The Importance of Hamstring to Quad Strength Ratio

Strength coaches and athletes alike recognize the need for training the lower half of the body. And unless you are strong enough to walk on your hands all day, the general public needs to acknowledge the importance of having strong legs. One thing we often forget, however, is the importance of balancing the hamstring to quad strength ratio.

The next time you around a female (or if you are a female) take a side view of the knee joint. Most likely, a woman standing in a straight leg position will be slightly to moderately hyper-extending her knee. The reason? Her quads are disproportionately stronger than her hamstrings. While this can happen with guys too, females are most at risk for having weaker hamstrings with strong quads. It not only looks kinda weird, this unmatched strength ratio can cause a number of problems.

Besides the obvious risk for pulling a hamstring, unequal quad to hamstring strength ratios can also lead to ACL tears. Anytime we land after a jump, the hamstring must engage to support the knee. If the hamstrings do not fire quickly enough, the ACL is in serious jeopardy, as jumping causes a change in direction that will be stopped by a landing. If the hamstring cannot contract the moment the feet hit the ground, the body from the knee up will continue in the direction of the jump while the feet will stay planted.

Why are there so many strength programs that concentrate so heavily on the quads and forget the hamstrings? Exercises such as squat, dead lift, and lunges are great leg lifts, but they are quad-dominate. Most programs incorporate hamstring curls, but what about romanian dead lifts, reverse hypers, and glute/ham raises?

Not that the hamstrings are completely left out of the first 3 lifts I mentioned. They are activated, mainly where they connect behind the butt, in all of those exercises. But if strength coaches, athletes, and the general public ignore the need to focus on hamstrings, more injuries will occur and results for overall speed and strength in the lower body will be less noticeable.

Take Away: When making a workout, have an equal number of quad-dominate lifts and hamstring-dominate lifts. For women, include an extra set on any given hamstring exercise.