Improve Your Hamstring Stretch

What is going on guys, happy Mobility Monday! There is no better way to start the week than by getting a solid training session in, and your training has to include focusing on your weak points. This week’s Mobility Monday tip focuses on a a way to increase the efficiency of your hamstring stretch. If your hamstrings are always feeling tight, you may be constantly trying to do the common sit and reach stretch or standing straight leg stretch. While those may give you some relief, they can actually sometimes cause more irritation and a stretch of the sciatic nerve, which passes out of the lumbosacral junction, under the piriformis muscle, and distributes down the posterior thigh and leg, and down into the foot. So to avoid irritation to that nerve, (which many people already have pain with already) we will make a slight modification that will target your hamstrings much better. So if you are struggling with hamstring injury, posterior thigh tightness or poor lower extremity mobility, this is for you!

This modification to the stretch will begin with you staggering your legs. The leg that is in front will be the targeted leg. You will slightly bend the knee of that leg in front, and then hip hinge and reach for that front foot. This puts the entire hamstring tissue on more of a stretch and you will feel this much more in the proximal part of your leg. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on each leg 3-5 times!

Todd Sabol - Contributor

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: 

Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, Functional Examination, Soft Tissue Treatment

EDUCATION:

BS, Marietta College, 2015

MS, Ohio University, 2017

CERTIFICATION:

BOC Certified Athletic Trainer, 2015

OTPTAT Licensed Athletic Trainer, 2015

EXPERIENCE:

Currently is in his third year as Head Athletic Trainer at New Lexington High School providing sports medicine services for all athletes. He is the owner of his own sports medicine seminar business which provides seminars for Ohio coaching certifications. He also provides treatment at Old School Gym for Cory Gregory and numerous other members.

"I have always strived to be a practitioner of what I do. Whether that was being a collegiate soccer player or now engaging in powerlifting and bodybuilding, I strive to push my body to its limits like the clients I treat so I can be a more effective clinician. I get no better feeling than having someone leaving a treatment session with me feeling, moving and performing better, it is the reason I love what I do."