Importance of Hamstring Training at WST:

The hamstrings are a posterior muscle group that acts as an agonist to the quadriceps. The hamstrings are composed of three different muscles, the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. These muscles cause the leg to flex at the knee and also extend at the hip joint. It is believed that the quads are the most important “speed muscles” in the body, but the true speed muscles are actually the hamstrings and glutes. Both muscles play a much more important role in running stride, especially at high velocities. The hamstring muscle group is also especially important for effective sprinting in terms of explosive power and stride length. Furthermore, the hamstrings are key decelerators. In other words, the stronger your hamstrings are, the faster you can stop, change direction and then resume your running.

Most of the time, hamstring training is placed at the end of the workout routine. But to properly develop the very important knee flexors and hip extensor muscle group, hamstring exercises should be completed during the middle of every lower body and full body days. The hamstrings are built for speed, therefore they tend to be a fast-twitch dominant muscle group; but are also heavily involved in knee stabilization.  At WST we perform a hamstring exercise during every lower body and full body day. A few examples of hamstring exercises are Romanian Dead Lifts, Hip Ups, Good Mornings, 45 Hyper Machine, and the Reverse Hyper Machine, which all can be preformed in many different variations. Checkout the newest hamstring exercises at WST and become a stronger, faster, and more explosive athlete!