Your hamstrings are the muscle group on the backside of your legs. Their length can become altered through various activities such as wearing heels, running on uneven surfaces and postural imbalances (stretching back extensors).
1. Lay flat on your back to begin this exercise. Pay special attention to the relationship of your spine with the floor beneath you.
2. Draw your attention to your low back curve. For optimal alignment of your spine, this curve should be arched so that a grape (red or white, your pick) would fit snugly between your back and the floor. Maintain this positioning so that during the exercise, your grape does not escape you or get turned into vino.
3. Draw one leg up towards your body, hook your hands behind your knees and send your foot up towards the ceiling.
4. Hold stretch for 20-30 seconds. Alternate Leg. Perform two repetitions on each side.
Variation:
- If you need a more intense stretch, use a towel and hook it over your foot and pull the ends of the towel towards your chest.
- For a less intense stretch, bend one leg up and keep the knee bent, foot on the floor while you send the other leg up towards the ceiling.
Posts
3 comments:
Mmm, feels so good. Does wearing heels lengthen them?
Sagan-
Wearing heels shortens them because the heels shorten your calf length, thus causing your hamstrings to compensate by shortening as well, all the way up to your gluts. Heels also alter your hip muscle length and the way your pelvis tilts. No good!
Thanks for visiting!
There are many people that fail to stretch their hammys until they pull one. Good reminder.
Post a Comment