It's never sat right with me.
Even as a PT-student watching patients stretch and stretch...
or seeing other PT's and athletic trainer's stretching out some one else's hamstring...
The "pain face" made by the patient or runner told me there had to be a better option.
And I stand by that still, after years of practice.
PLEASE NOTE: if you love static stretching, I'm NOT attacking you.
You do you, boo.
But I kept seeing the CONSTANT struggle of all this effort being put into hamstring stretching, just for the runner to end up right back where they started.
Yes, you have practice or repeat exercises for changes to happen and stick around.
But here are some red flags when it comes to hamstring stretching that tell you the stretch or exercise isn't as effective as you need it to be:
The exercise is legit painful. You're not crying yet, but you might.
The "result" of the exercise doesn't last. You find yourself feeling like you never make any improvements.
Sometimes you actually feel more stiff or tight afterwards.
The reasons why?
You're hamstrings don't need stretching.
Sure, they feel tight, and may even be tight (in a shortened position) from sitting all day.
But it's not always hard, aggressive stretching they need.
Your Hamstrings may be tight because of:
Pelvis position
Think Kim Kardashian booty vs "tucking your tail between your legs". Living in either of these positions can put extra tension on your hamstrings and give you that tight feeling.
Neural Tension
not as shmexy as Kim K, but you have this giant nerve and lots of other smaller nerves traveling down the back of your leg. When those nerves can't glide smoothly, you can experience this near-painful stretch and tension.
Guarding
all the things we mentioned above can result in a long-term sensation of hamstring tightness. And over time, you're body learns "we live here." And it actively attempts to prevent further unpleasant sensations from happening which ironically, results in your hamstrings staying tight and guarded, preventing you from touching your toes.
So while understanding the cause behind the tightness is great and all...
Let's fix your hamstring tightness with dynamic hamstrings warm up exercises made for runners.
Let's jump in.
Dynamic Hamstring Stretching: Pre-Run Warm Up
Circuit:
2-3 sets each // LIGHT & medium weights
Toe Touch Progression (standing)
5 reps each position X 1 set (need: a yoga block + pool noodle or half foam roller or bumper plate
Hamstring Nerve Flossing
15-30 reps X 2 sets
Alternate Supine Toe Touches (on your back)
10 Reps X 2 sets
TIGHT HAMSTRING WARM UP FOR RUNNERS
Toe Touch Progression
This is my ultimate favorite exercise for tight hamstrings...
THE SECRET: you have to have something to squeeze between your knees or thighs AND you need something that can act as a little ramp. AND you need to breathe. I promise, it's not that complicated.
The genius of this exercise: it gets your pelvis, adductors, core, and hamstrings all on the same page. Remember how we talked briefly about the position of your pelvis? This exercise serves as a way to fix those extreme positions (aka sitting for hours at work). It re-establishes trust and the correct movement pattern between your pelvis, core, and hamstrings.
Most importantly, breathe. Breathing for a cycle at the bottom of the exercise, touching your toes, tells your nervous system "hey, it's safe down here. We don't need to be tight to protect anything." Because remember, your nerves and their corresponding super computer, your brain, are the ones really in charge.
Hamstring Nerve Flossing
No really, don't skip this one
PRO TIP: if trying to reach down toward your toes while standing leaves you with a tense, near-painful sensation in your low back or behind your knees, you need this one.
Neural Tension is a butt. (Trust me, I have a ton of it.) And could be one of the reasons why your endless stretching leads to nowhere. No amount of forcefully stretching a muscle will convince a nerve that it's safe to let up; in fact, it'll probably back fire.
Yes, neural flossing exercises take time. But one of those important things to remember: you should have NO PAIN or strong symptoms while doing these. If you do, back up and back off.
Alternate Supine Toe Touches
This one's fun because it's sneaky...
THE KEY: you don't have to actually touch your toes. Just aim for them.
This exercise is fun because it's advantage of our body naturally contracts and relaxes. Because your leg is straight (or straight-ish) while reaching for your toes, your quads are contracted. The opposite team-mate muscle of your quads is your hamstrings. This means, to straight your leg, you hamstrings MUST relax because your quads are contracting.
Pretty nifty, huh? Plus you get some pre-run core activation in ;)
WRAPPING UP
Didn't think you'd actually ever be able to touch your toes did you?
Ok, maybe you've still got a couple inches to go...
But I promise, these are some of the exercises I pull out of my back pocket for the most stubborn of hamstrings.
And something you may find...
You might discover that your body responds best to one of those.
Maybe two.
Maybe when added to couple of your own!
PERFECTION!
My goal for you: to learn your own body.
To try my exercises and be able to decide for yourself which ones are garbage for you and which ones are gold.
Not every exercise will be magic.
Case in point today as I practiced and filmed these exercises:
the alternate toe touch-core-looking-exercise didn't work as well the standing toe touch progression.
So for myself today, I'd say skip the core-like one and stick with the toe touch progression.
It's all about what works for you.
And now, you have a place to start.
If you're looking for more hamstring exercises, consider strengthening them.
Eliminating that tightness sensation is stellar! But locking in those mobility gains with strength is where it's at. Grab some of my favorite strength exercises that look like running here in my FREE strength guide for runners!
And until next time, running fit fam...
Dare to Train Differently,
Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit
P.S. If you really want to deep dive down the dynamic -hamstring-stretching-rabbit-hole, I'll link a couple youtube videos down below
References:
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