Working out means strengthening up the whole body — not just the abs and the arms. Runners keep their lower extremities, especially their hamstrings, boosted to up their game. Now, if you’re looking for a way to strengthen those thigh muscles, this article has the best bodyweight hamstring exercises for you.
Strengthening The Hams
Jen Weir, an NSCA-certified strength-and-conditioning specialist and a writer at livestrong.com, shares to us great ways to do bodyweight hamstring exercises that will help you shape up those hams. They are as follows:
- Air Squat
- Reverse Plank
- Hamstring Curl
- Floor Hip Extension
How They Work
Air Squat
If you’re like me who grew up in a military way of discipline in the household, you understand how dreadful air squatting is for a child. But I later realized how this type of “punishment” actually helped me physically, especially my lower extremities.
According to Weir, air squats work the majority of the lower body muscles which mainly includes the hamstrings. This type of exercise also works on your shoulders since you need to extend your arms forward to get balance.
Reverse Plank
To be honest, I could do the standard plank longer than this one. However, this type of plank offers another level of strengthening the muscles. I do this for an intense workout on my hams. Try it to see for yourself.
“The reverse plank isolates the hamstrings and glutes while strengthening your abdominal muscles.”
Hamstring Curls
Regularly performing this exercise strengthens your hamstrings and stretches your quadriceps. You can complete this workout with your desired number of reps on each leg. Hamstring curls work efficiently towards gaining your lower muscle strength goal.
Floor Hip Extension
Floor Hip Extension is a common and easy leg exercise that surely sculpts your hams. Aside from planking, I also include this in my work-break workouts to help keep me active and focused. According to Weir, this exercise targets not only the hamstrings but also the gluteus maximus muscles.
Do These Bodyweight Hamstring Exercises
With the information above, you can go and sweat out your hamstring goals even during breaks at home. No need of anything but a floor and space to do your workouts on.
“You don’t need a gym membership or your own expensive equipment to develop strength and muscular endurance anywhere on your body.”
These bodyweight hamstring exercises are what you need to shape up those hams! If you’ve done these already, don’t forget to share your hamstring exercise journey on the comments below.
You can view the quoted article at LIVESTRONG.COM for more.
