Do squats work your hamstrings?

If it doesn't, your quads and glutes have to overcompensate for your hamstrings, says Schoenfeld. This imbalance can increase your risk of pulled muscles and knee, hip, and ankle injuries. Schoenfeld recommends performing two sets of hamstring-activating moves for every three sets of squats or lunges you perform.Oct 17, 2014 read more

Your hamstrings work in a squat, but they’re not working that hard. Squats tend to be a quad (and glute) dominant exercise, the way pushups are triceps (and chest/delt) dominant. The setup is exactly the same. read more

Squats for Working the Hamstrings Photo Credit: g-stockstudio/iStock/GettyImages Squats are often thought of as booty-building exercises. Although your glutes are the workhorse muscles during a squat, these exercises also tone and strengthen other leg muscles, including the hamstrings along the back of your thighs. read more

Supercharge Your Squats. While research shows the hamstrings are recruited during squatting motions, their engagement is in fact rather limited. 4 Be aware that programs built around the squat do not maximize the strength or size development of the hamstrings. read more