Hamstring Training: What You Should Know

In terms of absolute strength and power, it is difficult to match the capabilities of the hamstring muscles. They are involved with activities like jumping, lifting objects off the ground, and sprinting. Thus, developing your hamstrings is important regardless of your fitness goals.

The hamstrings are comprised of three muscles: the Semitendinosis, Semimembranosis, and Biceps Femoris. They are located on the back of your leg. Their origin, or where they start, is located in the Ischial tuberosity, which is basically the bottom of the pelvis. Their insertion points, or where they end, are slightly below the knee. The Biceps Femoris attaches to the head of the fibula, and the other two muscles attach to the Tibia. When muscles are connected to a joint, they play a role in that joint’s movement and/or stabilization.

Because the Hamstrings are attached to the hips, one of their purposes is hip extension. If you do a standing straight leg toe touch, the action of bringing yourself upright from this position is hip extension. This is why people often feel their hamstrings working during a back extension exercise; they actually are engaged in the movement.

The Hamstrings are also involved with movement of the knee, specifically the knee flexion and inward/outward rotation of the lower leg. The same way your Biceps Brachii flex your arm is very similar to how your hamstrings (which includes your Bicep Femoris) flex your leg at the knee. Because the Semimembranosis and Semitendinosis are responsible for turning your feet inward, and the Biceps Femoris is responsible for turning your feet outward. Different foot positioning can place different emphasis on the several muscles of the Hamstring group.

The most effective way to develop a muscle is to train it through all its functions. So what are some exercises for each function?

Hip Extension

To strengthen your hip extension movements, look to the following: any type of dead-lift, including a conventional stance, sumo stance, Romanian dead-lift, hex bar, or straight leg dead lift; Glute-Ham-raises; Reverse Hypers; Cable pull-through/kettle-bell swings; Back extensions; or Good-Mornings.

Knee Flexion

Doing exercises such as lying pronated (on your stomach) hamstring curls, Seated hamstring curls, or Glute-Ham-raises will help.

When you are choosing exercises for each function, the first thing to remember is an exercise does you no good if it causes you injury or worsens an existing condition. Especially in the Hip extension department, there are many highly touted exercises that pose a higher risk to injury. All through your life you are told to lift with your legs and not with your back, and that is because bending like a hinge to lift a load can be very, very bad for your back. Certainly the top of the list for injury risk would include straight leg dead-lifts, good mornings, and dead-lifts with poor form. Yes they do train the hip extension function of the hamstrings, but they use the lower back as a fulcrum. Better choices would be proper-form dead-lifts, Romanian dead-lifts, and Glute-Ham-raises. If you are recovering from a back injury, or just about every hip extension exercise gives you back problems, a good choice of low impact high reward exercises would be Glute-Ham raises, reverse-hypers, and back extensions.

When selecting knee flexion exercises, you should know a few things:
1. Laying hamstring curls are more effective than seated, although incorporating seated as well can be beneficial.
2. You can use different footing positions (feet forward, turned in, turned out) to slightly alter the muscle recruitment. So varying your stance can be beneficial during the curl.
3. Since glute ham raises work both functions they are a good bang for your buck exercise. They are also very low risk.

Strengthening and stretching your hamstrings can help with knee problems, back problems, and improve athletic performance. Give them the proper attention they deserve, and your body will thank you.

~PAUL