The word "hamstring" can mean two things when it comes to the human body:
Any of the three posterior thigh muscles: the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris
The tendons that comprise the borders of the area behind the knee
The hamstring muscles act upon and cross two joints:
The hip
The knee
Basic functions of the hamstring muscles include:
Extending the hip when the trunk is stationary -- via the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus
Extending the hip, such as when beginning to walk -- via the long head of the biceps femoris
Flexing the knee -- via the long and short heads of the biceps femoris
Outwardly (laterally) rotating the lower leg when the knee is bent -- via the long and short heads of the biceps femoris
Decelerating knee extension -- by acting as an antagonist to the quadriceps
If you care about how much your hamstrings support your running, then you probably engage in some of all of these activities:
You use the leg-curl exercise to strengthen in isolation your hamstring muscles.
You frequently perform the basic hamstring stretch, which usually entails standing and putting a foot on a stationary object that is waist high and then slowly leaning forward.
You often perform other hamstring stretches, such as the toy-soldier march (a dynamic stretch) and the passive static stretch that entails lying on your back, putting your legs against a wall, and scooting your buttocks toward the wall until you feel a strong stretch.
You wear compression tights to support the muscles and blood flow in your hamstrings.
The Law of Attraction tells us that regularly dwelling with strong emotions -- positive or negative -- on something tends to lead to more of that in our lives. For example, dwelling on an ache or pain will tend to activate the brain to search for and find more of that ache or pain in the future, whereas dwelling on efficient running will tend to lead to more running that is efficient.
You can take advantage of this when it comes to running and your hamstrings. In particular, you can make a list of statements of gratitude for your hamstrings and then daily or weekly dwell with positive emotions on the list -- so that you will tend to attract into your running life the activities, behaviors, and knowledge that you need for your hamstrings to continue to support your running.
Here are three examples of statements of gratitude that you might write:
I am truly grateful that I take time to perform leg-curl exercises to strengthen my hamstrings.
I love to wear compression tights to support my hamstrings.
I am thankful for every exercise that I learn for stretching my hamstrings.
Use the above information plus your own knowledge about how your hamstrings serve your running to write as many statements like this as possible.
Author Resource:-
Dr. Kirk Mahoney loves to walk and run, and his SpryFeet.com website provides practical research for runners and walkers. By going to the Books section of his website, you can learn more about the books that he has written for runners and walkers, including the book Mental Tricks for Endurance Runners and Walkersand the book 123 Cellphone Tips for Runners and Walkers.
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