Stretches for hamstrings (and in general)

[white tiger]

Hi

 

Lately I have been struggling with very stiff hamstrings.

I don't like stretching and I usually neglect that part of my training regime, but I think time and age (I'm close to 50) has caught up with me.

 

Any good advice and/or stretches anyone can recommend.

[Ispeed_V]

I also neglect the stretching.

Just getting out of bed in the morning is a stretch for me 🤣

PS. I am on the plus side of 50.

[bleedToWin]

Hamstrings - Make sure you are stretching your muscle and not just putting your sciatic nerve under tension (burning behind your knee).

How to do it more often - Start watching a new series with 20min episodes. Not allowed to watch without stretching simultaneously...

[Mailman7412]

okay so how do i get the sciatic nerve better?

[bleedToWin]

1 minute ago, Mailman7412 said:

okay so how do i get the sciatic nerve better?

You are probably fine to leave it alone and just perform hamstring stretches that doesn't put it under tension. If you want to relax it a bit you can do the 'lying on your back kicking one leg up at a time' stretches. Do five kicks where you come back down after like one second, then up and hold and while you hold it under tension do foot flexions (dorsi + plantar).

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

Doing some weight training that stretches the hamstring simultaneously will also provide results - both stretch and strength related. Look at Good Mornings or Stiff-Legged Deadlifts. 

[Unknown MTBR]

Feed your dam chickens! 

 

 

[bleedToWin]

59 minutes ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Look at Good Mornings or Stiff-Legged Deadlifts. 

I struggle with Good Mornings but have been getting great results with RDLs and rate them highly for cycling.

Edited August 11, 2022 by bleedToWin

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

1 minute ago, bleedToWin said:

I struggle with Good Mornings but have being getting great results with RDLs and rate them highly for cycling.

They do feel a bit tougher despite being a very similar movement. Might have to do with balancing the weight higher up.

[bleedToWin]

52 minutes ago, Dewald ZA said:

Feed your dam chickens! 

 

 

She does a great job at pivoting from the hips, but she's a gymnast. Most cyclist will just be putting their nerves under tension with that move (especially with that foot position) and not actually stretching their hamstrings.

[bleedToWin]

6 minutes ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

They do feel a bit tougher despite being a very similar movement. Might have to do with balancing the weight higher up.

I mostly did seated good mornings. Either felt too light to challenge my hamstrings, or too heavy to control near the bottom of the full ROM move. Core and back felt compromised. RDL I can really allow that weight to pull me into a stretch and I can feel full hamstring activation when pulling myself out of the bottom.

[lechatnoir]

A tip I got from a physio once was this - sit on a surface that gets feet dangling. then hold hands behind back touching the surface I'm sitting on. Tilt my head forward and raise one foot so leg is parallel with ground - the part that's pulls tight is the part that needs stretching.

I've turned to it form time to time. I wonder if it's 'correct'? anyway, stretching is a good thing. youtube will probably get me all i need to know

[Steady Spin]

If you have a tablet (phone version also available) it is worth purchasing the app iMuscle 2 from Apple or Android app stores. 

It gives you a great breakdown of the anatomy of the body and shows you exercises and stretches for all muscles in the body. 

https://3d4medical.com/apps/imuscle-2

[Pieter-za]

I thought (static) stretching might actually be counter-productive?  

In my case (also >>50)  a Functional Fitness training regime changed my general 'muscle health' for the better, maybe consider something like that?

(Do read the ref's in the article above as well.)

Edited August 11, 2022 by Pieter-za

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Pieter-za said:

I thought (static) stretching might actually be counter-productive?  

In my case (also >>50)  a Functional Fitness training regime changed my general 'muscle health' for the better, maybe consider something like that?

(Do read the ref's in the article above as well.)

 

Pieter that is some food for thought .... 

 

I also do the "slow start", and a "slow lap" at the end, as apposed to before and after stretching.

 

However, there is a THIRD type of stretching .... done on its own, away from the cycle/run/activity.  A series of "exercises" if you will that are aimed at stretching various muscle groups.  The athletes that I know that work with coaches for their big events have at least three sessions of these per week.

 

 

 

As another one of the >50 group, and a classic weekend cyclist I do find some benefit from the occational stretch routine ..... rather, I feel it when I neglected it for a while. 

[Pieter-za]

Interesting Chris!  Yeah, so much info / contradictions everywhere.  I have even seen physiotherapists disagreeing with each other on this 🤷‍♂️