The muscles of the thigh are perhaps another cluster of muscles that are higher identified and a section of our day vocabulary. The powerful thigh muscles are a significant part in walking, running, biking and each activity that utilizes the legs. The hamstrings, on the back of the thigh extend the leg at the hip and flex the knee. The muscle is really a bunch of 3 muscles, the bicep femoris, the semitendinosis and also the semimembrinosis and are the work horses in the extension of the leg.
The quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh flexes the leg at the hip and extends the knee. The quadriceps muscles are those that offer the thigh the superbly developed shapeliness that body builders, athletes and on the subject of everybody loves. Because of this, and since the quadriceps muscles are naturally stronger than the hamstring muscles, over development of the quads might cause tight hamstring muscles.
Instructions:
• For the hamstring muscles, sit on the foam roller with the roller under the back of your thighs and your arms behind you with your hands on the floor for support.
• Pushing off with your hands, roll down the upper part of the back of the leg just to the knee and back up.
• If you wish, cross one leg over the other at the ankle to increase the pressure on one side. It requires a lot of skill and balance and a lot of abdominal strength. My intuition does not lead me to this exercise for myself, but if you are up for it and feel you need to apply more pressure to the hamstring muscles, go ahead and try it!
• For the quadriceps muscles, lie on the foam roller with the roller under the front of the top of thighs.
• Place your arms under your upper body, like you were going to do a push-up, with your hands on the floor.
• Push off with your arms to roll down the upper leg just to the knee, and back.
• Do not roll over the knee joints.
• To increase the pressure on one side, cross your one leg over the other at the ankle and foam roll only the quadriceps muscles on the bottom leg. This increases the pressure nicely and is not as hard to do as with the hamstring muscles.
• To get the inside of the quadriceps muscles at the vastus medialis head, bend your right knee and place your right foot on your left ankle. This position looks like Peter Pan flying through the air!
• Push off with your hands and roll down the inside of the quadriceps muscles, taking care not to roll over the knee, but targeting the bottom, inside head of the vastus medialis.
• As always, to increase the pressure and the stretch, sink harder with your weight into the foam roller.
