How would you like to fill out your jeans in all the right places?

In order for that to happen you need to start training your legs and you need to train them with intensity. I am referring to the posterior chain (hamstrings, hips, lower back and glutes). They are the most neglected muscles in the human body. There are precious few of us born with a rear end you can bounce quarters off; there are a lot more of us with a pancake for an ass and a matching set of hamstrings.

Besides looking fantastic when fully developed, your hamstrings and glutes are extremely important from a functional standpoint. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I’ve known over the years who have suffered from debilitating back pain, myself included. The one common denominator that we all had was an underdeveloped posterior chain. I have yet to see someone at a healthy body weight with a well-developed posterior who suffers from back pain. It just doesn’t happen.

Most of us have jobs where we are sitting all day. Because of the seated position the thighs and hips get very tight, which inhibits the glutes. The glutes forget their primary role which is to stabilize the hips.  So when the glutes become inhibited, the posterior chain is not firing on all cylinders. What happens next is that the lower back has to take on the work of the glutes and hamstrings, and while they are being overworked, a whole host of other muscles assume new responsibilities that they were not meant to perform. This leads to a cascade of lower back, hip, knee, ankle, and foot problems. What we have is a trickle-down effect. Our muscles and joints will always pick up the slack for those that are lagging behind. That is how the body works.

The second reason the posterior chain is neglected is that you don’t see these muscles in the mirror. We have a gross tendency to focus on those muscles that are more visible to us, such as the chest, abs, biceps and quadriceps (thigh muscles). If you can’t see them without straining your neck, what’s the point, right? Of course everyone who is behind you can see them.

Our bodies need to be in balance. That way they look great and we are bulletproofing them from injury. It is a win-win and you can accomplish this while exercising at home.

The two videos below are the Single Leg Hip Raise and the Romanian Deadlift. They are great exercises that you can perform at home. Both movements work the lower back, hips, glutes and hamstrings and that is a lot of muscle. I recommend that you train each movement at a high volume (3 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions).

You can perform the Single Leg Hip Raise daily to strengthen those weak underdeveloped parts.

I suggest performing the Romanian Deadlift no more than 2 to 3 times per week.