How to Stretch Your Hamstrings Correctly

If it's painful to stretch your hamstrings, these adjustments could be the answer.

One of the main things we do at Moore Physical Therapy is teach people how to stretch and strengthen soft tissues. One of the most common muscle groups stretched in the body is the hamstrings.

Almost everybody, when asked how they stretch, describes the same stretch: reaching down to touch their toes. That stretches the hamstrings, the muscles on the back of the legs, which are some of the biggest muscle groups in the body. But it's surprising how few people know the other ways to stretch the hamstring.

A Simple Way to Stretch Your Hamstrings

Lay on your back with one leg flat. Hold the other leg straight and raise it vertically in the air, then pull it towards your head. As you pull the leg forward, the muscle at the back of the leg gets lengthened and tightened, and you'll feel a stretch across the muscles and tendons, usually behind the knee. If you push forcefully, that stretch can sting a bit.

A More Effective Way to Stretch Your Hamstrings

Start the same way, on your back with one leg straight and the other leg vertical but bent at the knee. Bring the bent knee toward your chest as close as you can, clasp your hands behind the knee, then start to straighten that leg. You won't get all the way straight, but you'll feel a stretch now right in the middle of the muscle belly, instead of behind the knee. This version doesn't sting like the first stretch, and it isolates the muscle belly rather than just the tendons behind the knee.

One more important thing to know: for people who have lower back issues, like nerve pain shooting down their legs (sciatica or radiculopathy), this second version is really the only way to stretch the hamstring without negatively affecting the irritated nerve.

If you're having trouble with your hamstrings or radicular symptoms like sciatica or radiculopathy, these stretches should help. If you need more help, give us a call.