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The hamstrings are the large muscles located at the back of your legs, behind the thighs. They are recruited in almost all of our daily activities from walking to bending down to standing up from the couch. Not only that, but they affect both the knee and the hip, so keeping them healthy contributes to the health and stability of both of those joints as well. Tightness in the hamstrings can also contribute to low-back pain.
Hamstring exercises work to improve the strength and flexibility of the muscles, improving athletic performance and preventing injuries. Understanding the importance of your hamstrings, common issues related to them, and how to address these issues can significantly enhance your fitness journey and quality of movement in daily life.
What are the hamstring muscles?
The hamstring muscles run down the back of each leg, opposite the thigh, from the hip to the knee.
The hamstring muscles include the biceps femoris, semimembranosus and semitendinosus. These muscles start at the hip and insert into the knee and lower leg, working together to help you flex (bend) your knees and extend your hips.
What causes weak hamstrings?
Weak hamstrings can result from several factors, including a sedentary lifestyle, lack of targeted exercise and muscle imbalances. When you spend a lot of time sitting, your hamstrings can become inactive and weaken over time. Also, focusing too much on exercises that target the quadriceps (the muscles at the front of the thigh) without balancing them with hamstring exercises can lead to muscle imbalances, further contributing to hamstring weakness.
What happens if you have tight hamstrings?
Tight hamstring muscles can cause pain in other areas of the body like the knees, hips and low back. When your hamstrings are tight, they limit the range of motion in your hips and knees, which can affect your posture and movement patterns. This restriction can cause you to compensate in other parts of your body, leading to discomfort and potential injuries, especially in the lower back and knees.
What causes hamstring muscle pain?
Hamstring pain can be caused by several factors, including muscle strains, overuse injuries and improper stretching or warm-up routines. Muscle strains often occur during activities that involve sudden acceleration or deceleration, such as sprinting or jumping. Overuse injuries can develop from repetitive movements or prolonged periods of activity without adequate rest. Neglecting proper stretching or warm-up exercises before engaging in physical activities can also increase the risk of hamstring pain and injury.
Best hamstring exercises
Whether you’re looking to improve your athletic performance, tone your lower body or just want to feel stronger or safer in everyday movement, these exercises will get the job done — no equipment needed! You can incorporate strength exercises every other day, with a rest day in between to give the muscles time to repair. The stretches can be done daily.
But first, a tip when working your hamstrings: start slow. Hamstring injuries are common so be sure to warm up properly, focus on quality over quantity, and stretch afterward to avoid injury.
Backward leg lift into side leg lift
Perform the reverse leg lift. After you tap the toes down on the ground, lift the leg up and around to the right so that the leg goes out to the side of the right hip. Perform a side leg lift and then lift the leg up and back to the backward leg lift position and tap the toes onto the ground. Repeat 10 times and then switch sides.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
