As a fitness editor, there’s nothing I love more than a weird and wonderful workout challenge. than try 50 walking boards per day for a weekto me Walk 10,000 steps a day for a monthWell, I’ve tried everything. Next on my list was hamstring curls, so I decided to add 50 to my routine for a week — read on to see what happened.
A simple hamstring wrap targets the muscles in the back of the thigh, including the semimembranosus and the biceps femoris, which make up the hamstrings. These muscles work together to allow you to bend at the knee and move your thigh—critical for walking and running. Hamstring curl, or leg curl, is a simple exercise that involves bending your knees and moving your heels toward your butt while keeping the rest of your body still. It’s usually performed on a leg curl machine, but there are a number of alternatives you can do without going to the gym.
The hamstring curl is a great exercise for runners, but what will 50 a day do for my legs? I set out to find out. As a reminder, it is not recommended to work on the same muscle group every day because it is important to give the muscles time to recover after they have been stressed. If you’re new to working out, or you’re getting back into exercise after an injury, it’s a good idea to check your form with a personal trainer before adding reps or weight to a movement.
Looking for more workout inspiration? That’s what happened when this writer did it Bicep curls every day for a weekPlus, when a fitness writer shrugged her shoulders 50 Arnold presses daily for a week.
How to do a hamstring stretch
As mentioned in the introduction, I mainly focused on variations that didn’t involve going to the gym. Here are a few options:
Standing hamstring roll: This is the simplest form of hamstring curl. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, shifting your weight to your left leg. Bend your right knee, bring your heel up to your right butt, and then slowly lower your leg back to the starting position. Complete all repetitions on one side before moving to the other leg.
Prone hamstring wrap: To do a hamstring curl, use a long resistance band and wrap it around something stable. Lying on your stomach, loop a resistance band around one heel with your ankle bent. Pull on the resistance band to lower your heels to your butt. Pause, then return your leg to the starting position.
Dumbbell hamstring exercise: To do a hamstring curl, hold a dumbbell between your feet and curl both feet toward your butt, then lower your back to the starting position. You can also use a combination of The best ankle weights If you don’t have dumbbells on hand.
I did 50 hamstring curls a day for a week – here’s what happened
As a runner, strong legs are important when it comes to acceleration and avoiding injury, but after 350 hamstring stretches over the course of a week, here are the lessons learned:
I realized how lazy my hamstrings and glutes had become
Like many runners, I suffer from sore, weak muscles, and realized very quickly how dominant I would become as a runner in my first 50 hamstring exercise. I chose to add a resistance band and I’m doing hamstring curls, and I can definitely feel the back of my legs working really hard during the movement. I also quickly noticed that one leg was much stronger than the other — I’m left-handed, and tend to lead off my right leg, but doing the hamstring curls really highlighted that my left side was weaker.
If you are looking for a group of The best resistance bands For home training, we found it here. You will need a long strap for this exercise.
I have enjoyed a variety of this exercise
During some of these week-long challenges, I got sick to death of working out by day two. The joy of hamstring curls was being able to mix things up every day. I grabbed a set of ankle weights and did hamstring curls one day, stuck a dumbbell between my feet another day, and even used a yoga ball to do leg curls, resting my feet on the ball and lifting my hips and legs off the floor, then rolling the ball through my glutes. One day, I went to the gym to do it on the leg curl machine, but I preferred resistance bands and weights.
Whether you’re at home or in the gym, this is a move that can be easily modified or customized.
Adding resistance and weight upped the ante
I found that using resistance bands and weights helped increase the load on my hamstrings during this exercise. When using a heavier weight, it is important to consider pressing your belly button into the mat to avoid arching your back and putting pressure on your spine.
I won’t do it every day, but I will add it to my leg exercises in the future
By the end of this week, I definitely felt this hamstring movement. No doctor recommends hitting the same muscle group every day, so while I will definitely be adding hamstring curls to my leg exercises in the future, I’m looking forward to taking a break for now.
Looking for more leg day inspiration? Take a look at this The 7-Move Bell Leg Workout to Build Bigger Legsin addition to this 7-minute gluteal bands exercise.
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