The Hamstring

The hamstrings are the muscles on the back of your thigh. If we break the word down, the “ham” part refers to the bulk of the muscle, while the “string” part refers to the tendon behind the knee connecting to other muscles. While contracting the hamstring it will bend the knee. It can also help extend the hip. This muscle is such a big part of our lives even if you might not realize it. Have you ever wondered just how much you use this it? When you walk, run, sit down, or stand up you’re using this massive muscle, or should I say 3 muscles of which make them up (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus). Without them none of that would be possible!

With the the hamstring being such a large muscle you wouldn’t want to injury it. They are very susceptible to being injured. Contusions (bruises), strains, or a tears are common but can be avoided. Injuries to this muscle will cause problems with walking, running, jumping, and any motion that requires the contraction of the muscle. Injuries can take months to heal properly and that means you can be in a wheelchair or crutches for a long time if it happens to you. Luckily here you can learn all about an injury and how to prevent them using some very simple techniques like stretching and warming up. Stretches and warm ups don’t take long and there’s a ton of benefits you can get from them. If you already have an injury then we have some advice for you on our injury page.

If you aren’t injured why not try to strengthen your legs? There are big benefits of exercising, including: improved mood and energy! There are plenty of exercises you can do and we can teach you the correct way work the them out to reach your goals. Weather your goal is strength, toning, hypertrophy, or endurance we can help you out. We have a whole list of exercises to reach your goal on our exercises page.

One thing you should always do is to stretch on a daily basis, especially if you workout. Muscles tend to tighten up and lose their range of motion (ROM) over time. Because of this stretching is highly important to everyone young and old. There is a handful of stretch variations you can do to hit the hamstrings and they should always be done with proper technique. If done right there are a number of benefits you can obtain from doing so. If you’re interested check check out our stretches page.

As you can tell this is the place to learn all about the hamstring. Click on any of the above images to take you to the subject you would like to learn about whether it be anatomy, exercises, injuries, or stretches.