If I wanted to make a list of the top 10 complaints I hear from students, tight hamstrings would be up there. Lots of other muscles can be tight but for some reason having flexible hamstrings is like the unicorn of the fitness world: very rare and desirable and somehow magical…perhaps mythical and nonexistent?

So, let’s talk about the hamstrings and see what we can figure out!

The hamstrings are a set of three muscles that live on the backs of your thighs. They help you move your leg behind you, they help you bend your knees, and they help support your body weight when you lean over. They are smaller and less powerful than the quads on the fronts of the thighs so they sometimes get overshadowed. Because they work two different joints (the hip and the knee) stretching them can be a little more complicated than stretching a muscle that only works one joint. (Note: We’re not going to get into the weeds in this post about the finer points of stretching and flexibility and what those words mean, but I will give some concrete tips to try.)

The first question to ask yourself if your hamstrings are tight is: Does it matter to you, and how much does it matter?

Like I said, having flexible hamstrings is like the unicorn of the fitness world so it seems like it MUST be desirable. But can you imagine trying to keep a unicorn in your back yard? There might be some downsides.

Making noticeable permanent changes in muscle length takes significant time and commitment. Is that really what you want to spend your time on?

Ask yourself: Are my tight hamstrings interfering with my life? Do I have trouble doing the things I want to do because of them? Are they causing me pain and suffering?

If the answer is “no” maybe your hamstrings are just fine and you don’t need to change them. For some folks, trying to stretch the hamstrings causes more problems than just leaving them alone. Maybe the only problem with your hamstrings is your idea that they should be different.

It is helpful to have long enough hamstrings that you can sit on the floor without being in agony or bend over without having to really round your spine or crouch. Rolling out your muscles or stretching them in various ways can also feel really good and be helpful overall for just relaxing your body and reducing the feeling of tension without having to make a permanent change. If you decide that’s enough for you, you have lots of options for providing that feeling for yourself.

But let’s say you do have problem hamstrings that are getting in your way and you do want to make a significant change to them. Here are some tips:

    1. Spend more time on the floor. Simply forcing yourself to be on the floor a lot during the day will make your muscles and joints adjust to the new circumstances, including helping your hamstrings get longer. You need to strike a balance though: If your body is in agony, it’s likely to react by gripping and getting more tense. If being on the floor is new to you, use enough cushioning and support that you’re slightly uncomfortable but not in pain, and enough support that your pelvis can be upright, not tipped back. (Not sure what it means to have an upright pelvis or why it matters? Here’s a video to help with that: What’s it mean to sit on your sits bones?) When you get uncomfortable in one position, move into another one. The simple act of moving around on the floor will help the muscles adapt.
    2. The typical hamstring stretches can help, but you have to do them a lot and you have to do them well. If you’re bending forward from seated or standing, don’t worry about getting your hands to the floor or your head to your knees.

      Here’s a very simple seated hamstrings stretch.

      If you’ve got one leg out in front of you either on your back or standing, don’t worry about getting it high. Instead focus on how the pelvis is folding over the top of the thigh bone (or in the case of lifting a leg, how the thigh bone is rolling over the pelvis). Imagine your ball in socket joint is like a free-rolling grocery cart wheel and really focus on moving the solid bony pelvis over that slippery rolling wheel. If the pelvis and the thigh stop moving in relation to one another, then STOP and hold there. If you keep moving, that means something else is moving, like your spine or your shoulders or your feet or your head. None of those things is going to help you stretch your hamstrings.

    3. Except when they do help you!!! (Surprise!) Your hamstrings are part of a fascial chain called the back line and you can sort of sneak up on them and help create length in them by approaching another part of the chain. Rolling out your feet and heels, supporting your head on something when you’re on your back to create length in your neck, rolling out your calves, glutes, or spinal muscles–all of these can help you create length in your hamstrings.
    4. Put some slack in the system. If your body is freaking out about a stretch, it’s not going to respond well. We all have stretch receptors in our tissues that feel when a stretch is too much and they act to snap you back into what your body perceives as a “normal” position. So stretching the hamstrings on your back with a leg straight up in the air, foot flexed and head down on the ground will create a lot of tension in the system. If it’s too much tension, maybe point or relax the foot. Or soften your knee. Or support your head on something.
    5. Calm your body by backing off and rocking it like a baby. A little gentle forward and back or side to side movement can help your nervous system calm down and will allow your body to receive the stretch more easily.
    6. Activate the opposing muscles. The opposing muscles in this case are the quads on the front of the thigh. When you activate the quads, it can help the hamstrings relax. Some ways to activate the quads would be seated or standing leg lifts in front of you. Best way to fully activate the quads is to have the knee straight. You can also lie on your back with one or both legs in the air and press your hands against the fronts of the thighs to provide resistance.
    7. Strengthen the hamstrings in their full range. We often think about stretching and strengthening as opposites but that’s not really true. Building strength in the hamstrings in their full range of motion can help create and support more length. Often simple hamstring pulls are done by pulling the heel toward the butt behind you, but you’ll also build strength in other ranges by doing things like deadlifts, straight leg lifts behind you in various positions, or hamstring pulls in an extreme range.

Interested in learning more? My Stretch on Demand program includes a full hourlong Zoom class on hamstrings. Cart opens Wednesday 4/20/22 so if you want to hear about it when it happens, sign up for my mailing list below:

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