I need some advice on what exercises would key in on the area where the glutes and hams tie in. my gf is trying to tighten this area up(after having 2 kids) and I need some advice on exercises and reps. Currently she is doing squats, leg press with feet high on the platform, leg curls, and SLDL. All using rep ranges from 10-12 reps. Is she on the right track or should she add anything else? Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hamstrings are white twitch fibers that respond better to low rep training, ie 5-7 reps, especially in flexion movements like seated, standing, and lying leg curls. She basically seems to have the important exercises covered. However, it will be the diet that will make the most difference when it comes to "tightening up"....not the training.

Good luck to her.

Aram, thanks for your reply! i will pass on this information to her. I have another question. I read somewhere, i can't remember where, that doing cardio on a treadmill with a slight incline (say 1% grade) will put a little more focus on the glute, hams area. Does this seem correct?

The higher the grade on the incline, the more possibility of ham and glute activation. But my choice would be the gauntlet, or stair step machine. The one that resembles the revolving steps. Walking dumbell lunges would be another good option.

Hack squats below parallel always get my glutes and hamstrings the best. Changing your foot position will hit different parts of your quads in the process as well.

Oh she is going to love it when I tell here she has to use that stair stepper thing! LOL! Thanks again guys for your replies! I'll also have her give the hack squats and walking lunges a try as well.

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'll also have her give the hack squats and walking lunges a try as well.

The thing about moving foot positions for hack squats is to make sure the plane of decent and alignment of the knee goes in the same direction where the foot is pointing. Feet pointing out, knee bends out. Also, going below parallel with hacks, don't use a heavy weight. She should get plenty of reps.

I forgot to mention what frank said about hack squats. I always go as heavy as I can for about 15-20 reps. Or another way that is a little more advanced is doing one leg for ten reps on each leg, straight into both legs below parallel for 30 secs, then straight into holding it at a parallel position for 30 secs. My gf does these all the time and every girl in the gym says they want her legs.

100% on Arams sugg. the gauntlet brings that area out, it did wonders for me

Step ups onto a bench supersetted with walking lunges are great too!
A great treadmill program for tightening up the glutes and hamstrings is:
warmup walking 3.0 mph for 5 minutes
Then increase incline to 10% for a minute, then 12% for a minute, then up to 15% for a minute. When you are walking make sure to really push through the balls of your feet and tighten the glutes with each stride. And don't hold on to the handles!!!!
Repeat this until you reach 40 minutes and then cool-down for 5 minutes.

Thanks Jbeanie for this idea. I am going to try this myself. My lowerbody is my weakest area, so I am going to try this and see how it improves that area.

Mine is too...a friend of mine is a national level BB and he swears by this. I did it for show I did last year and it made a huge difference!! It hits the calves nicely too with walking at that high of an incline.