JMW said:Old Wolf said:Hi all
I'm fairly new to weight training -- I started about 8 weeks ago.
My initial leg routine was:Leg press (46kg)
Standing calf raises (46kg)
Leg extension (18kg)
Laying leg curl (18kg)After 4 weeks the lady at the gym who's in charge of my program
changed it to:Leg press (46kg)
DB calf raises (4kg) (I was getting skin damage on my shoulders)
Leg extension (24kg)
Weighted lunges (4kg DB)ie. changing the laying leg curl for the weighted lunges.
I asked her why I now had 3 exercises doing my quads and none
doing my hamstrings and she said that the weighted lunges were
supposed to be doing my hamstrings.But no matter how I stand for the lunges, it is my quads that
are hurting and I don't feel a thing in my hamstrings. Also I
looked it up on www.exrx.net and the weighted lunges are
listed in the quads section. What's going on here?Your gym lady is a moron. She probably suggests lunges because that
is the favorite exercise of clueless women (as opposed to women who
know how to lift).If you want to stress hamstrings, try squats, deadlifts, straight-leg
deadlifts, good mornings, reverse hypers, leg curls, etc. Lunges are
way down on the list for hamstring exercises.Note that hamstrings are two-joint muscles. They are exercised by
extending the hips equally or more than they are by flexing the knees.
Hamstrings do tend to be activated significantly in lunges depending on
/how/ you do them, although the thigh adductors tend to be activated for
the same role: extra stabilisation. Beyond this, though, I agree (not
that I'm really disagreeing, just adding a bit extra).
Ari
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