Score Hot Hamstrings

February 28, 2014

Whether you’re rocking pink tights or booty shorts, a pair of toned hamstrings can be your best accessory onstage. Strong hamstrings give you a long, lean look by evening out your thighs and keeping your quads from getting bulky. Even better? They power développés that reach toward the sky, not the horizon. “Once your leg passes 90 degrees, it’s the hamstrings—not the quads—that hold it there,” says Jessica Sander, a personal trainer and freelance dancer in NYC. “They’re the keys to high extensions.”

Build these exercises into your routine three to four times a week, and you’ll start to see—and feel—results in about a month. Just make sure you don’t simply go through the motions. “The hamstrings don’t always fire on their own—other parts of the body like to take the work,” warns Sander. “So for all of these, pay close attention to your form.”

You’ll need:

1. a stability ball

2. a set of 10-lb. weights

Do each move
15–20 times. Rest, then repeat.

Dead Lift

Stand in parallel with your feet directly under your hips. Hold a 10-lb. weight in each hand, with your palms facing your thighs.

Hinge from your hips with a flat back and lower the weights to just above your feet, keeping your hands close to your shins and your head in line with your spine. Initiate from your hamstrings to slowly return to the standing position.

Sander says: “In the flat back position, let your legs be relaxed, but pull your abs in.”

Single-Leg Bridge

Lie on your back with one leg reaching straight up to the ceiling, and the opposite foot flat on the floor with the knee bent.


Slowly raise your hips until your knees, hips and shoulders come into a straight diagonal line, then return to the floor. Switch legs after a set of 15–20 reps. You should feel the burn in your supporting leg.


Sander says: “Don’t use that leg in the air for momentum—keep it perpendicular to the floor the whole time. This is a small, controlled movement.”

Quadraped Hamstring Curl

Start on your hands and knees, making sure your hips are over your knees and your shoulders are over your wrists. Reach one leg straight back, lifting it off the floor so it’s parallel to the ground and in line with your hip.Without letting your quad drop or your hips move, engage your glutes and bend your working knee until your shin is perpendicular to the floor, then straighten. Switch legs after a set of 15­–20 reps.Sander says: “Keep your abs pulling up the whole time so your back doesn’t arch.”

Hamstring Rollout

Start by lying on your back, with your knees bent in tight and a stability ball under your heels, as close to you as possible.

As you exhale, press your feet into the ball to lift your hips. Keep your shoulders and neck relaxed—there should be space between your chest and chin.


Keeping your core engaged, straighten your legs to roll the ball away from you, and then draw it back. Repeat 15–20 times. The goal is to keep your hips up in the air the entire time, but if you need to modify the exercise, you can come down between repetitions.


Sander says: “You have to engage your glutes for this one, or you’ll get a charley horse in your hamstrings.”


Watch it!
Click here to see Jessica Sander walk our fabulously fit model, Elizabeth Yilmaz, through these moves.

 

 

Jessica Sander, a personal trainer certified by ACE, AFFA and Stott Pilates, holds a BFA in dance from Towson University. Elizabeth Yilmaz is a freelance dancer based in NYC.

Photography by Erin Baiano. Hair and makeup by Chuck Jensen for Mark Edward Inc. Modeled by Elizabeth Yilmaz. Clothing provided by Jo+Jax.