Happy Wednesday Friends!
Can you guess what today’s subject is?
Yesterday, there were MANY questions at the gym about deadlifts, if you are unsure, this is what a deadlift looks like (puppy weight optional but highly recommended):
The deadlift is a great exercise for the back of the legs and glutes…that is IF you don’t have absurdly tight hamstrings. If you do, you could be really risking an injury to the low back and nobody wants that!!
So, let’s take a step back and learn a little about the hamstrings:
Take a look at this illustration from my anatomy notebook, which gives us a more detailed understanding compared to Leopold’s tape model:
I colored the hamstring group in for you. As you can see, the three hamstring muscles are nestled quite nicely with many other muscles to comprise our powerful legs. So what is the takeaway here?
- The hamstrings are actually a group of THREE posterior thigh muscles.
- They originate at the Ischial Tuberosity (sit bone) on your pelvis
- The attach in their respective positions on the distal side of your knee
- This means they cross the HIP and KNEE joints and play an integral role in the health and function of these joints.
Stay tuned next week for a deeper breakdown of the roll tight hamstrings play in your physiology and some ways to start lengthening those tight hammies!
A Cup A Day 