5 Simple Hamstring Exercises for Improved Knee and Hip Function

This video demonstrates a variety of simple hamstring-strengthening and activating exercises that almost invariably lead to improved knee and hip function. Please be sure to have the volume on your viewing device and within the video on for accompanying guidance for each exercise.

As you walk, run, jump, and climb stairs, your hamstrings serve to bend your knees and rotate your lower leg. The lateral head of your hamstrings - called the biceps femoris muscle - enables outward rotation of your lower leg, while the middle and medial heads of your hamstrings - the semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles - allow inward rotation of your lower leg; outward and inward rotation of your lower legs allow for necessary adjustments to the position of your feet as you move along uneven terrain. All three heads of your hamstrings also serve to decelerate your lower leg as it swings forward when you walk, run, jump, and kick.

Your hamstrings also serve to extend your hips as you walk, run, jump, and stand up from a seated position.

Please have a look at other videos in our YouTube library on exercises for knee and hip pain, as said exercises complement the ones in this video in supporting optimal mobility of the lower extremities.