Stretch your hamstrings before any workout that involves using your legs to avoid injury and prepare your joints to move. It’s also a good idea to stretch throughout the day to make your legs more flexible. Many lower body exercises use a wide range of motion with one or both legs. Even something simple, like running, requires flexibility.
The hamstrings (many think it’s called the femoral biceps) are long, strong muscles. They can get very tight, especially if you use them a lot. Traditional static stretches work very well to loosen these muscles, especially if you stretch after a workout or at any time during the day.
For static stretches, you should keep the stretch at a point where it is uncomfortable but not painful. Hold for about 30 seconds to make the muscle more flexible. Be sure to stretch each leg equally.
Toe touch
The touch of the toe is one of the best known hamstring stretches and one of the most widely used flexibility tests.
Stand up straight with your feet together. Lean forward at the waist, tuck your butt back and keep your weight on your heels. Reach with your hands as low as possible. Continue until your muscles are too tight to continue. Hold the stretch and inhale through the nose and out of the mouth, slowly sinking lower, for 30 seconds.
If you don’t have the flexibility to reach your fingers, avoid curling your back. Slightly bend your knees to notice a deep stretch.
Fence stretch
The name of this stretch comes from the position where obstacles have to be skipped, where one leg is extended forward and great flexibility is demonstrated in the hamstrings.
Sit on the floor with one leg straight in front of you and one leg bent. Take the foot of the bent leg and press the bottom against the inside of the knee of the straight leg. Lean towards the foot of your straight leg and reach with both hands until you feel a stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and then switch sides.
Stretch with bands
Instead of using a partner to help you with this hamstring stretch, use a resistance band.
Sit on the floor and place one end of a resistance band around one of your feet. Hold the resistance band with both hands and lie on your back with both legs stretched out in front of you. Raise your leg with the resistance band, keeping your knee straight. Lift it until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings.
Keep pulling until you feel uncomfortable, then push your leg to the floor. Repeat five times and then switch legs.
Lateral stretch
Your hamstrings are made up of four different muscles. Concentrate on stretching your external muscles with this exercise.
Support one leg on a bench or chair. It should be between the knee and the waist. Keep your leg raised straight and look at it with your body. Take your opposite hand and extend your body, trying to touch the fingers of the raised leg. Bring your hand back and return to the starting position, then reach out and touch your fingers again. Repeat 10 times and then switch legs.
