Hamstrings: Don't Be in a Hurry to Touch Your Toes

When students complain about lack of flexibility in class the hamstrings are mentioned often. It's as if the main goal of the beginning yoga student is to touch their toes. Once they reach those feet and grab hold they've made it, they consider themselves flexible. I still remember the day I got my head to my knees, I was so excited, but then bad things started to happen.

My knees began to hurt more and my lower back ached. I could now touch my toes but at what cost to my joint stability? Hamstring flexibility is important as it helps to balance out the pelvis which allows for a happy healthy back. They anchor the sit bones (the sit bones are the bony part of your butt under all your padding, if your unsure have a skinny person sit in your lap, you'll figure them out pretty quick). By anchoring the sit bones it limits the forward tilt of your pelvis allowing a stable base for the spine. If the hamstrings are too tight they can pull the pelvis down (picture tucking the tailbone under) causing a flat lower back. If they are too loose the pelvis can tilt too far forward causing a sway back. Neither of these back positions are comfortable nor good for the spine and surrounding muscles.

The hamstrings also affect the knees. The end of the hamstring attaches behind the knee and if the hamstring is too flexible it will compromise the stability of the knee. If a joint isn't stable it doesn't move correctly which can lead to loss of cartilage, tendinitis and bursitis. Same goes for the low back. A loose hamstring will cause instability in the pelvis, mostly the sacroiliac joint, giving the yogi a dull ached usually on one side that radiates into the hip joint.

Too tight and too loose isn't good, we need to find a happy medium. Yoga classes mainly focus on flexibility so it is up to you to make sure that you get your stretch, but maintain the strength in the muscles as well. Most teachers who have only taken their 200 hour trainings haven't been taught the woes of hyper-flexibility and will sadly only learn about it when their own bodies start to have trouble or they take more trainings.

A few simple tricks will help to protect your hamstrings and keep them balanced.

• Make sure you are feeling the stretch in the belly (middle main part) of the muscle. If you aren't feeling a stretch and you are deep into a pose, stop stretching and focus on strengthening the muscle. You're hyper-flexible and the muscle stretched beyond its stretch point, going further into the stretch will harm surrounding joints.
• Keep your pelvis level.
• Engage the thighs as you stretch the hamstring.
• If you are really tight in the hamstrings, bend the knees a bit so the stretch isn't as intense. You don't want to power through a stretch.
• If there is pain you are pushing too hard and doing more harm than good. Back off.

There are lots of ways to strengthen and stretch the hamstrings, below are a few of my favorites. Make sure to follow the suggestions mentioned above when doing the poses. Click on the poses to learn more about them and how to do them safely.

• Forward bends: to strengthen inhale half way up, extending the spine out and hold. You can put the hands on the hips, out to the side (harder) or out in front of you like warrior III (hardest). Engage the legs with a slight bend in the knees.
• Downward Dog: to make sure you are doing your down dog right check this out.
• Triangle: to make this a strengthening pose don't support your weight with your hand on your leg. Engage your core and lift. This will engage the legs more and also help strengthen your oblique's.
• Extended Side Angle: to strengthen, do the same as in triangle, don't support your weight with your elbow on the leg or hand on the floor.
• Hamstring Curls: these are purely for strength. If you have over stretched weak hamstrings you will only be able to do a few before your hamstrings start to cramp. Don't push through that, stop and try again tomorrow. You will have to work up to doing more of these. When I first started doing them I could barely do five. Now I can do four reps of 10 with only one leg on the ball. With time you will get where you want to be.

To do a hamstring curl lie on your back and place your feet on an exercise ball. Engage your core and on your exhale straighten your legs and roll the ball out. Inhale bend your legs rolling the ball back. Make sure not to tighten your shoulders while you do this.

No matter where your hamstrings are, be it tight or too loose, you can get them to where they need to be. In either case you will need to be patient. If you are working towards flexible hamstrings, it's a good idea to do the strengthening exercises as well. Do 50% stretch and 50% strengthen. Your goal isn't to touch your toes, but to have a healthy back. If you are hyper-flexible focus 80% strengthening and 20% stretch. When you do stretch do it right, don't just flop into it.

Always think about your stretch, there is a lot involved. Be safe and give your body what it needs and since that is constantly changing, always check in with your body before each pose.