest (In my case I yell “god damn this shit’s heavy!”). This is the eccentric phase because your pectoral muscles expand and elongate while still producing force. After lowering it to a certain point, you hold it in place for a second - this is your isometric phase because nothing moves. Then as you push the bar up, your pectorals contract to generate force... hence the concentric phase.

So to sum it up: Eccentric Phase - muscles get stretched out and elongate. Isometric Phase - nothing moves. Concentric Phase - muscles contract.

Now here’s where it gets really good... Studies have shown that the eccentric phase of a lift is more effective at triggering muscle growth and increasing strength than the concentric phase... 6.6% vs 5% to be exact. [Higbie 1996]

Now at first glance this may not seem like a huge difference but think about how many people ignore or simply don’t even understand the importance of the eccentric phase? Quite a lot... which means they are missing out on 6.6% of their strength gains. I don’t know about you, but that fucking sucks... for them.

This is why I say to most guys (and gals) that the only reason you should be lifting some heavy shit is so you can effectively lower it with control. Now that you understand this basic fundamental concept, can you put 2 and 2 together and see why the straight leg dead lift is an excellent hamstring workout?

It’s the eccentric phase that’s pounding the shit out of those hammies. I’m gonna go far out and say that if your hamstrings aren’t sore the day after doing some straight-leg dead lifts than you’re doing it wrong. Point Blank Period.

I don’t want to encourage muscle soreness as an indicator for a good workout, but a muscle group that big should usually scream at you the next day... if not the very hour after a workout. Bigger muscle groups take longer to recover than smaller muscle groups. This is why you can work your abs everyday and still get away with it, but it’s still not recommended.

Naturally, all of this begs the question: “how long should the eccentric phase be?” Well in my opinion it should be 4 seconds. That’s four REAL seconds, which means in your head you should be muttering “one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand... “ etc.

The wait times for any of the 3 phases during a rep is called tempo. Tempo is written as a 3 digit number. For example I could say “perform a squat with a tempo of 302”. The numbers are in the exact order of the phases we talked about. The first number is always refers to the eccentric phase, followed by the isometric phase and then ends off with the concentric phase.

So what about the concentric phase for the dead lift? How long should that be? Well I think it should be as quick as possible (around 1 second). I say this with discretion because a lot of you will hurt yourselves trying to crank the concentric phase of straight let dead lift... so I have created an awesome hybrid exercise that I think everyone should use.

I call it: FJ’s Semi-Stiff Dead Lift (took some creative juices to come up with that one)

Here’s how it works... you start off in the normal dead lift position. This means legs are about shoulder width while bent at the knees (but not below 90 degrees). Grab the bar with an alternate grip and lift it using your legs, arms and lower back. Once you are standing, straighten but do NOT LOCK those knees, create a slight arch in your lower back and then perform the eccentric phase of a straight leg dead lift. Once the plates hit/touch the floor, bend those knees and start again.

This hybrid exercise has 3 main benefits over the traditional straight leg deadlift:

1.    It lets you lift more weight because the initial position uses leg power, where as the normal starting position for a straight leg dead lift can cause some lower back injuries if you lift too heavy.

2.      Because of the heavier weight lifted, your hammies will now experience a higher intensity workout on the way down.

3.      It’s safer

Another great technique that Jody found was to elevate your toes on two 45lbs plates while doing this exercise. This is an awesome little tip and will force the hamstrings to undergo a greater amount of stretch during the eccentric phase. I tried this out and let me tell you... walking out of the gym was quite the bitch. It’s really hard to attract the cuties running on treadmills while you walk past them like a tranquilized duck.

So there you have it Mr. (Or Misses) question asker... a long ass response to your tiny little inquiry. That’s just how I roll. Hopefully you now understand why the deadlifts can provide you with an awesome hamstring workout. I should also mention that you can perform the Semi-Stiff exercise with dumbbells, so give that a try if big metal bars scare you.