Hamstring Exercises
Hamstring exercises focus on the backs of your thighs. The hamstring muscles do come in to play when you're working your glutes and quads, but the leg exercises listed below focus more intensely on those back-of-thigh muscles. A typical hamstring workout will include 2-3 of the best hamstring exercises listed below, such as hamstring curls. Remember to mix the exercises up with each workout! Hamstring CurlsLying Leg Curl with Dumbbell: Lie face down on a bench with your knees at the end of the bench and a dumbbell gripped between your feet (this is a little tricky - you might want to enlist the aid of a friend to help get the dumbbell between your feet until you get the hang of doing it yourself). Curl your legs up as high as they can go without lifting your upper legs off of the bench. Hold for a count of two and return to start position.Hamstring Curl with Exercise Ball: Lie on the floor on your back. Place your heels on the top of an exercise ball. Lift your hips and legs off the floor, keeping your back straight. Roll the ball in toward your body while bending your knees to a ninety degree angle. Hold for a count of two. Return to start position. One-Leg Hamstring Curl with Exercise Ball: Lie on the floor on your back. Place your right heel on the top of an exercise ball while lifting your left leg in the air. Lift your hips and legs off the floor, keeping your back straight. Roll the ball in toward your body while bending your right knee to a ninety degree angle. Hold for a count of two. Return to start position. Continue for the desired number of reps. Repeat with the left foot. Dead LiftsDumbbell Dead Lift: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Set two dumbbells on the floor, slightly forward and at the sides of your feet. Bend your knees and squat down. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and lift them off the floor as you straighten your body and return to an upright position. Bend your knees and squat down. Place the dumbbells back on the floor. Return to start position.Stiff Leg Dead Lift: Stand with a dumbbell in each hand. Bend at the waist, keeping back flat and your knees slightly bent. Let your arms hang naturally toward the floor with your palms facing each other. Straighten to a standing position while continuing to let your arms hang naturally toward the floor. Bend at the waist to return to start position. One-Leg Dead Lift: Stand with a dumbbell in each hand and extend your left leg behind you and lift it off the floor about two inches. Tip forward from the hips, keeping back flat and your knees slightly bent. Lower the dumbbells toward the floor. Let your arms hang naturally toward the floor with your palms facing each other. Push through your right heel and return to start position. KickbacksKickback: Kneel on the floor on your hands and knees with a flat back. Lift your right leg slightly off the floor, keeping the ninety degree angle of your leg (start position). , Lift your right leg as high as possibagain keeping the ninety degree angle of your leg. Return to start position. Continue for the desired number of reps. Repeat with the left foot.Standing Kickback with Band: Secure an exercise band around a sturdy, immobile object, a few inches above the floor. Face toward the object and place your right foot securely through the handle of the exercise band. Raise your right leg to the back while keeping it straight without bending the knee. Hold for a count of two. Return to start position.Continue for the desired number of reps. Repeat with the left foot. Hip RaisesHip Raise: Lie on the floor on your back. Bend your legs and bring your heels in so they are almost touching your butt. Lift your hips and legs off the floor, keeping your back straight. Hold for a count of two. Return to start position.Bench Hip Raise: Lie on the floor on your back, with your knees bent and place your feet on the edge of a bench that's about 24" high. Lift your hips and legs off the floor, keeping your back straight. Hold for a count of two. Return to start position. Miscellaneous Hamstring ExercisesGlute Ham Raise: One of the best, yet relatively unknown, hamstring exercises. Kneel on the floor and anchor your feet under a sturdy, immobile object. Slowly lower your upper body toward the floor. As you get closer to the floor, you'll want to catch yourself and give a gentle push upward as you return to the start position.Good Mornings: Stand with feet shoulder width apart and with one dumbbell held in both hands. Let yourhands hang naturally in front of you. Bend at the hips, keeping your back straight, and lower the dumbbell toward the floor. Return to the start position. While hamstring exercises alone will not get rid of cellulite, which is so common on the backs of our thighs, adding muscle and tightening that area with the right hamstring exercises will help diminish the appearance of cellulite.
|
Want to create your own website?
Earn some extra cash?
Maybe even be your own boss?
Click here to find out how.
Wondering what's for
dinner tonight?
Check out these
easy healthy recipes from
Little Black Dress Fitness Tips!