Below are five easy ways to loosen your hamstrings. The rule of thumb with all static stretches is to make sure you are not starting your stretching session cold; you should always start with a short warmup to avoid injury. You can do this by walking or jogging a couple of laps, doing some jumping jacks, or a few sets of squats.
Lack of flexibility in the hamstrings can be caused by other areas of the body. Start by loosening up your body with hip mobility stretches, calf stretches, and back stretches. You’ll notice your range of motion is much more afterward.
Research has shown that long stretches have minimal increased benefits. Instead, keep each stretch to about 15-30 seconds with more repetitions.
When it comes to flexibility, it’s often a "use it or lose it" situation. To retain a range of motion requires actively using that new range. Your body needs to be educated on how to move in that new range so doing dynamic exercises like deep squats, legs swings, jumping, and kicking drills will work.
There are many methods you can use to get a good stretch. For example, foam rollers and balls but beware of doing too many methods at once. If you are doing too many, you may not know which method worked best, or worse, which one set you back!
Doing a stretch with too much force or too fast will activate a “stretch reflex”, which will then create more tension and then resist the stretch altogether. Keep in mind your muscles aren’t passive structures. Start a stretch by slowly rocking back and forth while focusing on your breathing. Give each stretch about 30 seconds and you’ll likely find yourself further into the stretch and with less strain.
Gaining more flexibility in your hamstrings may take some consistent work but it can be done. You may be surprised how much better your legs, back, knees, and exercise routine feels afterward.
Feel like you need more direction or assistance with your stretching routine? Any one of our trainers would be more than happy to help tailor a routine for you.