Bent-overs with a barbell in your hands for the hamstrings

People who have been in the gym for several years know how important back power is. A strong muscle corset will help avoid various injuries that are possible when working with weights. Not everyone pays attention to the back of the thighs. This is a mistake that will prevent you from building a beautiful body. It is also necessary to develop the gluteal muscles, because the body must be proportional. This aspect is paid attention mainly by women, but developed buttocks will not hurt men either. Bent-overs with a barbell on the shoulders are a universal exercise that is effective for working the lower back, hamstrings, and more.

What muscles are involved?

When performing the exercise, the gluteal muscles are actively involved: large and small. In addition, if you bend over with a barbell on your shoulders while standing, you also add work to the back extensors, as well as the abdominal muscles. The muscles of the back of the thigh are slightly involved in the process. They are responsible for bending the leg at both the knee and hip joints.

These muscles are very important for achieving success in sports activities, as well as in the prevention of various diseases. For example, osteochondrosis, which is characterized by weakening of the muscles of the lower back and lower extremities. Moreover, you will add functionality to the shoulder muscles due to the precise interaction with the belt. Thanks to this, the power of the back, arms and pectoral muscles will significantly increase, which will allow you to perform various exercises with ease.

Tips for maximum efficiency

Every person dreams of seeing results as soon as possible. To do this, it is important to know the points that significantly increase your training efficiency:

Exercise options

Bent-overs with a barbell on your shoulders can be performed for two different purposes: strengthening the lower back and working the hamstrings.

In the first case, you must first bend your legs a little in order to lighten the load on them. You need to choose a flat surface to perform the exercise and transfer your body weight to your toes. During the lowering process, the pelvis should be moved back a little. If you want to put a lot of stress on the lower back muscles, you should stand on a small hill and transfer the weight to your toes.

To strengthen the back of the thigh, you need to shift the work to your legs, while transferring your body weight to your heels. In this case, bending over with a barbell on your shoulders needs to be performed a little differently. You should not bend your legs; you should always keep them straight. In this case, the pelvis moves back significantly during the exercise. This is done in order to load the gluteal muscles.

Technique for performing tilts with a barbell on your shoulders

To begin with, you should take the starting position: bar on your shoulders, legs wider than shoulders, tighten your shoulder blades and back, bend slightly in the lower back. Then you can begin to bend forward, while pulling your pelvis back. You should bend over before your body reaches a horizontal position. Then you need to return to the starting position.

It is most effective to perform the exercise in three sets of ten repetitions. The above method is standard and is used in most cases. However, the technique of bending over with a barbell on your shoulders can be varied. So, you can perform the exercise with a smaller amplitude. Each person, depending on the characteristics of the body and level of physical fitness, decides for himself which method to use.

Under no circumstances should you bend your back, as this will significantly increase the chance of injury. This refers to stooping. To prevent such developments, stand sideways to the mirror and monitor the process.

Execution technique

A power frame, which protects against unnecessary damage, is present in every gym, so it is advisable for beginners to start performing the exercise with it. If you overestimate yourself and take on excess weight that your body is not physically ready for, at some point it will be difficult even to simply straighten up, which is especially dangerous for the spine. The execution technique is the most important thing, so it’s worth familiarizing yourself with it in more detail.

Standing

To perform the exercise, the athlete needs:

Set the barbell so that it is just below your shoulders, at the level of your shoulder blades (if using a power rack).
Take the starting position. You need to stand up straight, bend your knee joint slightly so as not to overstrain it, and place your feet slightly wider than your shoulders.
Straighten your back, move your pelvis back and bend your spine slightly.
Stand under the barbell, squeeze your shoulder blades together and place the bar just below your neck.
Remove the barbell and begin bending over with the bar, avoiding excessive arching in your back and without twisting your knees in one direction or another.

How to choose the right weight?

It is worth understanding that this exercise is not designed to use maximum weights. In pursuit of them, you will get injured, and this can put an end to your future sports career. Bends forward with a barbell on your shoulders must be done smoothly, without sudden movements. As for the weight, athletes take approximately 20-30% of that used for squats.

To begin with, it is better to master the technique, which is the most important component when performing the exercise. Use an empty bar during training. Then you can gradually add weight. However, it should be remembered that you should not achieve maximum values. This exercise is best used at the beginning and end of your workout on back day.

If you want to set a record in lifting weights, it is better to do it in other exercises. Deadlifts and deadlifts are excellent for this purpose; during execution, the barbell is positioned on the arms extended downwards.

Basic mistakes

As in any other business, mistakes happen and you learn from them. However, in sports the cost of a mistake is much higher, since it can cause serious injury. Let's look at two main problems when performing bent-over exercises:

The barbell is positioned incorrectly on the body. It is worth noting that the bar should be on the trapezius muscles. Many people place it too high, meaning the entire load goes to the neck. This position causes discomfort and increases the chance of injury. Therefore, make sure that the bar is positioned correctly, this is very important.
Amplitude. When you bend over, you should never slouch your back. In addition, the gaze should always be directed forward. When a person lowers his eyes, he relaxes the body, and the technique becomes incorrect.

When you come to the gym, you can consult with the fitness instructors. They will show you how to perform the exercise correctly and which muscles are tense.

Common Mistakes

When training, it is important to notice mistakes in time and not repeat them again. The more weight you put on your core, the more dangerous poor technique can be. Some of the most important beginner mistakes:

Too much weight. If you overestimate yourself and take on too much load, your technique immediately begins to suffer, since the body physically cannot perform the exercise correctly. The longer a person bends, the less attention he pays to the correct body position, while he should check himself every time.
Lumbar rounding. The back should remain straight. It can be slightly bent, but the bend should be natural. Changing your body position too quickly can cause injury. You shouldn’t chase the number of repetitions - it’s better to do fewer, but better, since when you round the lower back, completely different muscles begin to work.
Violation of safety regulations. You can’t lower your head down - this will strain your neck even more. It is also important to monitor the position of the body and knees.

If the exercise is performed while standing, then the body should be almost parallel to the floor, and the knees should look straight; turning inward or outward is unacceptable.

It is important to monitor the execution technique without bending your back

Bent-overs with a barbell on the shoulders for girls

As you know, representatives of the fair sex come to the gym mainly to pump up their buttocks. Barbell curls are one of the best exercises to achieve this goal. Slender legs and toned buttocks are the dream of every girl.

However, in addition to beauty, there are several more useful points:

The lumbar muscles are very important for a girl, since during pregnancy they receive the greatest load. The center of gravity shifts, transferring most of the work to the lumbar region. Therefore, if a girl has developed these muscles, it is easier for her to endure pregnancy.
In addition, the movement of the hip joints activates blood circulation. This helps prevent diseases such as varicose veins, uterine fibroids, etc.

Therefore, bending over with a barbell on the shoulders should be done not only by men, but also by women. Here it is important to understand the technique of performing the exercise, and then things will go much easier.

Errors

Try different variations of the bent-over barbell raise to see which one your body responds to best. In addition, each exercise option will allow you to work the target muscles from different angles. Good luck!

The most dangerous mistake is a hunched back in the lumbar region.
Pressing your chin to your chest can cause you to feel dizzy and cause you to fall.

» Do not change the position of the body and legs during the entire amplitude - they must remain motionless

» Do not spread your elbows to the sides - this way you take the load off your back onto your arms and shoulders

» Do not take a lot of weight, work with a barbell that can perform movements in the correct trajectory

» Don’t hunch your back, there should be a deflection

» Additional nuances

We don't lean forward. There is no need to lean your body forward too much and pull the bar along your legs rather than towards your chest. In this version, the elbows are pulled back, not up. Accordingly, the back contracts. When a bent-over barbell row is performed toward the chest, the elbows are positioned in front or above, which includes the shoulder girdle in the work.

Delays at the bottom and at the top. When deadlifting, we put our butt back, fill our chest with air, and exhale sharply with effort. To make your back contract better, you can pause for a second at the top point. At the lowest point, it is also necessary to hold, but for a couple of seconds, so that the back muscles stretch.

There is no need to straighten your arms below. After all, then the pace of the exercise is lost, and most importantly, the barbell hangs on the bones, the load goes away from the muscles and they are not under tension.

Number of approaches and repetitions

» For men: 8-10 reps, 4-5 sets

» For women: 12-14 repetitions, 3-4 sets

How can you replace bent over rows?

If you have a weak and unprepared or injured back, this exercise can be replaced with a bent-over barbell row on a horizontal bench or a bent-over dumbbell row

full extension of the legs at the knees;
hunched back;
sudden movements;

slopes too low;
inadequately heavy weight;
throwing back or lowering the head.

Selective exercise for the erector spinae, buttocks, biceps, semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles, oblique and rectus abdominis. Performed at the end of the training with the knees “off” and a straight lower back. Bending in a bow resembles a greeting pose, so the exercise was dubbed “Good morning” (good morning).

Tilts with a projectile on the shoulders: technique

The bar is taken with a wide grip, the projectile is placed in the center of the trapezius muscles, bypassing the neck area.
The body is leveled, a slight deflection in the lower back is maintained. Shoulders straight, legs bent.
Bend forward with a barbell while standing while holding your breath. The torso is moved forward by flexing the pelvis. The depth of the bend depends on the stretch of the hamstrings. Ideally, the chest should be parallel to the floor.
Having reached the climax, the body is straightened without rounding the back. In the lower position, the staticity of the lower back is controlled. Spring movements are not allowed.

First they work with an empty bar. The discs are hung up only after the warm-up set. The head is held straight with the gaze directed ahead. Changing the position will result in injury to the cervical vertebrae.
They don't take a lot of weight. In this case, the bar presses on the lower back, so the back involuntarily rounds and the lower back moves to the side. This overloads the lower back and minimizes the effect.
The knees do not bend much. The acceptable value is 10-20°, otherwise it will not be possible to pump the lower part of the body well.

What can be replaced?

Despite the usefulness of this exercise, it is not the only one of its kind. There are several more that use movements that extend the hip joint.

Some of the most famous tasks include:

Deadlift, in which flexion occurs in the knee joints.
Hyperextension. This exercise is used in every gym as a warm-up. Many people underestimate it, although it is very effective. To use hyperextension as an alternative to barbell bending, you can use weights in the form of a load in your hands or on your back.
Squat plie. Performed as follows: feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell or kettlebell in your hands. When lowering, the load hangs on outstretched arms.

Correct technique

Feet are placed approximately shoulder width apart. If it’s uncomfortable to stand like this, you can put them wider. The bar is held with a wide grip and then placed on the trapeze. The body straightens.
A slight deflection is formed in the lower back, the shoulders and chest are straightened, and the back muscles are further tensed. It is important to bend your legs at the knee joints to reduce the load on this part of the body.
After inhaling, the breath is held, and the athlete bends forward, slightly moving the pelvis back. While bending, be careful about the flexion of the hip joint, since only it should bend, not the spine.
The torso is located almost parallel to the spine, and after that you can return to the starting position. When lifting the body, it is important to lift the upper body, and move the buttocks and pelvis back.
Exhalation is done only after the athlete passes the most difficult part of the exercise.
A slight arch in the lower back should be maintained throughout the entire exercise, so beginners are advised to watch their reflection in the mirror.

Beginner men and women are recommended to perform 15 repetitions of the exercise. The working weight at first should not exceed 10 kg, otherwise you can injure your lower back. It is enough to do 2 or 3 such sets to prepare your muscles for the next tasks.

Some features

Most often in practice, bending over with a barbell is called “good morning.” This is due to the fact that during the exercise a person’s actions resemble sun salutations after waking up. Although, despite the name, it is performed mainly during the day or evening. It is at this time that athletes conduct their training.

We can say that this exercise has been used for quite some time. Back in the 19th century, wrestlers and strongmen used it in their training. It is worth noting that the methods and methods of performing exercises have long changed, but the foundation has been laid since ancient times.

Athletes used various variations to find the most suitable and effective. They tried a lot of exercises, and repeated the best ones several times. Some even managed to perform bend-overs with a barbell on their shoulders while sitting. However, they abandoned this idea.

How to start?

Before you begin the exercise itself, you need to warm up. Then choose a barbell curl method based on your desired goal. After that, figure out the weight. Remember that you should not overload your back; the best option is 20-30% of the weight used for squats.

Now you can start doing the exercise. The gaze is directed forward, the back is not slouched. Make all movements smoothly, without sudden movements. The main thing is desire, and you can learn anything. Practice the technique of performing the exercise, and you will see amazing results in just a few months.