Have you ever seen pictures of IFBB bodybuilder Tom Prince when he was in his prime? He was a 270-pound beast, very large for the bodybuilding scene in the late 90s. But he had something that no other bodybuilder had. His hamstrings protruded from the back of his upper legs like biceps. Most of today’s crop of top bodybuilders don’t have that outstanding level of hamstring development. Perhaps it’s because of the ridiculous quadriceps development today’s athletes have. Perhaps it’s because today’s drugs (growth hormone, insulin, and IGF-1). Perhaps it’s something else.

What are the reasons that men like Tom Prince have outstanding hamstrings and men like you have average hamstrings? Let’s look at a few of the factors.

Genetics
First, we must remember that genetics are the key to everything in bodybuilding. The men you see on professional bodybuilding stages are among the top 1% of genetic specimens on the planet Earth. It’s very likely that untrained, most of them would still have better hamstrings than you would, having trained them for years. Like Ronnie Coleman once famously said, if you want muscles like me, you need to die and come back with better genetics!

Years of experience
Recall that most pros are 25 to 35 years old, and they have been training for 15 to 20 years. They’ve always been good at bodybuilding, and for the most part, they’ve stuck with it consistently, if only because they received attention from those around them for it.

Leaving the quads alone
Many professional bodybuilders train quads and hamstrings on two different days of the week, or they split leg day into morning (quad) and afternoon (hamstring) training.

In the gym twice as much as you
These guys live in the gym. Many of them hit each body part twice per week, which gives them double the stimulation/rest/growth cycles per body part as you enjoy. You might train each body part once per week. Many of them double that, and sometimes hit each body part thrice per week as a show nears.

Sets, sets, and more sets
At most, you probably train hamstrings with 8 to 12 sets. Many of the top professional bodybuilders will just train them by the hour with a buddy. Ninety minutes of hamstrings, and call it a day. This might be made up of 20, 30, or even 40 sets. Your schedule and body recovery might not allow for that.

Rest
If your job title is “professional bodybuilder”, it’s likely you have the ability to sleep in, and take daily naps. Many of us don’t have such blessings!

Bottom line
You will never have Tom Prince’s hamstrings, no matter how hard you train, and how much you want them. But you can have the most impressive set of hamstrings in your office, your gym, or your local bodybuilding show. Set realistic goals. You wouldn’t become frustrated if you skimmed a website on brain surgery, but still didn’t know how to conduct a lobotomy. Likewise, don’t become upset if after years of training you don’t have professional quality hamstrings. A wealth of factors goes into building them, and the only thing that really matter is that you have the best hamstrings you are capable of achieving.

If you like this article, click here to share: