Stop Stretching Your Hamstrings

If I had to pinpoint one "tight area" about which many people complain most, it's the hamstrings. I'll often find gym-goers using multiple methods to stretch those stubborn muscles: asking a partner to push them deeper into a stretch, or yanking on their legs with bands. Yet, somehow, despite their forceful, repeated efforts, the hamstrings seldom seem to sustain lasting changes in flexibility or range of motion.

Stop and think before you yank your hamstrings into oblivion.

I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm not much of an advocate for static stretching. Today I want to explain why the hamstrings, in particular, do not warrant stretching, and what you can do, instead, to create a more lasting increase in hamstring flexibility.

The hamstrings are a very important muscle group for athletic performance. They are two joint muscles, meaning they both flex the knees and extend the hips. While strong, these muscles have a tendency towards facilitation (overworking). When a muscle gets tight, that typically means it's working hard for another muscle that's inhibited, or not firing properly. In the case of the hamstrings, we're usually looking at gluteus maximus/medius dysfunction and/or core dysfunction. In short, if your hamstrings are chronically tight, you have to check the muscles upstream in the kinetic chain and see how they're firing (or not).

In this video, Dr. Kathy Dooley demonstrates how one can alleviate tension in the hamstrings just by getting the core to fire properly. This is one such exercise that you can utilize before a heavy squat or deadlift session just to encourage proper core activation. You'll notice that doing this exercise regularly will have a dramatic impact on your hamstring flexibility. It has been more immediately effective with my clients than the traditional stretching methods, as this exercise attacks the source of instability and weakness, rather than trying to treat the symptoms.

This Bushman puts Kim Kardashian to shame.

The "core," or, in this particular case, the rectus abdominis, is an antagonist of the hamstrings. What this means is that as the hamstrings lengthen/relax, the rectus abdominis flexes the lumbar (lower back). For example, in a forward bend, in which we are standing and reaching over to touch the ground, our knees are extended, lengthening the hamstrings. The trunk is in flexion, assisting the hands in reaching towards the floor. If we do not have adequate strength in the rectus abdominis, the hamstrings won't be able to relax enough to let you get lower. In short, strengthening a muscle's antagonist can work wonders in releasing it from tension.

Similarly, weakness in the gluteus medius/gluteus maximus can result in tight hamstrings. Both the glutes and the hamstrings work synergistically as hip extensors. You've probably heard of the term "glute amnesia" before, which connotes butt muscles that don't activate properly. The cause of this is too much time spent in hip flexion (read: sitting), and not enough time running, jumping, and lifting! Now, if your glutes don't show up to the (hip extension) party, then someone has to take over their job. You've guessed it: the hamstrings are now responsible for the majority of your hip extension! No wonder they're in a perpetual state of tension–they're holding onto your hips for dear life.

What are the best ways to tackle these movement dysfunctions? Here are some of my favorite exercises:

1. GHD hip extension
2. Barbell hip thrusters
3. Single leg RDLs
4. Single leg squats on box
5. Bird dogs
6. Deadbugs

So while stretching the hamstrings may give you some immediate relief, you have to analyze why they're getting tight. If you continue to repeat the same process and it just isn't working, it's time to find a new plan of attack. Work those glutes and strengthen that core, and you may just free yourself of your constant need to stretch your hammies.


Works Cited:

2. Dionne, Cassie. "Stretching Your Hamstrings Isn't Always Best." Breaking Muscle. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2016.
3. Dooley, Kathy. "Dooley Noted: Core Instability Hiding as Tight Hamstrings." YouTube. YouTube, 04 May 2013. Web. 19 July 2016.
4. Nickelston, Perry. "Top 10 Muscle Imbalances and What To Do About Them #1." Stop Chasing Pain. N.p., 2 May 2016. Web. 11 July 2016.
5. Yessis, Michael. "Stretching The Hamstrings." YouTube. YouTube, 25 July 2011. Web. 12 July 2016.

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How Bigger Hamstrings Will Improve Your Athleticism and Prevent Injury

Let's talk about everyone's favorite chain: the posterior chain. So many songs have been written about it, but yet, some people oddly neglect to sufficiently train the glutes and hamstrings.

With this overwhelming abuse of the quadriceps complex, it is important that lifters prioritize isolation of the hamstring muscles to balance out the discrepancy in strength. Hamstring strength can play a role in improved power output, running economy, and may even reduce the risk of injuries like ACL tears.

As much as I love squats (and believe them to be one of the most beneficial exercises), the squat does not actually activate the posterior chain as much as many people think. In fact, many people squatting are quad-dominant, and under-utilize the gluteus maximus.

Before I elaborate, we need to review a little bit of anatomy. The muscles we refer to as the "hamstrings" are actually three separate muscles: the biceps femoris (which has a long head and a short head), the semimembranosus, and the semitendinosus. These two joint muscles work together to flex the knees and extend the hips.

Now that that's out of the way, we can talk about how these muscles affect performance. Since they act as hip extensors, strong hamstrings are going to be crucial for a high jump and a fast sprint. A 2007 study on sprinters concluded that "[...]the muscles mainly responsible for forward propulsion in full speed sprinting are the hamstrings, the glutaeus maximus and the adductor longus. The hamstrings are singled out as the most important contributors to produce highest speed levels." Essentially, an athlete with well-developed hamstrings will be able to horizontally accelerate much faster than an opponent with weaker hamstrings. Each stride will allow him to generate greater hip extension, getting more power as he straightens his legs. While quadriceps strength is necessary, it is the posterior chain that allows him to push harder off of the ground.

Similarly, another study found that runners with a smaller hamstring-to-quad ratio, meaning that there was not as big of a strength/size disparity between the two muscles, had a better running economy. This balance between the quadriceps and the hamstrings allowed the runners to be more efficient in their cadence. It was deduced that "runners should consider implementing hamstring exercises to improve their f-H:Q (hamstring to quad) ratios."

Usain Bolt has some serious hamstring pump.

The muscles activated in jumping are very similar to those we recruit in sprinting. While sprinting is unilateral, jumping is a bilateral movement. The extension of the hips, knees, and ankles, however, is much the same.

A four week study on males (with no strength training experience) found that the Nordic hamstring exercise (which I will show you later in this article) "[produced] favourable neuromuscular adaptations for the possible prevention of hamstring injuries while enhancing performance in athletic, untrained males." Using this exercise, on average, their vertical jump heights increased by about 6.3 cm in a month! That's pretty substantial. Granted, these are untrained individuals, but athletes could still reap some benefits from building the hamstrings.

I am a firm believer that a stronger, all-around, individual will be more resilient to injury. There is a decent amount of evidence to support the idea that hamstring strengthening can prevent the incidence of hamstring pulls, ACL tears, and other such injuries.

Askling et. al. tested hamstring injury in high-level soccer players. He put the players on an eccentric hamstring strengthening protocol 1-2 times a week for 10 weeks. "The results showed that the occurrence of hamstring strain injuries was clearly lower in the training group (3/15) than in the control group (10/15). In addition, there were significant increases in strength and speed in the training group." So the players got stronger, faster, and stayed injury free. What more could an athlete or a coach want!?

Here's the part you've been waiting for--the exercise section:

1. Russian leg curls
2. Good-mornings
3. Hip extensions (add weight if necessary)
4. Single leg RDL
5. Barbell hip thrusters
6. Stability ball leg curls 
7. Single leg sliding leg curl (advanced)
8. Slow eccentric RDLs
9. Reverse hypers
10. Stiff legged deadlifts

Not only will you have a better-looking rear-end, you'll be stronger, faster, and more injury resistant. Sounds like a win, win, win to me. Build those posterior chains!

Works Cited:

1. Askling, C., J. Karlsson, and A. Thorstensson. "Hamstring Injury Occurrence in Elite Soccer Players after Preseason Strength Training with Eccentric Overload." Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports Scand J Med Sci Sports 15.1 (2005): 65. Web.
2. Blazevich, Anthony John. "Optimizing Hip Musculature For Greater Sprint Running Speed." Strength and Conditioning Journal 22.2 (2000): 22. Web.
3. Clark, Ross, Adam Bryant, John-Paul Culgan, and Ben Hartley. "The Effects of Eccentric Hamstring Strength Training on Dynamic Jumping Performance and Isokinetic Strength Parameters: A Pilot Study on the Implications for the Prevention of Hamstring Injuries." Physical Therapy in Sport 6.2 (2005): 67-73. Web.
4. Mjolsnes, Roald, Arni Arnason, Tor Osthagen, Truls Raastad, and Roald Bahr. "A 10-week Randomized Trial Comparing Eccentric vs. Concentric Hamstring Strength Training in Well-trained Soccer Players." Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports Scand J Med Sci Sports 14.5 (2004): 311-17. Web.
5. Moir, Gavin, Ross Sanders, Chris Button, and Mark Glaister. "The Effect of Resistance Training on Hip-Knee Continuous Relative Phase Measures during Accelerative Sprinting." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39.Supplement (2007): n. pag. Web.
6. Nuckols, Greg. "Hamstrings: The Most Overrated Muscle for the Squat 2.0 • Strengtheory." Strengtheory. N.p., 29 Apr. 2015. Web. 27 May 2015.
7. Sugiura, Yusaku, Tomoyuki Saito, Keishoku Sakuraba, Kazuhiko Sakuma, and Eiichi Suzuki. "Strength Deficits Identified With Concentric Action of the Hip Extensors and Eccentric Action of the Hamstrings Predispose to Hamstring Injury in Elite Sprinters." J Orthop Sports Phys Ther Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 38.8 
8. Sundby, Øyvind H., and Mark L.s. Gorelick. "Relationship Between Functional Hamstring." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 28.8 (2014): 2214-227. Web.

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