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(< A few weeks ago, we've looked at the research showing that adequate hamstring strength is important for preventing lower body injuries in athletes [1, 2]. In today's post, I want to go a bit more in-depth on how you can effectively train your hamstrings. - The hamstrings cross two joints: the knees and the hip. A muscle that crosses two joints is often referred to as a 'biarticular muscle' [3]. Because the hamstrings cross two joints, they also have two main functions: Knee Flexion and Hip Extension [4]. - Knee flexion occurs when you move the lower leg toward the back of your thigh (think leg curls), hip extension occurs when you move your thigh backward (think hinge movements like Romanian deadlifts). - By incorporating both knee flexion and hip extension exercises in your routine, you may be able to promote more balanced hamstring development [5]. - Also, since many hamstring exercises, like deadlifts, tend to cause quite a bit of muscle damage, it's a good idea to divide the number of sets per week you do for hamstrings over multiple training sessions so you can better manage lower body fatigue. - Swipe left for more details and example exercises. - References: 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/17313266 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/12859607 3. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/17624355 4. http://www./Muscles/Hamstrings.html 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/24978835 |
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