Thread: Why Hamstrings Are So Hard To Stretch

: Have you ever noticed how no matter how much you stretch your Hamstrings they simply fail to become more flexible or if they do loosen they simply tighten up the next day? Why is this? The reason is you are failing to correct the cause of the tightness. The secret to increased flexibility is to not simply stretch your tight muscles, but rather to “switch on” the weak muscles allowing the tightness to develop in the first place. This article explains this concept and also gives an amazing tip to significantly increase your Hamstring flexibility and even your ease of movement without performing any stretching at all.

Why do Hamstring muscles tighten?

Very often Hamstrings (or any other muscle for that matter) tighten as a result of having to compensate and substitute for other muscles that have weakened or “shut down” and are no longer able to perform their jobs effectively.
A very common example is seen in individuals with weak Gluteus Maximus (butt) muscles. Glute weakness is very often secondary to the shutting down of the hip flexor muscle called the Psoas Major (groin muscle that pulls the thigh up). The Psoas shuts down by either becoming very tight or by “letting go” and becoming floppy. Either way if your Psoas shuts down, it shuts down its partner muscle (called the antagonist muscle) – the Glutes through a process called “reciprocal inhibition”.

Besides being a powerful hip extensor (moving thigh backwards) needed to perform functional tasks like squatting, walking/running and climbing stairs, the Glute Maximus is also a very important postural muscle as it keeps us upright and stops us from simply flopping forward at the hips.

The body senses that this is probably not a very sensible thing to allow, so it now shifts the job of remaining erect to your Hamstrings. Because the Hamstrings have attachments at the pelvis and thighs they can do the job, but not as well as the glutes. Your Hamstrings now have to work overtime to perform the postural role of the glutes, plus perform their suited role of extending the hip and flexing (bending) the knee. The natural response then is for your Hamstrings to tighten up and get strong to hold your body upright.

So in a situation like this no matter how much or what you do to stretch your Hamstrings, you’re likely to get frustrated because they have no choice but to remain tight and strong in order to keep you upright. (This doesn’t mean that all stretching is of no value, its just essential to fix the root problem causing the inflexibility).

So what is the solution to increase hamstring flexibility?

The solution is to “switch on” your Glutes so that your Hamstrings can be freed from their postural role to perform their suited task of causing movement.

The following are some amazing tips to activate your Glutes, loosen your Hamstrings and even make you move easier:

1.) Test your Hamstring flexibility

Lay flat on the floor with both legs straight. Elevate one leg, keeping it straight while making sure the other thigh stays down (use a partner if you can’t do this on your own). Note the approximate angle of the leg with the floor when tension is sensed in the back of the leg. Test the other leg and note the angle.

2.) Perform a functional movement

Stand up and perform 2-3 body weight squats (if you are unsure of how to perform a squat, sit down and stand up out of a chair 2-3 times without using your arms). Note the relative ease or difficulty of the movement.

3.) “Switch on your glutes”

Using the four fingertips of your hands, massage the area about a half-inch on either side of your belly button. If your hip flexors are very shut down, you may be very tender in this area. Try to massage quite firmly for about 30 seconds, even if the area is little tender but not so much as to cause you to pass out or bruise.

Now use your fingertips to massage the back of your neck about a half-inch below your skull and a half-inch either side of the spine. Again massage somewhat firmly but not excessively.

4.) Perform the squat again

Try performing the body weight squats or sit-to-stands as before. How did it feel now? If you are like 90% of people, you will have literally jumped up noticing a huge increase in the ease of the movement – almost like someone was helping you up (the “someone” was actually your Glutes!).

We have now freed your hips so you are not longer “fighting your own body” - allowing you to perform a simple, yet functional move such as a squat with much greater ease and technique.

5.) Re-test your Hamstring flexibility

Perform the Hamstring flexibility test you tried earlier and note any changes. Most likely you will see obvious changes in flexibility – some individuals will see very large changes while others may see less, but the change will definitely be detectable.

Most likely these simple tips will have amazed you. A detailed explanation for what happened is beyond the scope of this short article, but basically by a rubbing the specific muscle reflex point (trigger point) for your Psoas, you were able to switch on (and strengthen) the muscle, which in response relieved the inhibition of your Glutes. Rubbing the neck trigger point further stimulated your Glutes to help in the movement and allow the Hamstring release.

Actually this method of massaging trigger points has been known for many years, but until recently has not been applied to functional exercise or even weightlifting or bodybuilding. In the coming weeks we will continue to post articles on our website about how this technique can instantly improve your posture and performance; increase your muscle flexibility and even muscle strength by up to 30%.

Interesting article bro. Thanks