According to physical therapist Gray Cook, founder of Functional Movement Systems, many hamstring injuries are not caused by tight or weak hamstrings, but by weak hips and abdominal muscles that support the body. By increasing your stability and mobility in your core muscles, which include your abdominal and hip muscles, you will increase the strength and range of motion in your hamstrings and other leg muscles.
Function
Most textbooks describe the hamstrings' function as a leg flexor by bending the knee. Michael Clark, DPT, CEO of the National Academy of Sports Medicine in Calabasas, California, describes your hamstrings as a "personal assistant" for your buttocks and deep hip muscles for hip extension. They also function as a decelerator when you lower your body down into a lunge or when you slow down in a sprint.
In the book, "Stretch to Win," authors Ann and Chris Frederick describe your hamstrings as being part of the posterior fascia chain, which is a series of connective tissues that link certain muscle groups together like a train. The posterior fascia chain runs from the base of your neck, down through your back, hips, and hamstrings, and into your Achilles tendons. This chain moves your body front and back, such as in bending your spine and hips forward and back. When do you this movement, your hamstring provides strength and stability to maintain balance.
Misconceptions
According to Clark, training your hamstrings on a isolated machine at a gym elicits muscle growth, but not functional strength. It does not help you get stronger in sports or daily activities. When you train your hamstrings, choose exercises that strengthen your entire lower body and improve motor pattern to perform better.
Sample Exercises
An example of full-body hamstring and leg exercises include squats, step-ups, lunges, sprints, vertical jumps and long-distance jumps. Not only will such exercises strengthen your body, but they will also expend more calories than isolated training.
If you want to emphasize strengthening your hamstrings, do the leg curls on a stability ball. This strengthens your pelvic floor's muscles as well as your hamstrings. Lay on the ground and place your calves and feet on the ball. With your arms to your sides, lift your hips off the ground. Bend your knees and hips to bring the ball closer to your butt. Keep your pelvis in the same position as you started and do not bend your lower back. Gradually extend your legs and repeat the movement.
Benefits
Exercises that emphasize your hamstrings will make them resist tissue tears and damage, but the hamstrings must be mobile enough to absorb any physical contact. They will also increase muscle definition in the back of your legs.
Expert Insight
According to Evan Osar, D.C., founder of O.S.A.R. Consulting in Chicago, Illinois, strength training your hamstrings or any leg muscle group alone would not be enough to prevent injuries or increase athletic performance. By combining hip and abdominal exercises with lower-body exercises, you will strengthen your hamstrings and other leg muscles as well. At the end of your training, stretch your hamstrings and hips to attain normal muscle length and decrease stiffness.
References
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook; 2003
- "PTontheNet"; Groin and Hamstring Injuries; Evan Osar; January 2009
- "PTontheNet"; Essentials of Integrated Training, Part 1; Michael Clark; October 2001
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