When it comes down to building a strong, dense, and athletic physique, nothing improves lower body development like sprinting. Take a look at sprinters and speed athletes. For one thing, sprinting gives you incredible hamstring development. And like heavy lifting, sprinting requires a huge CNS output, meaning you'll activate a ton of muscle fibers to rapidly produce high levels of force.
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But it's possible you haven't sprinted in ages. When muscular development is at a standstill, adding that "forgotten" or different exercise is exactly what will jump-start new growth. When combined with a well-rounded lifting routine, two days of sprinting each week will lead to rapid growth in your hams and take your conditioning to new heights.
A simple way to get started is incline treadmill sprints. The incline decreases the footfall when sprinting, which decreases joint stress and prevents you from over-striding and pulling a hamstring.
Try this routine twice per week either after lifting, or ideally, as a separate workout. After you warm-up and do some speed drills, sprint 10 seconds on, 50 seconds off. Go for 10 minutes. Then week by week increase your sprint time by one second and decrease the rest period by one second. Work your way up to 15-second sprints.
In time, this will add athleticism and size to your hamstrings, and it'll take care of that conditioning you've been skipping.
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