Meet Your Muscles

Muscles...some people want to build them. Some people want to tone them. Some people want to shrink them. Some people want to flex them at parties. Some people just want to have them. Meet Your Muscles gives you a unique look at some of your 430+ skeletal muscles.

The hamstring is a group of three individual muscles located along the back of both of your legs. Growing up they were a little awkward and out of shape, not always so muscular and powerful. Kids quickly caught on and cruelly called them 'hammy or hammies'. The legend of the hamstrings spread when the childhood nickname stuck and still to this day everyone tries, 'not to pull a hammy'.

Ways to 'not pull a hammy':

• Hamstring specific exercises - Leg presses, squats, and lunges are great! The only problem is that they may be quadriceps ( your front thigh muscles) dominant. If your quad to hamstring (front to back) ratio gets too out of whack you may be prone to injury. Add at least one hamstring specific exercise to your repertoire.

• Strengthen glutes - One of the main jobs of the glutes is to bring your leg backwards, like when you walk or jog. If they are weak or not activating properly ( due to muscular imbalances around the hip and/or the amount of sitting we do ) they cannot do their job of well. The body automatically hires, the hamstrings as a 'temp'.Unfortunately, the hamstrings cannot do the glutes job over the long-term without problems for you. Strengthening the glutes will help keep HR from hiring the 'temp'.

• Strengthen core - The hamstrings run all the way up from the knee 'pit' to the pelvis. Any muscles that attach to the pelvis are going to be influenced by your deep core muscles. Strengthening the core will help all of your muscles better work together and have your limbs move more efficiently.
  
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