Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

The term dumbbell is often used to describe someone stupid like, “Dude, you’re SUCH a dumbbell!” But there is nothing dumb about dumbbells. In fact, they’re one of the most useful training tools in our workout arsenal.

Dumbbells are incredibly versatile, and you can use them singularly or in pairs to train every muscle in your body. You can also use dumbbells for fat loss and conditioning workouts.

Not so dumb after all, right?

Dumbbells actually get their name from their original purpose. They were invented so that Olde English bell ringers could practice in silence. So, in this instance, dumb means without sound, and not stupid.

A lot of exercisers find the idea of working out solely with dumbbells limiting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are hundreds of awesome dumbbell exercises for you to choose from.

To prove this point, in this article, we take a look at the anatomy and function of the hamstrings and provide you with a tried-and-tested dumbbell-only workout to try.

While you don’t need to be an expert in anatomy and physiology to build bigger, stronger hamstrings, a basic knowledge of how your muscles work may help you determine which exercises are best.

So, feel free to skip this section if anatomy is not your thing or you are in a hurry to get to the workout! .

Like the quadriceps, the hamstrings are actually a group of several individual muscles that work together. However, where the quads are made up of four muscles, the hamstrings are just three.

The three hamstring muscles are:

Because the hamstrings are a biaxial muscle, which means they cross two joints, they have several functions. The hamstrings work together to extend your hip, flex your knee, and are involved in hip and knee rotation.

As such, if you want to develop your hamstrings fully, you need to include hip extension AND knee flexion in your leg workouts. For example, if you only do leg curls OR Romanian deadlifts, you would leave one hamstring function untrained, undermining your muscular development.

It’s also worth noting that all hip extension exercises work your glutes, so any hamstring workout also trains your butt, and most butt exercises hit your hammies.

When it comes to hamstring training, most lifters automatically gravitate toward the leg curl machine. And while that IS a good exercise, it’s also one you may not have if you train at home or in your garage gym.

Similarly, even the mighty leg curl can lose some of its muscle-building effects if that’s all you ever do.

The good news is that you can train your hammies with nothing but a bench and some dumbbells.

Do this workout 1-2 times per week as part of a body part split routine, where you train different muscles on different days, e.g., Chest on Monday, Quads on Tuesday, Shoulders on Wednesday, Back on Thursday, and Hamstrings on Friday, etc. 

But, before you begin, make sure you spend a few minutes warming up and preparing your muscles and joints for what you are about to do. Start with 5-10 minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your legs and lower back. Finish off with a couple of light sets of the first exercise in your workout.

Feeling warm and ready to go? Then let’s get to work!

Exercises 5a and 5b are to be performed back-to-back as a superset. Do one set of dumbbell hip thrusts and then, without resting, jump to your feet and do a set of stiff-leg deadlifts. Rest a moment, and then repeat this pairing one more time to total two supersets.

Get the most out of this or any other workout by doing each and every exercise correctly. Proper exercise form will make your workout safer and more productive. If in doubt, use a little less weight and focus more on mastering the movement.

Romanian deadlifts are so-called because they were a favorite exercise of the Romanian weightlifting team. This hip-hinge exercise works your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back and is one of the best ways to strengthen and beef up your entire posterior chain. While RDLs are often done with a barbell, they work equally well with dumbbells.

Related: Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) Guide

Lunges are a great leg exercise that most people tend to feel in their glutes and quads. However, when you do them backward off a raised platform, what was a quad-dominant exercise hits your hamstrings much more. Be warned, if you’ve never done this exercise before, you’ll feel it in your hammies tomorrow!

Just because you don’t have a leg curl machine doesn’t mean you can’t do leg curls. Before machines became popular, bodybuilders did their leg curls with a dumbbell. Despite what could be considered a lack of decent training equipment, these old-school lifters still managed to build great-looking legs. It worked for them, and it’ll work for you too.

What’s better than regular Romanian deadlifts? Doing the same exercise using one leg at a time! Single-leg RDLs increase glute and hamstring activation because you’ll need to work that much harder to stabilize your hips and knees. This is also a good exercise for improving your balance and mobility.

Hip thrusts are mostly viewed as a glute exercise. In fact, they’re sometimes called glute bridges. However, this exercise also works your hamstrings, which is why it’s part of this workout. Use one or two dumbbells to provide your hamstrings (and glutes!) with a worthwhile workout.

Stiff-leg deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts are pretty similar and are often confused. However, where RDLs involves a pronounced knee bend, stiff-leg deadlifts involve keeping your knees straight.

Bending over with straight knees disengages your glutes so you can focus more on your hamstrings. However, this is a somewhat weaker exercise, so you should adjust your weights accordingly.

While you don’t have to go all dumbbells all the time, there may be situations where that’s all you have available. For example, some hotel gyms only have dumbbells, or they may be all you have space for in your home gym.

Don’t think for a minute that only having dumbbells to train with means you can’t build muscle, get stronger, increase your fitness, or lose fat. Dumbbells are incredibly versatile and can be used to achieve almost any fitness goal.

Most lifters know plenty of upper body dumbbell exercises, but you can also use them to train your legs. Give this dumbbell-only hamstring workout a try to experience the power of dumbbells for yourself!

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

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