14 Effective Exercises to Build and Tone Your Hamstrings
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Here’s what you need to know about your hamstring muscles along with the 14 best exercises to strengthen them.
What are the hamstring muscles?
The hamstring muscles run along the back of each thigh from the hip to the knee. They are crucial for performing basic daily activities such as walking, bending the knees, and squatting to pick something up. The muscles that make up the hamstrings are: biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. Together, they allow you to flex your knees and extend your hips, enabling almost all leg movements.
Consequences of Weak Hamstrings
If you spend a lot of time sitting, your hamstrings can become overstretched and weaken. This can lead to knee, hip, and low back pain. Additionally, a strength imbalance in the legs can cause instability in the knee joint, potentially leading to pain or injury.
Consequences of Tight Hamstrings
Tight hamstrings can also lead to pain and injury in the knees, hips, and lower back. It’s important to note that tight hamstrings don’t necessarily mean they are strong. In fact, it’s still necessary to exercise your hamstrings if they’re tight, along with incorporating stretching into your routine.
The Benefits of Strengthening Your Hamstrings
Strengthening your hamstrings is crucial for maintaining the health and stability of the knee and hip joints, and can significantly improve your performance when walking, jumping, or running. Healthy hamstrings contribute to athletic performance and overall well-being.
How to Strengthen Your Hamstrings
Try incorporating the following hamstring exercises into your workout routine to improve your fitness and mobility:
- Downward dog: Begin in a plank position and form a “V” with your body by reaching your butt up toward the ceiling, pressing down through your toes and fingers for leg and underarm stretching.
- Legs up the wall: Slowly lie down with your bottom close to a wall, extending your legs straight up for hamstring stretching.
- Good mornings: Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands behind your head, then hinge at the hips until your body forms an upside-down “L” shape.
- Single leg deadlift: Stand with your feet wide, then begin to hinge forward, raising one leg back and up until your body forms a straight line from head to toe.
- Standing reverse leg lifts: Shift your body weight to one leg and raise the other leg straight back.
- Side lunge: Take a big step to the side with one leg, lowering your hips and then pushing back up to the starting position.
- Curtsy lunge: Step one foot back behind and to the side of the opposite foot, bend both knees, and press back to the starting position.
- Glute bridge: Lie on your back with knees bent, then lift your hips up and squeeze your glutes and hamstrings.
- Single leg glute bridge: Begin in a glute bridge position, lift one leg straight up, and raise your hips, activating your core.
- Glute bridge walkout: Initiate a glute bridge, then slowly move your legs away from your body until they are almost straight, and then back to the bridge position.
- Donkey kicks: Begin on all fours and slowly raise one leg straight up, engaging your glutes and hamstrings.
Remember to start slow, warm up properly, focus on quality over quantity, and stretch afterward to avoid injury.
