Let's Talk Legs, Specifically Hamstrings!
Monday, September 28, 2009
We all do posts of "legs" and glutes. Hey, I am guilty of this BUT let us not forget the hamstrings!!! For those that might not know the technical term, the hamstrings are the back of your upper legs. In the pic here, they are the top half of your leg with the three muscles outlined. Many people new to exercise & even people that have been working out for a long time make this mistake, they train one part of the body but not the opposing muscle group. For example, people train their abs but not the full core or the back. Such is with legs. People train the front legs (quadriceps) and glutes (butt) like crazy but don't do direct training for the hamstrings. Yes, you get indirect work but if you work those other areas hard, you need to do direct training for the hamstrings. Working the abs without the back or working the front legs & not the back can lead to not only imbalance in the muscle groups BUT to injury as well. Just with these two examples, you can end up with knee, back or injuries to both. So, let's take a walk down the hamstring road! Below are some exercises you can do at the gym and at home!
The Stiff-legged deadlift above works the hamstrings along with the core & glutes. I actually come up just short of upright, not quite up as far as the lady in this picture & that is to hit my hamstrings & glutes more. You can play around with the move to see what feels best to you. Do it without weight first if you are new to this move! Look at her form too. Don't round the back like a cat stretch. You can see how she is looking & the natural arch (not positioned arch) in her form. MAKE SURE YOUR FORM IS CORRECT TO PROTECT THE BACK!
Swiss Ball Leg Curl above is one you are probably familiar with & also works the core. You can do this one- legged too as you get better at the move.
Machine Lying Leg Curl above is obviously a gym move. DO NOT lift your head up but keep it in line with your body. In the picture, it may look otherwise but she has her head & neck all in line with the rest of her body. You can see that her feet are flexed. Another version I just read about has the toes pointed & is supposed to work the upper hamstrings better, that tie in way at the top of them right before the glute. I have been experimenting with it & it does seem to feel different. USE LIGHTER WEIGHTS! THIS WILL FEEL DIFFERENT & KIND OF WEIRD SO PLEASE TAKE IT VERY LIGHT AT FIRST! Also, you can do these one leg at a time too!
Machine Seated Leg Curls, done at the gym again. Click on the link for a visual. Once again, I have been trying both the flexed feet & pointed toe version.
We all do posts of "legs" and glutes. Hey, I am guilty of this BUT let us not forget the hamstrings!!! For those that might not know the technical term, the hamstrings are the back of your upper legs. In the pic here, they are the top half of your leg with the three muscles outlined. Many people new to exercise & even people that have been working out for a long time make this mistake, they train one part of the body but not the opposing muscle group. For example, people train their abs but not the full core or the back. Such is with legs. People train the front legs (quadriceps) and glutes (butt) like crazy but don't do direct training for the hamstrings. Yes, you get indirect work but if you work those other areas hard, you need to do direct training for the hamstrings. Working the abs without the back or working the front legs & not the back can lead to not only imbalance in the muscle groups BUT to injury as well. Just with these two examples, you can end up with knee, back or injuries to both. So, let's take a walk down the hamstring road! Below are some exercises you can do at the gym and at home!This link from Oxygen Women's Fitness shows 3 hamstring exercises. The stiff-legged deadlift, the Swiss Ball leg curl & the lying leg curl. The first two you can do at home if you have a Swiss ball and have some weights or anything you can hold onto with adequate weight to do the stiff-legged deadlift.
The Stiff-legged deadlift above works the hamstrings along with the core & glutes. I actually come up just short of upright, not quite up as far as the lady in this picture & that is to hit my hamstrings & glutes more. You can play around with the move to see what feels best to you. Do it without weight first if you are new to this move! Look at her form too. Don't round the back like a cat stretch. You can see how she is looking & the natural arch (not positioned arch) in her form. MAKE SURE YOUR FORM IS CORRECT TO PROTECT THE BACK!
Swiss Ball Leg Curl above is one you are probably familiar with & also works the core. You can do this one- legged too as you get better at the move.
Machine Lying Leg Curl above is obviously a gym move. DO NOT lift your head up but keep it in line with your body. In the picture, it may look otherwise but she has her head & neck all in line with the rest of her body. You can see that her feet are flexed. Another version I just read about has the toes pointed & is supposed to work the upper hamstrings better, that tie in way at the top of them right before the glute. I have been experimenting with it & it does seem to feel different. USE LIGHTER WEIGHTS! THIS WILL FEEL DIFFERENT & KIND OF WEIRD SO PLEASE TAKE IT VERY LIGHT AT FIRST! Also, you can do these one leg at a time too!
Machine Standing Leg Curl, above, also can be done at the gym & feels different & also works each leg individually. A great way to make sure one side is not stronger than the other.
Machine Seated Leg Curls, done at the gym again. Click on the link for a visual. Once again, I have been trying both the flexed feet & pointed toe version.
Standing or Lying Leg curls at Home: If you have ankle weights or resistance bands, you can attach the ankle weights to your ankles or use the resistance band & do a standing hamstring curl as seen in the picture for the machine version BUT you are at home so use a counter or another stable piece of furniture to hold on to for balance.
You can also lie on the floor or mat at home (or a bench if you have one) face down, & use the ankle weights OR a dumbbell between your feet to do lying leg curls. If doing this move, you want to be careful of your back & don't go to heavy so as to pull the back out of position.
There are more I could add but I am getting carried away! Let me know your fav hamstring move even if it is one that works the glutes as well.. like flutter kicks, lunges, step-ups and more!!!
Happy Yom Kippur to those that celebrate.
Happy Yom Kippur to those that celebrate.
As well as your excellent exercises, when I practice back kicks, etc for karate, I work this area. I like to exercise, but doing an activity is just more fun, and still gets it done
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These are great exercises, as usual. For me, the ball one is the one I can do, because to bend down with the weights like in the first picture is not good for my back!
Jody, I hope you do try again to be a body model for some of those magazines, you look like a model!
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Actually, I'm not too familiar with the Swiss ball workout, but I think I'm going to like that one. I do *heart* your workout posts!
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Thanks for this post, as I struggle with how to do hamstrings when I'm not at a gym. I hate stretchy bands, and the two legged stability ball curve was not quite enough--but never thought of a one legged version, I'll have to try it! It may be too hard though, so I'll definitely try it in private first.
One thing I've never understood that maybe you know the answer to: how come the deadlift is supposed to be a hamstring muscle workout when it seems like the resistance is in the wrong direction? Because with leg curls, you are moving your ankles towards your butt against resistance, while with the deadlift, the resistance works against you trying to move them apart. How can the same muscle control both extension and contraction?
Does that make any sense? But I've often seen deadlifts listed as a hamstring move and have somehow never quite believed it.
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I agree people have a tendency to forget about hamstring. I also think that people tend to treat legs as one muscles group. Legs is actually made up by 4 big muscles groups that needs to be separated.
But I guess it's all comes down to knowledge and how serious you are with you muscles training.
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Dr. J, you sound like one bad as*. How many different things can you do!
Diane, yes, form is so crucial & people with bad backs need to be careful OR do another exercise which you do!
Josie, THX and hope you like the swiss ball one!
Cranky, sent you a separate note but will address your question in a future post for all.
Pierre, good points about the different muscle groups & how much people want to get into this. If you do, you have to balance all opposing muscle groups as you know, obviously from your comment! Thx!
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I'm not loving the deadlifts these days, a clear sign that they are working the muscles well.
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Stiff Leg Dead-Lifts kick some serious ass. In fact I've had to limit my hamstring work because on upper body days the dead lifts make my hammies super sore. Awesome sauce!
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I love to work the hams for some reason.
far far more than the quads.
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Love your suggestion of the swiss ball leg curl - I really like exercises that do double-duty: that it works the core as well as the hamstrings. Going upstairs to try it out in a few minutes!
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