Building the "SHELF" Glute and Hamstring

This is Nutrition Plus’ second Monthly Newsletter where we discuss what’s going on in the company, the science behind the madness and why everyone should consider contacting us for an initial assessment.

Follow us at any of our social media platforms, and if your are a resident of Indianapolis come train with us and bring a friend. Our results are backed up with science and a guarantee! (IF YOU DON’T ATTAIN YOUR GOAL YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK!) Results is what drives Nutrition Plus… Scientifically proven to give you the best results of your life.

Why We Train Glute & Hamstring

The Gluteus is formed of three separate parts:

Gluteus Maximus
Gluteus Medius
Gluteus Minimus

The largest and arguably muscle in the body is the Gluteus Maximus, they keep us standing upright and fights against gravity when we walk up stairs also, this muscle helps keep the torso erect, and stronger glutes allow a person to jump higher and sprint faster. The gluteus Maximus muscle is responsible for movement of the hip and thigh.

The Hamstrings are actually comprised of three separate muscles:

Biceps Femoris
Semitendinosus
Semimembranosus

These muscles originate just underneath the Gluteus Maximus on the pelvic bone and attach on the tibia. The Hamstrings are primarily fast-twitch muscles, responding to low reps and powerful movements.

This month in Nutrition Plus we have been exploring the benefits of glue and hamstring resistance training to tone and tighten (women’s) lower half of their body.

Some clips shared above are examples of some exercises that our “Glute & Ham Team” successfully complete to tighten and tone. We always target these muscles to have our ladies looking their best and helping loose weight/gain muscle/shape and tighten. Check out a progression and the video also.

The Benefits of Training Glute and Hamstring

The glutes are arguably the most active muscle group in sprinting, power in multi-plane jumping and any sort of rotational movement involved in hitting a ball, such as cricket. The glutes are clearly a very important muscle group both functionally and aesthetically. The posterior leg is mostly composed of fast twitch (Type II) Muscle. With the explosive capability of those two muscle groups, it is very hard to isolate the Glute from the Hamstring. There are two difference makers in Glute and Hamstring workouts are the:

Foot Position/Heel Dominance, Isometric Contractions and Deadlifts.

Foot position has a great deal in training either the glute or hamstring for example:

In glute bridge, driving through the heels can isolate the glute, divert the stress from the lower back and hamstrings, or squatting with a 2x4, 10 lbs plate or 2.5 lbs under the heels.

The Isometric contractions help the body sort out the activity of stress. For example, in performing a lying leg curl, the synergist is the Gluteus Maximus. By adding a pause in the middle of the range of motion, hold the contraction for a 5 count and isolate the hamstrings.