Advice on Hitting Hamstrings Hard

[Chris_Colucci]

[quote]chrono wrote:
I’m only a beginner concentrating on getting up to reasonable strength and focusing on my weak spots first.[/quote]
As a beginner, how do you know what your weak spots are? Seems like a more sensible plan would be to train everything as generally as possible. Like most beginners, you probably don’t have any particular “weak spots” because you have so many.

What’s your height, weight, general fat level, and specific goal? “Reasonable strength” isn’t a goal. Be concrete and specific.

Also, what does your entire current training plan look like - the days, exercises, sets, and reps?

I can’t do back squats, stiff leg DLs, RDLs and lots of other things due to back injuries.

What specific injuries are you working around and what movements, specifically, are you unable to do? Yes, I’m asking a lot of questions so far, but the info will help us give you better input.

Bulgarian splits have helped a lot with balance and strength and I’m not up to the level of doing sets of 10 reps bodyweight yet - as in ATG bodyweight with good form.

Unless “ATG” has taken on a new meaning that I’ve never heard before, the human body is physically unable to do an “ATG” Bulgarian split squat. So I have no idea how you’re mangling that exercise.

I can do Bulgarian splits ATG but I have to curl my upper body out of straight posture. But I’m doing sets of 6 well below parallel.

Again, if you’re going “well below parallel” on Bulgarian split squats, your back leg is setup way high and you’re actually increasing the potential risk.

Any type of bilateral squats I do I am unable to do low enough reps for progression.

So you can do moderate to higher rep squats? There’s significant benefit to those. Not everything in the gym should be heavy/low rep, and certainly not every body should be lifting that way. An open mind will bring greater progress.

So all my leg work is unilateral just about.

Depending on your actual goal, this isn’t really a bad thing.

Yesterday I just tried to hammer my hamstrings and I succeeded but the location of the pain tells me I’m not recruiting enough muscle.

… because you’re a beginner, and an injured beginner at that. Again, this is why “targeting weak spots” makes little sense. Sure, work around your injuries as needed, but keep to a general training plan, not some overly-specific hyper-targeted routine for imaginary deficiencies.

I’ve got a lot stronger but my legs aren’t getting much bigger.

Have you been trying to get bigger by increasing your daily calories and focusing on ample high-quality protein?

Also I was thinking about a way to shock my muscles before they get complacent with what I’ve been doing.

You don’t need shock, you need consistency with a good plan.

I don’t care too much about losing bodyfat. I don’t want to loose it quick and lose any mass. But I also don’t want to overconsume.

Dude, you’re all over the place. Take a breath and focus. Your current stats and specific goal will inform us on how to approach nutrition.

It’s hard to tell when you’re losing bodyfat and getting stronger

Total opposite. Fat loss and strength gains are two of the easiest things to objectively notice. Photographs, measurements, and performance in the gym don’t lie.

Should I consume some sugar after a heavy workout to spike insulin blood levels?

What You Don't Know About Workout Supplements

I actually think I need more slow carbs and less protein.

What, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

I sometimes even do double days as a beginner to hammer my triceps or quads a second time before they’ve fully recovered then rest them a little longer than usual to recuperate from the two day shock workout.

Stop that. Follow a well-designed plan.