If you play sport, run, bike or sit down at a computer desk for multiple hours a day, your hamstrings may feel more like guitar strings.
The most common signs/symptoms you might be experiencing If you have tight hamstrings include:
- Lower back pain and stiffness
- Recurrent hamstring injury
- Inability to touch toes with your legs straight
- Pain in the buttock/thigh/back or knee when walking/bending
But fear not, getting length and flexibility into this large leg muscle is easier than you might think, and if you complete this simple, yet powerful exercise every day, you can rest assured that you will reduce your risk of injury and increase your degree of flexibility in the future.
- Stand tall, and put one heel on a chair
- Lean forward until you feel a stretch in your hamstring (70% of max stretch)
- Hold the stretch for 10 seconds
- Push your heel into the chair for 10 seconds (70% of max effort)
- Relax
- Lean forward into the stretch a little more (you should notice you can go a little further into the stretch)
- Repeat step 1-6 three times
- Change legs
IMPORTANT
*This exercise should not be painful. Work within your limits and if at any time this exercise becomes uncomfortable, back off the stretch a little.