How to Stretch ALL Your Hamstrings

If you run, and especially if you bike and run, chances are your hamstrings are tight. I’ve seen runners and triathletes who couldn’t bend over to touch their knees – let alone their toes – to save their lives.

For awhile, you can function with tight hamstrings. But, this tightness…

1. slows you down by inhibiting your stride;
2. makes you more suceptible to pulls and strains;
3. inhibitis other areas of the body, further restricting movement and/or causing pain.

One very common result is sacro-iliac joint (low back) pain. A tight hamstring can also cause the quads, hip flexors and psoas to over-work, making you functionally short in front, or “ hunched over.” It can even be related to neck or plantar (bottom of foot) pain!

The first line of defense against these problems is to stretch the hamstrings. –And to stretch all 3 hamstring muscles, and not just the center one (most familiar to many of us).

Functional Rope Stretch

Try this functional stretch before or after workouts – or both! Using a rope, long belt, or long towel as you recline causes the target muscles to relax even further, and automatically stretches further by incorporating slight reciprocal inhibition.

(Reciprocal inhibition: The tendency of a muscle to stretch further when the opposing muscle is contracted.)

Start slowly, and do 5 x 2 sec. in each position. Between each rep, bring the leg ALL the way down to resting (start) position. Keep the feet flexed!

Don't worry if you can't stretch very far at first. If you do this consistently, you'll continue to get more flexible over weeks and even months!