If you've got tight hamstrings and you want to know how to do hamstring
stretches then you are in the right place.
Hamstrings are the muscles at the back of the thigh.
They can get quite tight if you are sat down for a long time so if you're sat at
a desk. If these muscles are tight, they can
cause problems in the lower back, the hips, the knees, even the ankles.
It's a really good idea to stretch your hamstrings so that you can become more
flexible.
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The first one, nice and easy. You're
standing up, you're pretending you've got an
imaginary wall behind you and then you're going to start by
peeling the head, the back of the head off the wall so tuck that chin in
and then you're going to peel the upper back and then the lower back off the
wall and you're going to roll down and see
how far you can get. So you measure your fingertips, where are these fingertips
getting to? Is it to your knees, halfway down your
shin, your ankles, your toes or down onto the floor. Holding
this stretch it should get that stretch sensation down the back
of your legs, you might get a bit of a stretch
sensation into that lower back as well. You're gonna roll yourself back up in
reverse, so you put your lower back against the
imaginary wall then the upper back and then the back of the head.
For a bonus tip, try against an actual wall
and then away from the wall and just see the difference.
The wall will stop the hips going back and
it can just change the stretch just a little bit more so try it out and see
the difference. Number two, this one again nice and easy in standing.
You're going to cross your legs over so you're standing upright, you're going
to take your right leg and cross it in front of the left.
You need to make sure there is a gap in between your feet because you don't want
to be losing your balance. And then you've got
your back against that imaginary wall again and then you peel
the head off, the head away from the wall then the upper back then the
lower back, roll yourself all the way down. Now with
the legs crossed, you will find that you get a stronger stretch on the leg that
is behind and then you're slowly going to
roll yourself up into your standing position and cross
your legs and cross the legs over the other way.
Again, same as the first one try this one against the wall and just
see the difference between how it feels with an actual wall behind you compared
to your imaginary wall. Number three, this one you'll need
a stretchy band. You're wanting one of the stronger bands
or even you can use a towel. You're gonna start by
lying down on your back, knees are bent, and feet are flat on the floor. Grab your
stretchy band, you're going to loop it around
your left foot. You're going to cross the band over so you're holding the opposite
side of the band and then you're slowly going to
straighten that knee and use the band or towel just to pull
into that stretch. You're breathing in as you bend your knee and ease off the
stretch, you're breathing out as you push into it. This stretch lying
on the floor is great to isolate the hamstrings a
little bit more than the standing ones that we've just gone through.
The standing ones will also get you a stretch down the back as you're
obviously bending the back forward. This one, back is flat
on the floor, can't really move and you're definitely just getting those
hamstrings. The fourth one, you will need a chair
as a prop. The chair helps as leverage and it means that you can just push into
that stretch a little bit more because you can push
against the chair. So you're standing facing the chair,
you're going to place your foot on the chair. The knee
is straight, just check your hips are facing
forward and then you're going to lean forward and try and touch your toes
in this position. Now it should get you that stretch
down the back of the thigh of the leg that's on the chair.
Swap over and see the difference between the right and the left leg.
Sometimes you'll find one might be tighter than the other.
The fifth one is one way you can do on the floor so great to combine it if
you've been doing any stretches in four point kneeling or anything else.
Just double check, with this one that your knees are okay
as it does involve a knee bend. If you are uncomfortable
in any way then just choose one of the other stretches that we've
gone through. You're going to start in high kneeling and you're going to get
your right foot out in front of you, so nice and straight and
then you're going to lean forward at the hips. And this should get
you a stretch down that right leg
at the back of the thigh. If you want to try a slight variation,
you're going to sit back down onto your left heel with that right leg out in
front of you. And as you're in this position you're
then leaning forward and reaching to try and touch your toes.
Either of these two variations should get you that stretch down the back of
the thigh. You're just really finding which
one is more comfortable, which one gets you the
stronger stretch. You have two choices when you are trying to stretch.
The first one is a static stretch. So you get yourself into that position
that's stretching the back of your thigh, you're going to hold it for 20 seconds
and you're going to repeat five times. Your second option you can
choose is more of a dynamic movement so you
just want to keep the movement flowing rather than
holding it there. Think back to your roll downs you were
doing you're standing up and you're going to roll yourself all the way down
and then you can roll yourself all the way up and then all the way back down
again. If you do it in time with your breathing
just means that it's nice and regular and you're not too fast
so you can be breathing out as you roll yourself down, you're breathing in as you
stand yourself back up again. And you're repeating
10, 15 times or so. Try one of the stretches
or all of them if you wish to. You will need to give yourself a little
bit of time so time consistency, repetitions
and recheck in four to six weeks time just to see
how those hamstrings are feeling and if
that range of movement has improved. Subscribe to keep updated with our
regular posts and we'll see you soon.