tight hamstrings

adamski8

my hamstrings are extremely tight and have been for years. when i put one leg on a table at waist heigth i cant even straighten fully without feeling the stretch and thats with my back straight adn not leaning into it. i am trying to loosen them with stretching but is there anything else that could help aswell as i havent seen any great improvement altough im gonna step it up abit. im thinking maybe getting them massaged, applying heat or ice baths or something (i aint very knowlegable with these things) (im defo feeling hamstring stretch when i do them)

joey54

It might be a good idea to see a physiotherapist as in many cases hamstring problems such as tightness can stem from back problems. A physio will be able to check this out for you and rectify the problem!

TheWaterboy

Would defo see a physio as it seems that it could be lower back problems..Once you have that done stretching daily for a minute or two will make a huge difference over a few weeks.

adamski8

oh yeah ive been to physio's osethopaths doctors before about back problems and they have been sorted and they all siad my hamstings have tightened up and i need to stretch them just wondering if there was anything else that would help? in the past ive done stretchs for weeks and there seemed to be no improvement but i know i should probably do it for longer. they seize up after any execise for a few days.

Reyman

Use a foam roller on your hamstrings to loosen out any kinks. Then stretch them afterwards.

This is pretty similar to getting the muscles massaged and may save you a few bob

Transform

Reyman wrote: »

Use a foam roller on your hamstrings to loosen out any kinks. Then stretch them afterwards.

This is pretty similar to getting the muscles massaged and may save you a few bob

agreed.

Just stretch with full body stretch for 15-20mins every day. Do that and it will certainly improve

Dave Joyce

they seize up after any execise for a few days.

Just noticed this and was wondering if you warm up and cool down correctly?

adamski8

Dave Joyce wrote: »

Just noticed this and was wondering if you warm up and cool down correctly?

sometimes i do! but seemed to have little difference.

Reyman wrote: »

Use a foam roller on your hamstrings to loosen out any kinks. Then stretch them afterwards.

This is pretty similar to getting the muscles massaged and may save you a few bob

ill try the rollers. i looked them up but its hard to imagine how you self massage hamstrings, is it by like sitting on the roller and rolling up and down by moving yr body with yr hands along the ground or would it be by having the roller in yr hands and rolling it along the hamstrings?

Reyman

adamski8 wrote: »

ill try the rollers. i looked them up but its hard to imagine how you self massage hamstrings, is it by like sitting on the roller and rolling up and down by moving yr body with yr hands along the ground or would it be by having the roller in yr hands and rolling it along the hamstrings?

Balance on your hands and heels and roll along the hamstrings (roller underneath). Concentrate on the painful parts. Do one leg at a time if you need more pressure.

adamski8

cheers, i guess i only have one follow up question, wouldnt that mean yr hamstring would be tightened during the self massage then? and i thought (dont really know) that the point of the massage was to massage it when the muscel is relaxed?

Reyman

adamski8 wrote: »

cheers, i guess i only have one follow up question, wouldnt that mean yr hamstring would be tightened during the self massage then? and i thought (dont really know) that the point of the massage was to massage it when the muscel is relaxed?

I should have said 'balance on your hands/elbows' with the rest of your body off the ground and slide over the roller. There won't be any tension in your hamstrings.
You may need to do one leg at a time, overlapping the other leg on it to get more pressure on the roller.