Friday, October 29, 2010

Hamstring Strengthening Exercise At Home

The Hamstring Standing Curl is a hamstring strengthening exercise that you can do at home.

When I was a teenager, many moons ago, I remember my dad wanting to take up bowling. So we went to the alley to start this new bowling adventure.

Nothing happened at first as we learned to enjoy this sport, but then as my dad got ready to throw the bowl down the alley, he turened and asked, "Who shot me?" We looked at him with a puzzling stare, and told him that no one shot him. He insisted that he was shot in the leg. Of course, we found out later that he injured one of his hamstring muscles.

Our dad, who was not extremely active, injured a muscle that he simple did not use much. This injury could have been avoided with this simple hamstring strengthening exercise - the hamstring standing curl.

The hamstrings are the three muscles in the back of your thigh. They are the
  • Biceps femoris
  • Semitendinosus
  • And Semimembranosus

All three flex the leg and extends the thigh.

You can do this easy exercise if you can stand next to a chair or counter for support, and bend your knee with one leg while standing on the other leg. The procedure is as follows:

  • Stand next to a chair, counter or table for support. Use just a few fingers to help keep your balance.
  • Keep your neck and spine straight and well aligned.
  • As you breathe out, bend your right knee, and raise your right calf behind you.
  • Hold for a count of three and lower your leg back to the starting position as you breathe in.
  • Repeat this workout with your left leg.
  • Try to do 8 to 12 repetitions at least 3 times a week, every other day. Eventually, you should be able to do this simple workout every day.

This is a great hamstring strengthening exercise and very easy to do. With this simple exercise, you should be able to avoid the type of injury that plagued my dad.

Charles

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1 comment:

  1. It's really important to stretch your hamstrings after you exercise because this is when the muscles are warm, and most receptive to stretching. Good strength and flexibility can increase performance and decrease injury and soreness. I got a foam roller that really helped, and I also use Toe Stretchers, that are also beneficial to stretching your hamstrings, as well as hammer toe. SmartToes also provide hammer toe treatment, bunion treatment and overall relief for stressed out feet.

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