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HAMSTRING
STRETCH - FLOOR
CORRECT FORM
 1)
Begin by placing your left leg straight out in front of you and bending
your right leg in cross-fashion as shown above.
2) Place both hands behind your back. Push up on your hands by straightening
your elbows. This is used to support your lower back and assure that
you bend at the hip (stretching the hamstring) and not the a the lower
back.
3) Push your upper body forward by bending at the hip. Keep your back
as straight as possible
4) Hold at least 30 seconds.
5) Go into and out of the stretch slowly.
MUSCLES STRETCHED
| Primary |
Hamstring
muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus muscles)
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SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
Bending
at the lower back in order to achieve more of a stretch will
only serve to stretch out the soft tissue of the lower back.
For people who have major hamstring tightness, this is not a
desired thing. |
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The goal is to
stretch and isolate the hamstrings. Often, the lower back is very
flexible, but the hamstrings are not. The lower back gets pulled on
by the tight hamstrings which connect indirectly via the pelvic bones.
Over-stretching the lower back and understretching the hamstrings
will not help. |
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