Last month, immediately after submitting my previous article about eating, exercise, and taking care of “self,” I was asked to write a new article regarding hamstrings. I wasn’t caught off guard by the request, because it seems everyone has tight hamstrings. Fortunately, actually unfortunately, I know the subject all too well, since I have had a nagging biceps femoris for years! Not until I got the muscle really strong did I finally get relief. And still, I am very careful, especially at the muscle’s origin — up near my gluteus maximus (my bottom) — when I stretch.

The hamstrings are actually a grouping of three separate muscles. Two are medial (inner thigh): the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. The third is the biceps femoris, forming the lateral portion of the thigh. All three muscles originate on the ischial tuberosity (the sitting bone). The hamstrings trifurcate below the knee and insert on the two lower leg bones, the tibia and fibula.

While sitting, you can easily feel your hamstring by planting your heel on the ground and pulling your heel back. It’s even easier to locate the tendons of the hamstrings, behind and just above the knee, when you pull the heel back with your knee partially bent.

The hamstrings have two actions: they bend the knee and extend the hip. Standing up from a seated position is one example of hip extension.

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