Hamstring: The Forgotten Muscle

The hamstring is probably one of the most forgotten about muscles and that’s probable because they can't be seen in the mirror, so people may think they're not as important as the Quadriceps (quads). Personally, I’m just lazy, so once I’ve done my variation of squats and lunges, doing hamstring exercises are the last thing on my mind.

However, recently I found out that I might suffer from knee problems because my Hamstrings are weaker than my Quads. I know knee problems are quite common in females and after having a read around the problem, I think this might be something a lot of females might relate to.

Before I go any further, I think I should explain the function of the Quads and the Hamstring and how they relate to your knees.

So your upper leg contains two opposing muscle groups, your Quads and your Hamstring. These muscles together, move your hip joints and your knee and stabalise your knee.

Your Quads flex (bend) your hip and extend (straighten) your knee and your hamstring extends (straightens) your hip and flexes (bends) your knee. In most cases, the Hamstring tends to be weaker than the Quads because the Quads are bigger and are used more frequently in day to day activities.

I’ve suffered from ‘bad’ knees for about a year now. I went to physio, completed my rehab exercises and home works and had the all clear to go back to weight training, but things were never the same.

It is important to have a balance between your Hamstring and your Quads because a strength imbalance increases the risk of injuries, such as damage to your muscles, ligaments and joints. As your Quads contract, your Hamstring lengthens and if you’re Hamstrings are too weak, your Quads will pull your Hamstring faster than it can lengthen, which may be too forceful and that’s where the injury starts.

Putting this into context with my own training regime, it all makes sense. I rarely train my hamstrings anyway, in comparison to my quads, so this does not come as a surprise at all *sigh*.

So how can you fix this problem then? It’s simple, train your Hamstring!

There are several exercises that can be done, which I will list below:

1.     Stiff Leg Deadlift 

2.     Lying leg curl 

3.     Good mornings 

4.     Exercise ball curls 

5.     Kettlebell deadlifts 

6.     Glute bridge 

All these exercises should help increase the ratio between your hamstrings and your quadriceps, which should hopefully fix the problem.

G

 

How to stay motivated to exercise during the winter

The clocks have been pushed back, the days are shorter, the temperatures are colder and motivation is hard to find. This can only mean one thing- winter is officially upon us *welcomes with open arms*.

Unfortunately, winter can even discourage the most motivated exercisers and it can become really easy to pack away your lycra leggings and dri-fit clothing for some extra moments with your hot water bottle and duvet. Most people dread winter training but strangely enough, I really enjoy it.

I actually prefer winter training to summer training. Why? Well “hot bodies are made in cold conditions”, that’s why.

From past experience, I've found that my body responds to exercise much faster during the winter than in the summer. I haven’t figured out why this is, but knowing that this is the case, I’m making sure that my winter training doesn't go in vain.

I’ll be completely honest though, I do have the odd occasional days where I can’t be bothered and would rather stay at home, but there are certain things I do to stop this from happening which I will list below:

1.    Going to work out straight from work

If you’re like me, then you know that once you get into your house and it’s warm, you’re not going to leave again. So, plan to workout straight after work. This should allow you to avoid the temptation of staying at home. Plus, I always see it as; I didn’t carry my heavy gym bag around me all day to not make use of it.

2.    Dressing appropriately

When you think about it, once you start working out, you actually can’t feel the cold, so the weather shouldn’t really be an excuse. However, you should invest in some thermal clothing, socks and gloves to keep those key areas warm. Also, wear layers that can easily be removed once you start to sweat. You don’t want that chilly feeling once you’re dry and your clothes are still wet because that way you’ll catch a cold.

3.    Home workouts

Why not exercise in the comfort of your own home. If you don’t own any fitness DVD’s YouTube is your best friend. There are tons of fitness workouts online that you could try, which don’t require any equipment. Im currently doing the ‘500 Core Ab Circuit’ at home, which I will upload in a separate post.

4.    Revisiting goals

I use this time to reflect on my progress over the last few months and decide what I want to accomplish before the seasons over. For example, one of my new short term goals, before the end of the year, is to be able to do full chin ups from a dead hang position, because I currently can only do them from a 90 degree angle. By re-evaluating your goals you can analyse how far away from them you are. It may be the case that you realise your short term goals have changed and you want to accomplish something new within the next few months. This should keep you on your toes and see the new season as a new challenge.

5.    Rewards

So once I’ve reached my goal, I plan to treat myself. I haven’t decided on the treat yet but I know the treat will not undermine my efforts. So no, I will not be treating myself to a trip to Hagen Daz lol but you get the idea...

6.    Try something new

I want to take my training to another level so I’m going to join a CrossFit gym and I’ve also started pole. Trying something new doesn’t have to be life changing; it can be as little as changing your fitness regime or trying a new piece of gym equipment. Either way, adding something new might be another way to stay motivated to exercise in winter.

7.    Buddy up

I currently work out with different people. For example, I work out with specific people when I’m doing legs, when I’m doing arms, and when I’m doing cardio. Just make sure whoever you’re working out with, has the same goals as you. Working out with someone else will give you a reason to keep going and to stay motivated as you won’t want to let them down as well as yourself.

There are probably loads more other things you could do, but these are the main ones that have and are currently working for me.

Why not try incorporating a few or all of these into your current regime and see if they help you stay motivated this winter.

G

Marathon vs Sprinter

The way you exercise is important because it determines the shape your body eventually moulds into. Here we have a marathon runner (left) and a sprinter (right). Can you spot the difference in their physiques?

Although both are runners, the difference in their training is important. Cardio is the most effective way to burn fat and calories. However, it can also burn muscle. Whilst doing long periods of cardio, the body has to find its largest resources of calories, which more often tends to be from the muscles. When your cardio is maintained for long periods of time at low/moderate intensity level, a hormone called Cortisol is released which leads to muscle burning.

However, short intense cardio utilises and uses up your bodies stored sugars more (needed for short bursts of high intensity) and has a greater after burn effect. Cortisol is again released by the body but this is also released alongside growth hormones and testosterone, which enhances fat burning and leads to a higher muscle building state.

You tend to burn more fat during high intensity workouts rather than low/moderate intensity workouts because high intensity has an after burn effect. This is basically where your metabolism has been kicked into overdrive and the body continues to burn off calories after your workout. 



Education is key and to be honest as I was reading this I surprised myself with the knowledge that I did know. Sometimes doing your own research and asking fitness experts in the industry is the only way to truly understand how the body responds to different exercises. This way you will always be pointing your body in the right direction as you’ll know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

My current goal is to shed body fat without losing too much mass, whilst still maintaining my curves. Although the majority of my training involves high intensity cardio anyway, I will still embark on a few low/moderate intensity workouts to help target my stubborn fat. I will also combat any risk of muscle loss here by ensuring I maintain my weight sessions in the gym.



So next time you decide to do cardio, think about your goals and what you are trying to achieve. If your aim is to achieve lean muscle and get that ‘tight look’ as opposed to just weight loss, think about doing intervals or simply running that much faster so you reduce your time…remember it is NOT about duration, it is about intensity.

G

Triple P: Patience Persistence Progression

Let me be honest, unless you appreciate these 3 p's, your fitness journey will be short lived. Like the saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day" and neither was the perfect body. Put it this way, if it was that simple then I'm pretty sure everyone would have the body they desired and PT's and instructors wouldn't exist.-but it's not that simple.

Patience

I've been on this journey for over a year and it's not only till recently that I'm actually starting to see results. GetbodiedByJ says she’s been training for over 10 years and her body’s improved after having her two children.

@getbodiedbyj

It's all about exercising patience and riding out the storm because the results will be worth it in the end.

Persistence

If at first u don’t succeed dust yourself off and try again #NoAaliyah. The saying goes if it isn't broke don't fix it…If you’re doing something and it's working for u then keep doing it ! However, if you've been doing something for a while and it’s not making the changes you want then you have to switch things up. Try increasing or decreasing your resistance, doing more reps, alternative exercises or work out with different people. Whatever you do, just switch it up!

Progress

If you exercise patience and persistence, this should lead to progression.

My cousin @lucioustv is living proof that squats do work people!!!
Pictures are the best way to track your progress. The good thing about before and after pictures is that they allow you to see the results of your hard work and it's also a good way to keep you motivated. 

Sometimes I do get discouraged but my pictures keep me motivated and show me how far I've come and how hard I've worked.

So guys whenever you feel like giving up just keep calm and remember the 3 p's.

G

Eat Clean & Get Lean

So from 1st April until 31st May, I’ve decided to experiment with my body and food with the aim of targeting my stomach. I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking “oh please there’s nothing wrong with your stomach”. Well… I beg to differ! I have premature packs that want to come through and my stomach is not firm…I’m so sure it’s confused. Please don’t let the images fool you because my stomach still folds when I sit down looool.

But anyway… This is the 5^th week of switching up my diet, and I’m feeling great! A typical day for me food-wise looks like this:

Breakfast 8:00am	Fruit & Veg Smoothie
Snack 11:00am	Fruit Salad
Lunch 1:00pm	Prepared Meal (Salmon, Sweet Potato & Veg)
Snack 3:00pm	Fruits & Nuts
Pre-dinner 5:00pm (usually before gym)	Salmon Sandwich (brown bread)
Dinner  8:00pm	Prepared Meal (Chicken Breast, Quinoa & Veg)

 

Yup! It's pretty simple and I'm starting to see the benefits.

What I think has made such a difference is the little things. For example, I’ve avoided saturated fats, oils, dairy and processed sugars etc. I've not had any sweets, junk food (Ok, I’m lying … :( There was that one trip to TGI lol), additional salt or dressing on my meals. If I've needed more flavour I've opted for lemon juice.

Any fats I've consumed have been natural - from nuts and protein and any sugars have come from my fruits.

Exercise wise I haven't done much because of my knee injury. So I've been taking it easy and I've still seen a difference, so just imagine how much change will occur if I went hard on the cardio.

Remember this is just an example of what I’ve done and what has worked for ME. I know loads of people don’t like eating carbs after 7 and that’s fine… But I’ve been eating carbs after 7 and I haven’t seen any negative results. I guess it’s all about knowing what works for YOUR body.

So why not experiment for 30 days and see what results you come out with.

G

Sunday Funday

The weather wasn’t too bad on Sunday, so after church I decided to have a little workout in the park with my cousins. It was a short session which consisted of bodyweight exercises.

Bodyweight exercises are so convenient. You don’t need equipment, you can workout literally anywhere and all you need is your body! 

What I like about these types of exercises, is that they require more flexibility and balance in order to perform reps, in comparison to weight training. Because you have to use your bodyweight to adjust the difficulty of exercises, you learn how to make use of your entire body in any given movements.  

It's all about becoming one with your body because you’re literally working with what you've got and your body HAS to tone itself because it’s naturally being conditioned to the same weight all the time. Not only that but, you can workout towards your own strengths and weaknesses, as through doing certain exercises you'll be able to learn what muscles are stronger/weaker.

There is an ongoing discussion about Bodyweight Training vs Weight Training but that’s a different blog post. Personally, I like them both and think when combined together you get good results, but that’s just my opinion. J

But yh ...since the weathers getting better now, I plan to do a lot more training in the park on weekends…so anyone interested let me know and lets do this!

G

Meal Prep

Im a busy body- I leave my house at 7:30am and don’t usually get back home until 9/10pm everyday. Getting home around them times to now start cooking my meals is even longer than it sounds…so what do I do? I meal prep!

On Sundays, I cook enough Protein, Carbs & Veg to last me for the working week (Mon-Fri), put them into individual containers and keep them in the fridge. There’s no need to put the meals in the freezer because the food will still be fresh by the time Im ready to eat it.

This saves so much time and money as it allows me to avoid eating rubbish, spending money on food or skipping meals when I’m out and about during the week.

I just grab a container and ‘voilà’ …Im good to go.

Try it….meal prep for a week and see how much time and money you save.

G

Happy Holiday

Whilst everyone has been suffering from freezing temperatures and snow flakes, I've been away on holiday. 

The majority of the time a holiday is used as an excuse to go wild and throw away good habits. The restaurant dining, lazing about, lounging, fast food meals, late night snacks, excessive alcohol consumption and messed up sleeping patterns can sometimes leave you feeling more tired than before you left for your holiday.

But not me, I decided to take my healthy lifestyle with me.

To some extent I've still managed to "eat clean and train dirty'' as Get Bodied By J would say. I say to some extent because if I told you I didn't have the occasional cocktail I would be lying lol.

I wasn't away for long so I could have waited and continued when I got back. Not working out for 5 days probably would not have made much of a difference but every little helps. The little I done would help to balance any excess fat I would gain whilst out there and would also help me from getting physically stale. I mean theres nothing worse than returning home after a holiday and feeling like your starting from scratch. 

I didnt have access to a gym so body weight training was my best friend. As most of you would have realised by now, I literally workout anywhere! My fitness has no boundaries...from public transport, to beaches, you name it... I'll do it.

Whilst in Portugal my routine consisted of runs across the beach and circuit training wherever I found space. Obviously a couple of people stopped and looked at me weird in the process of my circuits on the beach but that's nothing I'm not used to. I also practiced a couple yoga moves with my friend. 

I done the 300 circuit I got from my Spartanfam trainer Chaka Bars.

The circuit consists of:

-30 tricep dips

-15 chin ups & 15 pull ups

-30 sit ups

-30 Russian twist sit ups

-30 squats

-30 lunges

-30 burpees

-30 wide pulls with feet on the floor

-30 push ups

-30 box jumps

I won't lie...when I got to 30 burpees I was so tired I didn't know what to do with myself.

If you don't know what some of these exercises are YouTube is your friend. (I will start uploading videos very soon I promise)

Im glad I took this frame of mind with me on holiday though. I exercised, ate smart and still managed to enjoy my holiday.

So people, when your away, find ways to stay as active as you can and eat as clean as you can to avoid unnecessary weight gain and to make the transition back to real life a little easier.

G

MidWeek Motivation

So this week several people have asked me for advice on how I stay motivated on this journey. Firstly you need to ask yourself how bad you want it because being fit and healthy is something you have to commit to long term. All these quick fixes are temporary and so are the results.

Personally, for me short term motivation comes from team work and pushing boundaries. By short term motivation I'm talking about a day when I can't be bothered to train but I know I have to.

Team work

I've found working out with someone or in a group is more productive than working out by myself. I find I work a lot harder and push myself out of my comfort zone. I particularly like working out with males or females who are just as crazy as I am and stronger than me because we will never take it easy in the gym.

When I've trained with males I usually find that my body is able to reach targets I never knew it was capable of.  As much as I hate to admit it, let's be honest, guys are stronger than girls, so being able to keep up with a guy in the gym gives me a buzz and should keep him on his toes because I shouldn't be able to do what he's doing.

Pushing boundaries

As you've probably already noticed I like to do random things like squatting humans on my shoulders or upside down sit ups on the train. This is because I actually find them things quite fun!

People who say working out and the gym are boring don’t know how to create their own fun!!!

Obviously doing the same gym routine all the time can become boring and tedious so why not switch it up a bit. I find these random things make my training sessions a lot more exciting and challenging, plus it allows me to put my fitness to the test.

I mean what's the point in being fit and strong if you can’t test how fit and strong you are.

Staying motivated in the long run I guess comes from wanting to encourage people to look after their physical and mental well being.

It's so true that when you look good you feel good. My confidence has increased so much since the beginning of my journey.

Fitness has taught me that there are no boundaries as I've been able to do things I never knew I was physically capable of, especially as I wasn't active as a child or teen.

My journey has allowed me to turn negative thoughts into positive actions and I just hope I can inspire you guys to do the same.

So people why not stay motivated by trying random things like chin ups or pull ups on a tree, handstands on a parked car or squatting your boyfriend or girlfriend !!!

Whatever you do just make sure you have fun whilst doing it.

G

Stretch Sundays

So today was supposed to be 'leg day' but when I got to the gym I had a change of heart. I actually couldn't be bothered so I decided to work on my flexibility and stretch out my body instead.

Flexibility is important because it:

• Improves your performance
• Decreases the risk of injury
• Reduces muscle soreness
• Improves your posture 
• Improves muscle coordination
• Improves balance and coordination

I decided to practice some Yoga stretches and although I've never been to a yoga class I would like to thank Instagram- my yoga teacher.

I seem to be quite flexible so I think yoga is something i'm going to take up.

By increasing your flexibility through stretching, your balance and coordination improves during a workout. Whereas the lack of flexibility can cause your movements to become slower and increases the chances of muscle strain and injuries after a workout.

So make sure you include stretching as part of your exercise regime.


G