Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo, and today I'm gonna show you some stretches and exercises
for a hamstring strain. Let's get started.
The first exercises will be lying down on
your stomach. Getting into the prone position, you want to be nice and relaxed up top cause
you don't want don't want to strain your back. If you don't have back issues, try not to
get them. You're just gonna keep you leg nice and straight, and then lift it just a little
bit off the ground. Now try not to lift your hip up, too. You're just lifting that leg
up keeping the hips flat on the ground. Coming up it doesn't have to be super high. Try and
keep your leg as straight as you can. It might not get all the way straight, but that will
help if you don't lift it too high. So just coming up off the ground and coming back down.
Nice and slow. Just start off with about 10 and then work your way up from there. Then
the next one, still on your stomach, is a hamstring curl. So this time the top part
of your leg stays on the ground and you just bend your knee and pull your heel back towards
your bottom. Again going nice and slow and controlled. If it's easy without any weights,
you can add an ankle weight. If you can get to 20 or 25 without getting tired. But I would
just start off with 10 and see how that feels. The next one you're gonna roll over onto your
back and bring your knees up. This is just gonna be a simple bridge and that's gonna
work those hamstrings in the back. So again, you want to go nice and controlled go slow
so you're working the muscles and you're not using momentum. So you're just gonna bring
your bottom up off the ground until you get in a straight line here. And then slowly come
back down. So just start off with 10. If that becomes easy, if you can get to 20-25 and
it's really easy, then you can just go to 1. So lift your leg up and then slowly come
back down. So just start off with 10 and then work your way up from there. Alright, now
we're gonna stand up. The next one is gonna be a stretch. There's a lot of ways to stretch
your hamstring, I'm just gonna show you one. If you'd like to check out some more, I have
a video just for hamstring stretches, so you can check that out after this video. But with
this one, you're just gonna prop the heel up in front of you of the side you want to
stretch. The important part is, is to keep your hips forward and keep your back straight.
So you're just gonna bend at your hips. Going forward this way down towards your foot. Now
try not to turn cause then you're not gonna get that hamstring, and try not to curl your
back cause then you're not gonna stretch that hamstring very much. But hips forward, back
straight, and just come down. You don't really have to touch your toes. I think some people
want to try and go like that, but then you're gonna curl your back a little bit. And you're
gonna get more of a stretch if you stay like this. Hold it for about 30 seconds, come back
up, do 3 of them. I always suggest stretching both sides even if you don't have a problem
on the other side, just to keep everything nice and loose. The last exercise is gonna
be a lunge. You don't have to go all the way down in the lunge, but it really works your
hamstrings. So sometimes you can put a block or something underneath to give you a target
so you don't have to go all the way down. The side you want to exercise is gonna be
in the front. Try and keep your toes facing forward. Sometimes people turn the back one
out, but really try and keep it forward. And keep your knee behind your toes when you come
down. So you can do a simple one of bending your knee, your back knee, and come up. Now
some people like to stretch that leg out cause they want that back leg to be straight. When
you're just trying to get some strengthening back in the hamstrings, you can bend your
knee and come down. And slowly come back up. But make sure that you're going slow, not
going fast and using momentum. Just nice and slow coming down, and nice and slow coming
back up. Those were your stretches and exercises for a hamstring strain. If you have any questions,
leave them in the comments section. If you'd like to check out some other videos, like
the other hamstring stretches, go to AskDoctorJo.com Don't forget to like us and subscribe. And
remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.