Hamstring Flexibility, Mobility and Activation

Your hamstrings are the big muscle group on the back of your thigh. They cross the hip and knee joint and are in close proximity to your sciatic nerve and IT band, so they are interconnected with the health of all of these structures as well as your low back. 

The hamstrings are a big work horse for your posterior chain and work with your glutes and calves to help propel you forward. Sometimes, shortened hamstrings or hamstrings that are holding tone can pull on the pelvis and make it hard to bend through your hips. As a result, you can end up flexing a lot through the low back and putting more load through back muscles instead of leg muscles. Basically, healthy, strong and flexible hamstrings will make it easier to lift with your legs instead of your back! 

Why do hamstrings get tight? They can be tight for many different reasons. For example, the tightness could be related to a hamstring injury or a history of recurrent muscle strains and  scar tissue in the muscle. The hamstrings could be holding tone or tightness due to weakness in surrounding muscle groups such as abdominals or gluteals or weakness in the hamstrings themselves. Your symptoms could also be activity related, based on what you repeatedly do or don’t do…such as sitting in a chair, running, etc. It’s also good to remember there is normal variability in how flexible each of us are. 

How do you get the hamstrings more flexible? The best strategy is to utilize a mindset of consistency over time as well as taking a few different approaches. For example, in addition to holding a static stretch, also perform some active mobility drills and even strengthen the areas around the hamstrings including the abdominals and gluteals. Your hamstrings will likely tighten up again if you don’t develop the coordination and strength to utilize your gains in flexibility. Below are some different ideas for working on your hamstring flexibility! 

A physical therapist can also help you identify what may be contributing to your hamstring tightness and create an individualized approach to help you meet your flexibility goals.  

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Static Stretches 

1. Supine static hold with strap with nerve flossing

•   Begin lying on your back with a strap or belt (something that doesn’t stretch) wrapped around your foot 
•   Use the strap to pull your leg up keep the leg still on the floor straight and try to think about keeping your hip bones level so you don’t twist or hike through the pelvis 
•   Once your raised leg is high enough that you feel a stretch, begin pointing and flexing your foot to tension or ‘floss’ the sciatic nerve 
•   Try 15 repetitions of the foot pump or just hold the stretch for 1 min on each side 

2. Seated hamstring stretch

•   Begin sitting on the edge of a chair
•   Extend one leg out so the knee is close to straight, flex your toes towards your shin
•   Sit tall, and then bend forward, working to hinge through your hips and maintain a straight back 
•   Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times on each side

3. Standing table hamstring stretch 

•   Place one leg on a table keeping the knee extended
•   Hinge forward from the hips, maintain a flat back
•   Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times on each side 

Dynamic Stretches 

1. Tipping bird 

•   Begin in a stagger stance with most of your weight on the front leg 
•   Tip forward while simultaneously picking your back leg up from the ground
•   Hinge through the hips, keeping the hip bones level and the trunk square the floor
•   Repeat 10 times on each side 

2. Deadlift 

•   Begin with feet about shoulder width apart and slight bend in the knees
•   Initiate the movement by sending your hips back while leaning the chest forward
•   Hinge through the hips and keep your shoulder blades tucked back 
•   See our blog on deadlifts for more information and videos on form and variations of the deadlift 

3. Doorway hamstring stretch 

•   Start by lying on the floor in front of a doorway so that one leg is on the floor and the other is on the wall, scoot as close to the wall as you need to do feel a stretch through the back of the leg on the side that is up against the wall 
•   Flex your foot towards your shin 
•   Engage your abdominals, quad (front of your thigh) and shin muscles as you lift the leg an inch or two off the wall and then bring it back down 
•   Repeat this 25 times on each side

Contact Us:

If you have chronic hamstring tightness that limits your flexibility or makes sitting up with good posture or lifting with proper form difficult, physical therapy can help. Please contact the experienced physical therapists at Dynamic Physical Therapy – Chicago to set up an evaluation and begin in individualized program to address your hamstring tightness. Follow and Like us on Instagram and Facebook.  Also, subscribe to our You Tube Channel for the above exercises and many more!

Please call (312) 643-1555 or email [email protected] with any questions or to schedule your consultation today.