Tip The Right Reps for Strong Hammies Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The Right Reps for Strong Hammies When it comes to building hamstrings your rep range matters Here' s what to do by Eric Bach December 18, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags Bodybuilding, Legs, Tips, Training For hamstring size, do both a heavy load, lower-rep range and a higher rep range. 1 – Heavy Low Reps Your hamstrings are primarily fast-twitch dominant. Anecdotally, this may contribute to the massive hamstring development in sprint athletes. In the gym, this means you should incorporate heavy, explosive, and/or low-rep training. 2 – Lighter Higher Reps As with all muscles, a longer time under tension increases metabolic stress, which is a primary factor in muscle growth. Given you can create sufficient tension in a muscle, higher rep sets and a longer time under tension will help you grow any lagging muscle group, hamstrings included. The Study A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research makes a compelling argument for a mix-and-match approach. Japanese researchers had a group of male lifters do conventional hypertrophy training for six weeks before dividing them into two groups. Some did typical strength work – five sets of each exercise, using 90% of their 1RM. The others did the same thing, plus a final set of 25 to 35 reps using 40 to 50% of their 1RM. The second group made slightly better gains in size over the next four weeks. Not a huge surprise because, hey, a tack-on burnout set is hardly ever going to put your gains in the ground. But the big surprise is that the second group made bigger increases in strength as well. This study suggests a compelling take-away message: Those light weight, high-rep sets following heavy weight, low-rep sets will make your hams stronger—and the stronger they get, the more effective high-rep training becomes. Reference Robert W. Morton, Sara Y. Oikawa, Christopher G. Wavell, Nicole Mazara, Chris McGlory, Joe Quadrilatero, Brittany L. Baechler, Steven K. Baker, Stuart M. Phillips. Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016; 121 (1): 129 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00154.2016 Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Workouts Maximal Strength Training for Muscle Mass Lots of geek strength-training science, 10 actionable tips on how to build muscle, and one effective program thrown in for good measure. Read this. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Joe Giandonato & Josh Bryant October 23 Training The Look of Power Trap Training Build the muscles with the greatest visual impact to create a look of dominance. This method of trap training will get you there fast. Bodybuilding, Exercise Coaching Christian Thibaudeau August 1 Training Armed For Combat Drastically increase arm size and strength over a twelve week period. Here’s your plan. Arms, Bodybuilding, Training Christian Thibaudeau December 5 Training Muscle Dysmorphia and Male Body Image Is the compulsion to get bigger and leaner a disorder? Here’s the real story. Bodybuilding, Training James Heathers September 29