HAM IT UP!

How a once-forgotten muscle has become the superstar of lower-body training

The exercise is all over social media: a trainer will kneel on a bench, then slowly lower himself forwards at the knees until his head and chest are within inches of the floor. Then he’ll somehow power back up, having completed the full ‘Nordic curl’. The popularity of the move has inspired a new class of gym equipment – specialised benches made for Nordic curls – and sparked an exciting new love affair with an oftneglected muscle group: your hamstrings. These are the main muscles worked during the full Nordic. Building them up can help to insulate you against knee injuries, power you to run faster – and complete your physique, too. ‘Hamstrings are very aesthetic,’ says Dr Israetel. ‘And they actually require very little volume to train effectively if you use good technique.’

Interest in those hamstrings has helped push leg day back into prominence. But, for many gym-goers, leg day has long been a day to dread, filled with vicious exercises such as squats and deadlifts that torch your entire body. ‘It hurts at a deep, systemic level,’ Dr Israetel says. ‘It’s malaise writ large.’

That’s due to the sheer size of the muscles involved: the quadriceps (front thigh), adductors (inner thigh) and hamstrings are among your largest muscle groups, demanding huge amounts of oxygen during any session. They also need large loads to challenge them, so your spine and core are heavily recruited, too. Moves such as squats and lunges are like an ‘all units’ alarm for your entire nervous system.

It’s the stuff that ‘I survived #legday’ memes are made of – but gutting out these sessions will fuel total-body gains.

All those heavy lunges, for example, are like a free workout for your abs. And any set of deadlifts not only builds your glutes, but also hones forearm strength and layers muscle on to your back. Plus, you’ll burn major calories on leg day, in part because of the sheer weight you’re moving.

To summarise, it all makes leg day worthwhile, no matter your fitness goal – even if you never attempt the Nordic curl.

Hit YOUR QUADS by elevating your heels on exercises such as squats

YOUR HAMSTRINGS are hard to target. Try isolation moves like machine leg curls (and Nordics!) YOUR CALVES don’t just get trained in the gym. They work when you run and jump, too Olympian Noah Lyles’ hamstring strength is key to his sprint success