Very Tight Hamstrings - Page 2

focksie · ‎03-04-2012

It's never a good idea to stretch a cold muscle so make sure you warm up first either by walking or biking a few minutes, or at least using a heating pad to warm up the muscle otherwise you risk tearing it. Once warmed up, you can manually massage the muscle prior to stretching. I like to sit on the floor with legs straight out in front of me. I use a rubber band behind my foot and pull the band towards my body which flexes the foot and stretches the entire length of the back of the leg. I also lie on my back and grab one leg, bringing it towards my body and holding it there a few seconds.

Like John pointed out, wearing high heels too much of the time wreaks havoc on the muscles and tendons in the back of the leg so get out of your heels as soon as you get home. HTH

makeup addict · ‎03-29-2010

I've started jogging and I use something called the stick. It sells for about 24.00. It sounds like the roller described above. Fills like a deep tissue massage. Can be used before and after working out. Love it.

HonnyBrown · ‎11-23-2013

TSA, I lift weights and my muscles are very, very tight. One of the ham stretches I do is simple: touching my toes (no bounce). And like sid said, stretch the opposing muscle as well.

Also, if you can find a Pilates for Inflexible People class, DVD, OnDemand, that will work wonders.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

On 7/8/2014 HonnyBrown said:
TSA, I lift weights and my muscles are very, very tight. One of the ham stretches I do is simple: touching my toes (no bounce). And like sid said, stretch the opposing muscle as well.

Also, if you can find a Pilates for Inflexible People class, DVD, OnDemand, that will work wonders.

One of my co-workers who is also one of my good friends used to mock me at work when I would do my hamstring stretches on pallets used to store full reels of wire. I would put my leg on the higher of the 3 stacked ones and then lean into the stretch. It is called a "static stretch(no bouncing)and I did them several times a day especially if I had run a lot of miles the night before in my training.

He used to show me how flexible he was by "touching his toes and the floor", and he said "I don't do any of that fancy stuff like you and look what I can do". He also played hockey in my league for many years and I can't tell you how many games he missed with muscle spasms. At times he would have to leave the game and be grimacing in pain. Next time I saw him at work I mention his stretching to him and he didn't have much to say.

What I did tell him was "touching your toes tells you nothing about your hamstring flexibility". He is about my height but here is the difference. He has legs several inches shorter than mine and a long upper body with very long arms. To put that into perspective for him I told him "if you look at some apes they can almost touch the ground when they were standing up". Why he would say. I told him long arms and short legs and you aren't getting much of a hamstring stretch by touching the floor. Your arms are a fourth of the way there when you are standing straight up.

Never did get him into stretching as he is one of those "can't teach an old dog new tricks" type of guy. Tried to explain to him the anatomic reason for his being easy to do toe touches, but he wasn't hearing of it.

So he continued playing hockey until a few years ago and I guess he got tired of having hamstring muscle spasms and used age as his reason for quitting. He is 4 years younger than myself and 10 years younger than my oldest players. I think he just got tired of the pain over and over again.

hckynut(john)

HonnyBrown · ‎11-23-2013

hck, regardless of how far you reach, you are still stretching the hamstrings.

Remember: the goal is to stretch the back of the leg, not touch the floor.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.

cleogrl · ‎03-19-2010

Many of us have tight hamstrings. I've found that I have to stretch mine before i walk on the treadmill or else I really feel it. I would also recommend getting a roller. I bought a foam roller at TJMaxx and I love it. My calves are actually tighter than my hamstrings and the foam roller helps work out trigger points in those muscles. It really hurts, but it's effective. Youtube has tons of videos showing how to use foam rollers on different muscles.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

On 7/8/2014 HonnyBrown said:
hck, regardless of how far you reach, you are still stretching the hamstrings.

Remember: the goal is to stretch the back of the leg, not touch the floor.

HB,

In the case of the friend I mentioned it was obvious to me he was not getting enough stretch. If you have ever had a back issue, like a ruptured spinal disc, I can tell you that one of the first things a Spinal Doctor will do is have you lie on your back/grab the leg that is causing your pain, and then see how high he can raise it(knee locked)before you have pain. He then measures the angle of the leg with 90 degrees to the prone body being the optimum. There is a reason he does this with you lying down in lieu of standing up and trying a toe touch.

I could get into the physiology of toe touching versus prone stretching but as long as what you are doing makes you happy that is all that counts.

hckynut(john)