Fitness Tip of the Day: Monday Muscles -- Summer Shape Up-Lower Body

To continue with the anatomy lesson--today I'm going to talk about your Hamstrings.  Your hamstrings are made up of three muscles:  the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus.

All three muscles are two-joint muscles, crossing both the hip and the knee.  At the hip, the hamstrings are prime movers, with the gluteus maximus for hip extension (straightening the hip).  At the knee, they are prime movers for knee flexion (bending back of the knee).  While it is important to do strength training exercises for your hamstrings (squats, lunges, etc.), the hamstrings are commonly tight muscles and need to be thoroughly stretched afterward (and regularly).  Tight hamstrings can contribute to lower back pain.
Yoga is great for tight hamstrings.

Here's the next Summer Shape Up Video for Lower Body --Weeks 3 & 4:

I would definitely do the lower body stretch video that is listed on the right sidebar afterward.