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[FONT="]Hamstrings training is better with the leg curl than with the deadlift
[/FONT]Training with free weights is usually better than training with machines, but you always have exceptions. If you want to develop your hamstrings, for example, you need more with the leg-curl on a machine than with the stiff-legged deadlift with a barbell. According to a study that Brad Schoenfeld published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning.Study
Schoenfeld had 10 male students, who had been training with weights for a long time, performed the stiff-legged deadlift and the leg-curl while, thanks to electrodes that he had glued to their legs, he could measure the electrical activity in their hamstrings. The greater that activity, the harder a muscle has to work and the more growth stimuli it gets.The researcher made a distinction between the lower and upper hamstrings , and the medial and lateral hamstrings .
The lower hamstrings are above the knee joint, the upper hamstrings below the knee joint. The medial hamstrings are on the inside of your leg, lateral hamstrings on the outside.
Results
The leg-curl [LLC] caused more electrical activity in the lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift [SLD]. The leg curl mobilized more muscle fibers in the medial lower hamstrings as well as in the lateral lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift.
For the upper hamstrings it did not matter whether the test subjects trained them with the stiff-legged deadlift or with the leg-curl.
The leg-curl [LLC] provided more electrical activity in the lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift [SLD]. The leg curl mobilized more muscle fibers in the medial lower hamstrings as well as in the lateral lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift.
Conclusion
Earlier we wrote about a similar study - with an opposite conclusion. In the study, the test subjects did not make sets to failure during the measurements, but they did in this study.
Source:
J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Jan; 29 (1): 159-64.
Regional differences in muscle activation during hamstrings exercise.
Schoenfeld BJ1, Contreras B, Tiryaki-Sonmez G, Wilson JM, Kolber MJ, Peterson MD.
Author information
11Department of Health Sciences, CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, New York; 2Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand; 3Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance, University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida; 4Department of Physical Therapy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and 5Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Abstract
It is believed that regional activation within a muscle may lead to greater site-specific muscular adaptations in the activated portion of the muscle. Because the hamstrings are a biarticular muscle, it can be theorized that single-joint exercises where movement originates at the hip vs. the knee will result in differential activation of the muscle complex. The purpose of the present study was to assess electromyographic activity in the proximal and distal aspects of the medial and lateral hamstrings during performance of the stiff-legged deadlift (SLDL), a hip-dominant exercise, and the lying leg curl (LLC), a knee-dominant exercise. Ten young, resistance-trained men were recruited from a university population to participate in the study. Employing a within-subject design, participants performed the SLDL and LLC to muscular failure using a load equating to their 8 repetition maximum for each exercise. The order of performance of exercises was counterbalanced between participants so that approximately half of the subjects performed SLDL first and the other half performed LLC first. Surface electromyography was used to record mean normalized muscle activity of the upper lateral hamstrings, lower lateral hamstrings, upper medial hamstrings, and lower medial hamstrings. Results showed that the LLC elicited significantly greater normalized mean activation of the lower lateral and lower medial hamstrings compared with the SLDL (p ≤ 0.05). These findings support the notion that the hamstrings can be regionally targeted through exercise selection. Further investigations are required to determine whether differences in activation lead to greater muscular adaptations in the muscle complex.
[/FONT]Training with free weights is usually better than training with machines, but you always have exceptions. If you want to develop your hamstrings, for example, you need more with the leg-curl on a machine than with the stiff-legged deadlift with a barbell. According to a study that Brad Schoenfeld published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning.Study
Schoenfeld had 10 male students, who had been training with weights for a long time, performed the stiff-legged deadlift and the leg-curl while, thanks to electrodes that he had glued to their legs, he could measure the electrical activity in their hamstrings. The greater that activity, the harder a muscle has to work and the more growth stimuli it gets.The researcher made a distinction between the lower and upper hamstrings , and the medial and lateral hamstrings .
The lower hamstrings are above the knee joint, the upper hamstrings below the knee joint. The medial hamstrings are on the inside of your leg, lateral hamstrings on the outside.
Results
The leg-curl [LLC] caused more electrical activity in the lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift [SLD]. The leg curl mobilized more muscle fibers in the medial lower hamstrings as well as in the lateral lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift.
For the upper hamstrings it did not matter whether the test subjects trained them with the stiff-legged deadlift or with the leg-curl.
The leg-curl [LLC] provided more electrical activity in the lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift [SLD]. The leg curl mobilized more muscle fibers in the medial lower hamstrings as well as in the lateral lower hamstrings than the stiff-legged deadlift.
Conclusion
Earlier we wrote about a similar study - with an opposite conclusion. In the study, the test subjects did not make sets to failure during the measurements, but they did in this study.
Source:
J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Jan; 29 (1): 159-64.
Regional differences in muscle activation during hamstrings exercise.
Schoenfeld BJ1, Contreras B, Tiryaki-Sonmez G, Wilson JM, Kolber MJ, Peterson MD.
Author information
11Department of Health Sciences, CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, New York; 2Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand; 3Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance, University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida; 4Department of Physical Therapy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and 5Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Abstract
It is believed that regional activation within a muscle may lead to greater site-specific muscular adaptations in the activated portion of the muscle. Because the hamstrings are a biarticular muscle, it can be theorized that single-joint exercises where movement originates at the hip vs. the knee will result in differential activation of the muscle complex. The purpose of the present study was to assess electromyographic activity in the proximal and distal aspects of the medial and lateral hamstrings during performance of the stiff-legged deadlift (SLDL), a hip-dominant exercise, and the lying leg curl (LLC), a knee-dominant exercise. Ten young, resistance-trained men were recruited from a university population to participate in the study. Employing a within-subject design, participants performed the SLDL and LLC to muscular failure using a load equating to their 8 repetition maximum for each exercise. The order of performance of exercises was counterbalanced between participants so that approximately half of the subjects performed SLDL first and the other half performed LLC first. Surface electromyography was used to record mean normalized muscle activity of the upper lateral hamstrings, lower lateral hamstrings, upper medial hamstrings, and lower medial hamstrings. Results showed that the LLC elicited significantly greater normalized mean activation of the lower lateral and lower medial hamstrings compared with the SLDL (p ≤ 0.05). These findings support the notion that the hamstrings can be regionally targeted through exercise selection. Further investigations are required to determine whether differences in activation lead to greater muscular adaptations in the muscle complex.
