I am tight as a bedbug. I never stretch. I think may be a factor ni my knee pain. I surrender to stretching. What’s A Good Hammy Stretch? How about the old toe touch?
Monk starts a thread and mr. Tibbs is the first to reply… and I’m going… “Should I read this thread? No, seriously?!..” :-p
Yeah, I have to say that it was worth reading it, to me that’s the best hamstring stretch.
.
“down, dog!”
.
or, prop up one leg straight on a step, flex the other knee and bend over the straight leg from the waist until you get resistance
.
Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Your back should be flat rather than arched. Bring one knee towards your chest, then straighten the leg to stretch the hamstring.
You can put your hands behind the knee for support or use them to draw the ankle towards you to increase the stretch.
This stretch avoids putting any strain on your back.
Snap
There are tons of good ways to stretch your hamstrings, and if there’s one muscles you should stretch, this is it. Lot’s of people get lower back pain related to stiff hammies, not to mention the various knee, leg, and calf pains. The muscles run all the way up the back of your leg and lower back. Tibbs’ stretch is a good one, but I’d use a towel on the ball of your foot, and hold it for more than two seconds.
-You can sit and reach out for your toes with your feet together.
-You can sit and reach for one foot at a time with your feet straddled, and then reach down in the middle.
-You can stand up, and reach down for your toes, and you can do the same thing with your ankles crossed to get a better stretch for each leg in turn. Make sure your knees aren’t locked, but aren’t too bent either, and allow yourself to just relax into the stretch.
-You can kneel on one leg with your other leg stretched out straight in front of you, and then lean down towards your front leg.
-You can stand bent over with your hands on your desk or a chair and bend at the waist till you feel a good stretch.
On all these stretches, you should be careful not to lock your knees straight, you should always get a few minutes of warm-up before you stretch so the muscles are warm, and you should generally hold static stretches for 20 to 30 seconds at a time.
Thank you one and all. I worked for about an hour today on stretching and it was, I am sure, quite humorous. I haven’t stretched in a YEAR, and I was not so great then!
Good deal. Flexibility is one of the most under-worked part of fitness, especially for a lot of endurance athletes. Cycling in particular,on top of the stress it can put on your lower back, causes the hamstrings to shorten so you really need to stretch them out. If you take ten minutes or so stretching everything out after your workouts, and put in a good stretch maybe 3 times a week, you’ll feel one hundred times better.
Here’s a decent summary of stretching for cyclists and triathletes:
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=6718&sidebar=569&category=century_challenge
Thanks slow. My legs shake like crazy in the “Tibb’s position”. (Not surprised he would choose a position on his back with his legs in the air!)
I wonder–can over-tight hamstrings slow your running?
"I wonder–can over-tight hamstrings slow your running? "
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is more complicated, and probably better dealt with by an excercise physiologist, but here goes. Runners aren’t supposed to be ultra-flexible like a gymnast. A certain tightness actually helps your running, like a tight rubber band. However, over-tight legs hurt. Your stride shortens and you have more trouble breathing. If it’s calves, you can’t push off the ball of your foot as well. If it’s quads or hip flexors, you can’t push from your hips as well. If it’s hammies, it all goes to hell, plus your back starts to tighten up and it hurts just to stand up straight while you’re running. Sometimes you’ll see someone get off the bike and they’ll start the run and they’ll be holding their lower back. Usually they’ll have to slow down and stretch their legs to help get rid of that pain so they can keep running. So yes, tight legs can hurt both your bike and your run, although you’ll probably feel it more on the run.
Starting Position- Begin lying on your back with legs in a doorway, flex both hips and extend knees. Place one foot on wall with hip flexed and knee extended for slight stretch. The opposite hip is flexed with the knee extended for a slight stretch. Your hands should be placed with palms up by your side and your head flat.** Execution at a glance**- Begin by pointing toes of the moving leg and reaching out toward the ceiling. Lower the leg to floor/ground maintaining flat lumbar spine, place a bolster under the foot if the athlete has difficulty lowering the leg to the floor. (Progress by removing bolster) Perform movement 5-10 times bilateral for 3-5 sets.** Safety Tips and Verbal Cueing**- Maintain flat lumbar spine and keep toes pointed and reaching with leg. Keep palms facing upward and head flat. Utilize bolster in order to perform exercise correctly. Take special note of right and left asymmetries, focusing on the weakness. Take special note of right and left asymmetries, focusing on the weakness.
Monk…without reading all the responses (because I am lazy)…have someone else stretch you. Seriously. If you haven’t stretched in a year, get a partner and do strain/counterstrain/PNF…whatever they are calling it these days. Have someone push your leg up and you push back at 25% of your ability to flex the hamstring, then have them stretch you further and repeat (and you can alter the % you push into them 50/75 ect). There is even a technique where you would tighten your quad as you are stretched in the position for your typical hamstring stretch something about GTO being involved which enables more stretch -can’t remember the specifics, just that it works.
If you have a massage therapist or Physical therapist, have them show you proper stretching and stretch you. I can’t tell you how many times I watch others overstretch or stretch at an insufficient angle. If you are having knee pain, your calves could be tight, your inner thighs, Quads and your ITB could also be suspect. I have a feeling D. all the above since you don’t stretch (BAD BAD BAD Monk!) Depends on where your pain is in the knee, get looked at BEFORE season. Getting a massage on a regular basis will help with your flexability if you are against stretching–thats what I rely on, because I can’t seem to stretch enough.
Thanks Eileen. I’m freaking because it IS season. I am, in my own unathletic way, in the 6th week of getting up for IMAZ. About ten weeks left. So this is bad timing.
Jason–It would help to see a picture of some of that–Am I using the sides of the doorway to restrain the leg I am stretching out? i.e. the wall that the doorway is in is east/west. I am lying down north/south, head to the south. I bring my (for example ) right leg up, and “hook” the heel on the edge of the doorway, on the south side of the east/west wall. Either that is what you mean or I have just invented something!
so stop screwing around and get an appointment tomorrow and get treated. (thats the motivational speaker in me 
-btw thanks for your input the other day I gave a solid response of waiting a few months for what they were offering and going to fine tune my skills then go see them)
I know this is going to sound loco…but it can work. I used to cool down in a sauna…would do my stretches in there…never was I so flexible in my life. I would also use the pool for stretches post workout. You would be amazed what you can do with a ladder in the pool. Now how confusing is this…told you cold and hot.
10 weeks…one session a week, you will be good to go. Find someone reliable and get flushed. See a therapist that works with athletes. Seriously. Preferably someone that IS an athlete. When you get shown the stretches you do them and have her/him watch your body mechanics to make sure you aren’t causing more problems. Don’t forget to ask for a Psoas stretch (psoas is tight invaribly you will have tight quads which will throw off the hams) and the other ones I suggested before. If it means anything at all, I have been locked up as close as the week of an event and got treated and made it out the other side ok, so you have plenty of time if you jump on it now. Technically it is season for me too, I am just in denial.
Now I go to bed…early morning swim…argh.
Be aware about maintaining correct postural alignment when stretching. ie when stretching hammies maintain the natural curve in the lower back. If you increase the distance of the stretch but lose this curve you haven’t increased the flexibility of the hammies at all, rather the lower back.
PNF partner stretching is bloody brilliant - find a fellow iron bar and work on it together. I used to do lots of this but was probably guily of trying too hard and losing the correct postural alignment that I was talking about.
I liked the door stetch that another poster put up but would go for maintaining a gap between low back and floor rather than having back on floor. An excelent way to do this is with a digital blood pressure cuff - insert under low back and inflate a small amount. stop increasing the stretch when you can no longer prevent the pressure in th cuff from rising. Takes discipline and is tough on the ego as it feels like you aren’t “pushing” yourself like a good triathlete should. In this case less is more.