YOU FEEL like your legs are too tight? If you have trouble touching your toes, or if you experience pain, stiffness, or discomfort in the back of your lower body, tight hamstrings may be your problem.
Fortunately, you should be able to stretch your legs and find a solution to your problem by paying extra attention to your hammies to improve your flexibility. You just have to know the right moves to give your lower body the focus it needs to feel relaxed and ready for action.
This simple series of exercises from the physical therapist Sam Becourtney, PT, DPT, CSCS of Tailor-made treatments, is designed to help this muscle group. Becourtney joins personal trainer Vaughn Gray, NASM-CPT, to demonstrate four stretches that can help relax tight hamstrings and improve flexibility.
What are your hamstring muscles?
First, a brief introduction to what exactly your hamstrings are. “The hamstring is this actual group of muscles in the back of the thigh that does two jobs: extend the hip back and also bend the knee,” explains Becourtney. “It originates in the deep back behind that back muscle, and it’s going to insert below the knee, so it has those two functions based on where it’s attached.”
Those functions mean that the hamstrings are extremely important for all kinds of movements, from running and jumping to walking and squatting. Muscles are used for many lower-body exercises, so it’s easy to take their functions for granted.
Who can benefit from hamstring stretches?
The groups of people who might want to try these stretches are not limited to those with lower body tension. People with lower back painin particular, you may benefit from hamstring stretches.
“The reason for this is that hamstring tightness can limit your ability to lean forward and present as lower back pain, even though the origin comes from that hamstring tightness,” says Becourtney. “Similarly, anyone who has a limitation in leaning forward or who needs to do so as part of their daily function would benefit from improving the mobility and flexibility of those hamstrings.”
Why you should stretch your hamstrings
Yes, there are specific populations that could benefit more from hamstring stretches—namely, those who are already dealing with tight hamstrings and lower back pain—but hamstring flexibility is important for everyone.
“The importance of those stretches and hamstring flexibility in general is because tightness there can come in many forms,” says Becourtney. So it’s really important to improve that flexibility.” In addition to addressing these issues, improved hamstring flexibility can pay off in the form of improved performance, which can be helpful for everyone from athletes to everyday people who want to feel good when they move.
4 Hamstring Stretches to Improve Flexibility
Tablespoon of hamstring
You can use this move before or after a workout, according to Becourtney.
How to do it:
- Standing, bring one foot in front of the other with the heel on the ground and the toes up.
- Sit back as you lower your hands, “picking up” the floor, then come back to a standing position.
- If you’re doing this pre-workout, hold for two to three seconds each time. Repeat for five to 10 repetitions for a dynamic stretch.
- If you’re doing this move post-workout, hold it down at the bottom for 30 seconds, two to three times. The lower you go, the more you will feel your hamstrings being stretched.
Hamstring floss
You will drop to the ground for the next move. Again, you can do this move before or after the exercise.
How to do it:
- Lie on your back and grasp one thigh behind the knee with both hands, creating a 90 degree curve to your torso. Make sure the opposite leg is straight to increase the stretch.
- Straighten the raised leg and then lower it back down. Repeat the movement deliberately. If you want to increase the stretch at the top, point your toes toward you to give your upper calf more of a stretch there, suggests Becourtney.
- If you’re doing this stretch before exercise as a dynamic movement, do three rounds of five to 10 repetitions, two to three seconds per set.
- If you do it after the exercise, hold the position while you work on your breathing, lowering your toes and holding the static stretch for 30 seconds at a time for two to three rounds.
Lying hamstring stretch with towel
For this exercise, grab a towel, belt, or yoga strap. “Anything long enough to reach behind your foot,” says Becourtney.
How to do it:
- Lie on your back with one knee bent toward your chest and carry the towel or other implement behind that foot.
- From this position, try to straighten your leg. “Now you’re using your arms to pull down on that leg, increasing the stretch you feel there,” Becourtney notes. “If you want to push more through your toes toward your head, that will give you a little more stretch in your upper calf.
- If it’s too heavy on your lower back or hamstring, bend the knee that’s extended directly to the floor, as “that would take a little bit of pressure off that area,” according to Becourtney.
- Before training, do this exercise for 10 seconds at a time for up to six repetitions.
- After the exercise, hold longer than 30 to 45 seconds two to three times.
Seated Assisted Stretch
You will continue to use the traction implement for this final stretch, but you will sit.
- Get into a long sitting position on the floor (butt on the floor, legs extended in front of you) with your chest up and the towel or strap wrapped around one foot.
- As you pull your foot under the towel or strap toward you, lean your trunk forward. “That’s going to increase the stretch through that hamstring … where it attaches behind the hip,” Becourtney says.
- Return to your original position and repeat. (Similar to the last move, if the stretch is too intense, bend the opposite knee to take some pressure off your lower back.)
- Before the exercise, move in and out of that position two to three seconds at a time for 10 repetitions.
- After training, hold this position for 30 seconds, for two to three rounds, making sure to breathe deeply.
Pretty quick grind, huh? Keep doing these four hamstring stretches regularly and you will see greater flexibility in your hamstrings.
If you want to take advantage of these benefits even more, Becourtney notes that you can follow some of those stretches with loaded strength-training exercises. romanian deadlift with kettlebells or dumbbells you can reinforce that new range of motion. That will help create a longer lasting effect as you go, helping with your ability to stretch, better performance in the weight room and in sports, and an overall decrease in pain in surrounding areas.
For more physical therapist tips to help you get moving and feeling better, check out all our guides on The fix series.
Perri is a writer born and based in New York City; He has a BA in psychology from Columbia University and is also a graduate of the plant-based Natural Gourmet Institute culinary school, which is now the Natural Gourmet Center at the Institute of Culinary Education. His work has been featured in the New York Post, Men’s Journal, Rolling Stone, Oprah Daily, Insider.com, Architectural Digest, Southern Living, and more. He’s probably seen the Dave Matthews Band in your hometown and he’ll never turn down a Bloody Mary. Learn more at VeganWhenSober.com.
