Interesting question... in spin I don't feel it in my hamstrings at all... HOWEVER, I just started deadlifts last week and I definately felt those... make sure you are doing the dead lifts properly... it was actually hard for me to catch on and my trainer said it is one of the hardest to teach someone.

After I did the deadlifts though... I started positioning my body when we "hover" in spin like I am doing a deadlift. I think it is supposed to be the same muscle group and I felt like I got more out of the 'hover'.

I don't remember the source (sorry!) but I came across a athletic training site a while back that said that hamstring strength should ideally be 60 - 80 % of quad strength. The specific test suggested to measure it was that the weight on the leg curl machine should be about 60 - 80 % of the weight used on the leg extension machine. I was looking this up specifically because I have weak ligaments so I wanted to make sure that I am not developing muscle imbalances that are going to put additional stress on already floppy joints. The site did seem fairly reputable, but I'm sure like with almost everything conflicting opinions exist and things like gender and activities will affect what your ideal ratio would be. This was also on a page specifically for people who have ACL injuries / deficiencies like me, so, perhaps if your leg functions properly the ideal ratio might be a bit different?

My weight lifting buddy definitely falls right in that range at about 70%. For me, my hamstrings are closer to about 95 - 110 % of the weight used on the leg extension, but that kind of depends on what other activities I've been abusing my legs with recently. My physical therapist once referred to me as having "football player" hamstrings, so, uh... I guess for me my hamstrings are relatively strong or something? Also, the hamstring tendon inserts somewhere around the back of the knee. When I have put a lot of stress on my hamstrings in the past, the back of knee / tendon area would hurt more than the bulk of the muscle itself. Maybe that's what you're feeling in the back of your knee as well?

Eliana- I thought of you in spin class today. Our spin instructor had us spin backwards for a song. Have you ever done that? It reeally worked my hamstrings and I even felt a little more effort in my lower ab area. We even climbed while pedaling backwards.

Kaebaka, thank you so much for all that information! I've been thinking about your leg extension vs. leg curl since you wrote that. I want to research it and figure out if I could/should do more weights for the extension or not. I don't particularly like those machines anyway because they're all isolation moves.

Stacy, no, I've never done the bike backwards! Interesting! I bet that would work the hamstrings! My instructor was cute today. She came back, put my resistance all the way up, watched my form and had me continue after everyone else sat down! :dizzy: LOL! Be careful what you tell your spin instructor! After class she said she couldn't put my resistance up any more than that so she took me out and showed me dead lifts on a raised platforms, and two moves with the exercise ball. I think between the three I will be hitting the "hammies". :D

I just learned deadlifts last week- those got my "hammies"

:o Apparently my tubby body is capable of doing more than I give it credit. I could do everything listed in the link. My left one has a bit of a charley horse now that I've finished, but still....not bad for 283 lbs.

That's after walking about 5 mi today. Yay me.