Hamstrings

Looks like

Three long muscles down the back of the thigh, from the sitting bone to below the knee.

What it does

Bend the knee and drive the hip back — the engine of sprinting.

Keeping it well

Warm up, and train them lengthened (Nordic curls); they tear at speed and tear again if rushed back.

Its parts

• Long head of biceps femoris
• Semimembranosus
• Semitendinosus
• Short head of biceps femoris

Related conditions

• Botulism
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Growing pains
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)
• Lymphoedema
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscle strain (pulled muscle)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Restless legs syndrome
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Tetanus
• Varicose veins