The hamstrings need to be worked both with hip extension (like a Romanian Deadlift) and with knee flexion (like a leg curl).
The RDL or stiff-legged deadlift both cover the hip extension function of the hamstrings nicely (and get you a great stretch on the hams).
However, if you train at home, you may not have access to a good way to work the knee flexion function of the hamstrings, which is something you'd hit with a leg curl machine.
Also, it looks pretty insane and some people get weirdly upset if you do anything other than squat in a power rack in the gym (but anything goes with a Smith machine with those same people).
This simple bodyweight exercise targets that function of the hamstrings strongly and gets you a nice peak contraction at the top to go with it.
I call it an Inverted Nordic Curl because while that exercise also targets knee flexion, it does it primarily in the stretched position. This exercise flips your body around (the position looks like an inverted row) and hits the contraction. And both exercises use bodyweight as resistance. It's not a perfect comparison but close enough.
How to Set Up Inverted Nordic Curls
To do this one, you'll need an adjustable incline bench and a bar to hang from. This can be a bar set in the power rack or a Smith machine bar (or really, any bar you can set to about 3 feet off the ground or so - close to upper thigh height).
You can play with all the heights of the bar and the bench once you see the exercise.
Set the bench a few feet in front of the bar. Set the incline to about 25 to 30 degrees.
Sit on the floor then reach up grab the bar with an overhand grip.
** IMPORTANT!
You'll want the bar to be set high enough that you can be under the bar like in an inverted row position and your back is off the ground. That's critical for performing the exercise.
Hook your heels of the top end of the bench. That's the start position. Your legs should be straight at the start.
Now use your hamstrings to "leg curl" your body up. Dig in with your heels to pull your body up.
Your grip on the bar provides the pivot point for the exercise, which is why your back needs to be off the ground at the bottom. Your arms should stay straight...they're just there to connect your body to the bar.
Come up to about 90 degrees at the knee joint. If you can come up higher, that's great, but it's tough as your hamstrings will lose leverage pretty fast.
Lower down and repeat.
On the last rep, you can do an isometric hold and fight the negative down.
You can see why this one is likely going to be better for a home gym situation...it's a great knee flexion exercise but a leg curl machine is generally going to work better and most gyms DO have leg curl machines.
This gives you a good option if you don't have THAT as an option.
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