The hamstring muscles are actually comprised of four different muscles; the semitendinosus, biceps femoris (short and long head), and the semimembranosus. They run along the backs of your thighs; starting behind the knees and running up the legs where they attach to the lower pelvis just under the glute muscles.

Hamstrings can be difficult to target without weights or machines, but there are a select number of exercises that require only bodyweight or minimal equipment. The moves in this workout are the best hamstring exercises that you can do at home in your own living room.

There are two ways that you can use the moves in this routine; you can either take the exercises from the list below and interweave them into your own workout in order to specifically target this part of the leg, or you can do them as a routine, as detailed below.

How to do this workout
Do fifteen repetitions of each move, making sure to do the same number of reps on each side of the body where necessary. Do the entire workout routine twice through. Make sure to warm up muscles thoroughly before you begin the workout by doing 10 minutes of cardio. You should also cool down and stretch after you have completed this routine.

Pilates Heel Taps

Jump Turns

Pilates Shoulder Bridge

Alternating Lunges

Ventral Hops

High Knees

Wall Sits

Reverse Lunges with Rear Leg Raise

Pilates Leg Pulls


This workout is fantastic because it tones so much more than just your hamstrings. The exercises that make up this workout also tone your glutes, quads, calves, abdominals, lower back, hip flexors, pectorals, and more.

At home hamstring workouts allow you to tone these muscles without any gym fees or expensive equipment. Aside from leading to lean, toned legs, working these muscles will improve the overall shape of your lower body. Utilizing this lower body muscle also engages a number of other large muscle groups (most frequently the glutes and quadriceps), which means that any time you are doing this regime, you are likely burning a high number of calories, as well.

These exercises do not directly lower body fat; you cannot spot reduce fatty areas on the body. Instead, routines like this, in conjunction with other exercises and a low calorie diet, can lower your overall body fat percentage, which can even serve to reduce or get rid of cellulite.

Hamstring muscles are very prone to injury and strains, especially among exercisers who are not diligent about doing a proper warm up before jumping into a full fledge workout. Always make sure that you allow your muscles to warm up before going into a more vigorous workout or strength training routine, including doing exercises like the ones listed above. Ten to fifteen minutes of light cardio makes for a sufficient warm up to help prevent injury.