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Stretching Your Hamstrings (The Right Way!)

July 18, 2022

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Stretching Your Hamstrings (The Right Way!)

July 18, 2022 Articles Stretching Your Hamstrings (The Right Way!) July 18, 2022 Articles Stretching Your Hamstrings (The Right Way!) July 18, 2022 Articles Stretching Your Hamstrings (The Right Way!) Have you never been able to touch your toes? Do you feel like no matter how much you stretch your hamstrings, they will always be […]

Have you never been able to touch your toes? Do you feel like no matter how much you stretch your hamstrings, they will always be tight? If this sounds like you, you might not be stretching the right way.

How do you check to see if your hamstrings are actually tight? 

Get on the floor and lie on your back. You’re going to hold the back of the leg you want to test at ~90 degrees as pictured on the left above. While holding the back of your thigh so that it does not move, straighten your knee as far as you can until you feel a stretch. If you can almost straighten your knee completely, congratulations! You don’t have tight hamstrings. If you cannot get your knee even close to straight, your hamstrings may be tight. 

What Are The Hamstrings?

The hamstrings are made up of 3 distinct muscles: the biceps femoris (long head), semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. All three muscles of the back of your thigh originate on the ischial tuberosity (sit bone) and insert on either side of your knee on your tibia and fibula. Remember this, because it will come into play later!
The hamstrings are responsible for hip extension (bringing your leg behind you) and knee flexion (bending your knee). Therefore, in order to stretch this muscle, you must do the opposite of its action: flex your hip and extend your knee. Now this is where most get it wrong.
The pictures above are what most people go to when they try to stretch their hamstrings. Notice how in both, they are rounding their back and pulling their toes towards them. By rounding your back, you allow your hips to rotate backwards, which takes tension off your hamstrings. This will give you more overall range of motion but limit the effectiveness of the stretch if that is what you are after. When you pull your toes towards you during this stretch, you might feel the stretch more in your hamstrings. However, if you also feel a stretch in your calf, you are now not stretching your hamstrings more, you are stretching your nerves.
This is the test position that physical therapists use called the slump test to test for neural tension. This position in particular puts direct tension on the sciatic nerve and can feel like a muscle stretch. This is not the case. Remember earlier we talked about the hamstrings inserting around your knee? Changing the position of your ankle should not change the amount of hamstring stretch you feel; that increase in stretch is coming from tensioning your sciatic nerve. Unlike muscles, nerves do not really like to be stretched, and attempting to can sometimes even exacerbate low back pain. Most people can tolerate low levels of neural tension without issue, but if your goal is to stretch your hamstrings you want to avoid this common error. So, what is the right way to stretch your hamstrings then? You want to do the opposite of the pictures above; arch your back (not round), point your toes away, and while maintaining that arch in your back, lean forward (see below). If done correctly, you should feel a strong stretch only in your hamstring.
Now, this is just scratching the surface of the things you could be doing for your hamstrings. Fun fact, some studies have shown that performing certain strengthening exercises will increase your hamstring flexibility! More on that in a future post. One final note, not everyone needs static stretching; for some, your time would be better spent doing a dynamic warm up. It depends on your goals and specific situation. Everyone is different and needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. This is why seeking assistance from a physical therapist can be beneficial to guide you in the right direction to meet your goals and avoid long term pain and/or disability. Thanks for reading, Brandon Lawlor, PT, DPT

Sources:

1. Hamstring Muscle Injuries – OrthoInfo – AAOS. (2022). Retrieved 18 July 2022, from https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases–conditions/hamstring-muscle-injuries

2. posts., V. (2022). The Science Behind Triple Extension for Faster, More Efficient Running Form – Competitive Edge. Retrieved 18 July 2022, from https://compedgept.com/blog/triple-extension-running-form/

3. Hamstring Exercises For Preventing & Treating Pulled Hamstrings. (2022). Retrieved 18 July 2022, from https://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/thigh-pain/back-thigh/pulled-hamstring-exercises 

he sciatic nerve and can feel like a muscle stretch. This is not the case. Remember earlier we talked about the hamstrings inserting around your knee? Changing the position of your ankle should not change the amount of hamstring stretch you feel; that increase in stretch is coming from tensioning your sciatic nerve. Unlike muscles, nerves do not really like to be stretched, and attempting to can sometimes even exacerbate low back pain. Most people can tolerate low levels of neural tension without issue, but if your goal is to stretch your hamstrings you want to avoid this common error.

So, what is the right way to stretch your hamstrings then?

You want to do the opposite of the pictures above; arch your back (not round), point your toes away, and while maintaining that arch in your back, lean forward (see below). If done correctly, you should feel a strong stretch only in your hamstring.