While deadlifts may improve your hamstring flexibility, it depends on the type of deadlift and your range of motion when training. Your level of flexibility also plays a role, so if you have flexible hamstrings, deadlifting will not do much to increase your flexibility. Consult a health-care professional before beginning any strength-training program.
Hamstrings
Your hamstrings consist of three muscles: biceps femoris; semitendinosus; and semimembranosus. Your biceps femoris flexes your knee, or brings your calf up to the back of your thigh. Your semitendinosus and semimembranosus work to extend your hip. Both of these muscles help you straighten up when you are bent over, and they are the two most active muscles of your hamstrings in any type of deadlift.
Conventional Deadlift
The conventional deadlift requires you to bend at the hips and knees while keeping your torso as close to vertical as possible. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, and your toes straight forward. When deadlifting in this manner, your goal is to minimize the degree of forward lean, so you are working to limit the stretching of your hamstrings. The conventional deadlift is not an effective hamstring stretch.
Sumo Deadlift
The sumo deadlift requires you to stand with your feet considerably wider than your shoulders. Pulling your hips down keeps your torso closer to vertical than the conventional deadlift, but your knees flex more. There is more activation of your hamstrings when sumo deadlifting than when conventional deadlifting, according to a 2000 study published in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise." Most of the additional flexibility required for the sumo deadlift is in the hips, and the sumo deadlift is not an effective hamstring stretch because of this.
Stiff-legged Deadlift
The stiff-legged deadlift requires you to deadlift with your legs nearly straight. Almost all of the work during this lift occurs at your hip joints, and the work is done by your semitendinosus and semimembranosus. This lift works your hamstrings more than other deadlifts or squatting, according to a 1999 study in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." You work through a full range of motion using these muscles, and the weight of the bar can make this exercise an effective hamstring stretch. When lowering the bar, do not bounce to get extra depth, and never allow your back to round.
References
- "Strength Training Anatomy"; Frederic Delavier; 2010
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise"; A Three-dimensional Biomechanical Analysis of Sumo and Conventional Style Deadlifts; Rafael F. Escamilla, et al.; July 2000
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; Electromyographic Activity of the Hamstrings During Performance of the Leg Curl, Stiff-leg Deadlift, and Back Squat Movements; Glenn A. Wright, et al.; May 1999
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