7 Powerful Barbell Hamstring Exercises

A weighted barbell is a versatile piece of fitness equipment. Find out what barbell movements you can do to work your hamstring muscles.

Your hamstring muscles in the back of the upper thigh have multiple functions. This article will mostly focus on the knee flexion (knee folding) and the hip extension (together with the glutes) functions.

By doing these movements with the resistance of a weighted barbell you could see more and faster muscle gains as long as you do so safely, have a good diet, and give your body enough rest.

1. Nordic hamstring curl with a barbell

When it comes to training the knee flexion function of the hamstrings, most people immediately go to the lying leg curl machine.

And while this machine is still a great tool you can get creative and also use a barbell to train knee flexion with the Nordic hamstring curl.

To do this exercise you want a barbell, heavy weight plates, preferably a soft pad for your knees, and preferably a barbell pad for your ankles. Once you have these, take the following steps to do a barbell Nordic hamstring curl:

1. Put the barbell on the ground, load the bar with heavy weights, and put the soft pad in the center in front of the bar. Make sure the barbell can’t roll away, potentially with the help of other weight plates.
2. Sit with your knees on the pad in front of the barbell with your ankles braced behind the barbell and your body upright. Keep your body straight from your knees to the top of your head throughout the rest of the exercise.
3. Slowly tilt your body forward as far as you comfortably can. The end goal is being able to go horizontally but if you are a hamstring training beginner you will likely have to let the tension go at some point and catch your fall with your slightly folded arms.
4. You can keep doing eccentric (going down) hamstring curls only and raise yourself with the help of other muscles. Another option is finding how far you can go down and at that point raise your body again in a controlled motion.

Nordic hamstring curls with a barbell are not the most beginner-friendly exercise because of how challenging they are. If you are not used to training your hamstrings your range of motion under tension will be relatively small.

At the same time, there are not that many options to train knee flexion, especially with a barbell. You could also consider investing in a weight bench with a leg curl function but not everyone likes these.

2. Barbell good morning

For the next exercise, the pieces of hamstring workout equipment you need include you need a barbell, likely weight plates, and a barbell rack.

Once you have these, take the following steps to do a good morning with a barbell:

1. Put the barbell at about chest height on the rack. Add the desired number of weight plates. If there are any safety bars adjust them to the right height.
2. Stand under the barbell, push your shoulders up so that the barbell rests on your higher back, and hold it there with your hands.
3. Unrack the barbell and take a few steps back so that you have room to do the rest of the movement. Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width.
4. Bend your knees a small amount and tilt your upper body forward as far as is comfortable with a straight spine (but not farther than a horizontal line).
5. Return to the position in step 3 in a controlled motion.
6. Rerack the barbell after your set of good mornings.

At first, the good morning exercise may look a lot like a (bad) back squat but there is a difference that makes it a lot more of a barbell hamstring exercise.

More specifically, you don’t really go through your knees beside the small bend to make sure people with tight hamstrings can go through a decent range of motion.

This change makes the good morning an exercise that mostly works the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back without really engaging the quadriceps that much.

3. Barbell back extension

To do the next movement it is recommended to use a sturdy back extension machine or a roman chair at home or in the gym. With the extra weight of a barbell, you likely don’t want to take any risks.

Take the following steps to do a back extension with the extra resistance from a barbell:

1. Put a barbell on the ground in front of the hip padding of the back extension machine.
2. Take place in the back extension machine which means ankles anchored and hips on the pad. Keep a straight back for now. Make sure you are locked in place safely.
3. Slowly tilt your upper body forward as far as you comfortably can while keeping your spine straight. The bending movement comes from your hips, not your lower back.
4. Pick up the barbell and hold it against your chest or another comfortable upper body area.
5. Tilt your upper body back in a controlled motion until your body is in a straight line.
6. Alternate between the positions in step 3 and step 5.

Make sure you keep your spine more or less straight throughout the movement to really work your glute and hamstring muscles.

For resistance training beginners, weighted back extensions may be too challenging for now. If that is the case, you can start with the bodyweight version of the exercise.

Bodybuilders and other experienced lifters will be able to see more and faster glute, hamstring, and lower back muscle gains with the help of the resistance of the barbell.

4. Barbell Romanian deadlift

To do this next barbell hamstring exercise you only need a barbell and enough weight plates to make the movement challenging enough.

Once you have these things, take the following steps to do a barbell Romanian deadlift:

1. Load the barbell with the desired number of weight plates.
2. Grab the barbell with a pronated grip which means with your hand palms pointing downward/backward.
3. Stretch your legs and tilt back your upper back while keeping your spine straight until you stand up straight with your feet about shoulder width apart, the barbell in front of you, and your knees slightly bent.
4. Tilt your upper body forward as far as you can without bending your spine or knees or until the bar is right below knee height. The weight plates should not hit the ground.
5. Alternate between the positions in steps 3 and 4.

When it comes to the movement of your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back, the Romanian deadlift is very similar to the barbell good morning.

However, the Romanian deadlift will require less equipment and will be more challenging for your forearm grip and trapezius muscles.

Depending on your training goals, personal preferences, and the equipment you have available you may choose one barbell hamstring exercise or the other.

5. Barbell hip thrust

Besides a barbell and weight plates, you need a weight bench or other similar objects at the right height to do hip thrusts. Additionally, a barbell pad can make the exercise more comfortable for your hips.

Once you have the right hip thrust equipment, take the following steps to do a barbell hip thrust:

1. Put the barbell with weight plates in front of the weight bench or other object you will lean on. Make sure the object is stable enough for the exercise.
2. Sit under the barbell with your back slightly over the edge of the bench. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width in a position where your knees will be at a 90-degree angle in the next step. Hold a barbell on your body at the hip level.
3. Move up your hips until your body is in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
4. Alternate between the positions in steps 2 and 3.

Hip thrusts are known as a glute isolation exercise but they also work your hamstrings a nice amount and lower back to some extent.

The barbell is typically the weight of choice because it can hold so much weight and because the glutes are relatively strong muscles.

There are also many hip thrust variations you can do to work your muscles in slightly different ratios.

6. Walking barbell lunges

The main things you need to do walking barbell lunges include a barbell, weight plates, and enough room to do the exercise. A barbell rack can also be helpful to get the barbell into position.

Take the following steps to do walking barbell lunges with a rack:

1. Put the barbell at about chest height on the rack. Load it with the desired number of weight plates.
2. Stand under the barbell, push up with your shoulders, and go to the location where you have enough room to do the walking lunges.
3. Take a big step forward so that you get into a position where both of your knees are at 90-degree angles. Your front foot should be flat on the ground and your back foot should only touch the ground with the ball (front) of the foot.
4. Push yourself up and forward and move similarly to step 3 but with your other leg in front.
5. Keep taking steps until you finish your set.

A barbell can be used but is not ideal for weighted lunges because your center of gravity is relatively high which makes balancing more challenging.

If this is an issue, you can put your feet wider apart horizontally speaking or consider other equipment.

Something else to note is that you want to make sure you do the same number of lunge repetitions on each leg to avoid muscle imbalances.

People who don’t have enough room to do barbell walking lunges can also consider the variation where you stay in place. However, this movement will focus more on your quadriceps and less on the glutes and hamstrings.

7. Regular barbell deadlifts

For the last hamstring exercise, you only need a barbell and weight plates (preferably bumper plates). A floor that can deal with the impact will be helpful too.

Take the following steps to do a regular barbell deadlift:

1. Load the barbell with the desired number of weight plates.
2. Grab the barbell with a pronated grip which means with your hand palms pointing downward/backward.
3. Stretch your legs and tilt back your upper back while keeping your spine straight until you stand up straight with your feet about shoulder width apart and the barbell in front of you.
4. Tilt your upper body forward and bend your knees in a controlled motion until the barbell is back on the ground.
5. Alternate between the positions in steps 3 and 4.

Some people find the barbell Romanian deadlift a bit too focused on glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles.

If you feel the same way, you can also do regular barbell deadlifts which work your quadriceps (and calves to some extent) more.

Regular deadlifts will also be more of a functional movement you could encounter in your daily life. This is not essential for a good workout program but could be another reason why people choose the regular version.