Hamstrings are the three muscles (bicep femoris, semitendinosus, semimenbranosusat) at the back of the thighs and they’re the third biggest muscles in our body. Their function is the opposite of the quadriceps muscles on the front side of the thigh.
Hamstrings have to be strong and flexible
While you’re training your hamstrings, it leads to an increase in your metabolism and helps prevent injuries or pain during yoga (or any sports).
Tight hamstrings cause poor posture, back pain and other various problems such as sacroiliac joint pain, as they will tend to pull the pelvis out of its normal position.
Function
– Hip joint: thigh extension, thigh external rotation
– Knee joint: leg flexion, leg external rotation
– Stabilizes pelvis
Application on Yoga poses
It works to stabilize the lower body when performing powerful asanas such as hero poses.
Contracted
– Chair pose (Utkatasana)
– Warrior 3 (Virabhadrasana III)
– Bridge (Setu Bandhasana)
Stretched
– Downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
– Standing Wide Legged Forward Bend (Prasaritha Paddottanasana)
– Half Splits (Ardha Hanumanasana)
