10 hamstring myths debunked

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    10 Hamstring MythsDebunkedThe hamstrings are three long muscles

    (semitendinosus,semimembranosusandbiceps femoris) at the back of

    the thighs. Their job is to flex (bend) the knee and extend the hip, though

    it might feel at times as if their primary responsibility is to stymie our

    attempts to forward fold!

    Sitting in chairs, an activity in which these muscles are both inactive and

    at their shortest length, is a primary culprit for tight-feeling hamstrings. Alack of flexibility in and around the hamstrings can cause postural

    problems, and can set the stage for spinal disc injury by pulling the ischial

    tuberosities (sitting bones) down and forcing a posterior (backward) tilt of

    the pelvis. That posterior tilt flattens the curve of the lumbar spine (lower

    back), and makes it hard tohinge safelyintoforward

    foldslikeuttanasana(standing forward fold),prasarita

    padottanasana(wide-legged fold), anddandasana(staff pose).

    Many practitioners come to yoga hoping to release their hamstrings. After

    years of only slight improvement, we may tell ourselves that more

    patience and more forward folding is what is required. But classes that

    promise to lengthen tight hamstrings through a program of diligent

    forward folding may not necessarily lead to the release we are hoping for.

    In addition, many of the safeguards often recommended for those with

    hamstring limitations or injurieslike bending the knees, sitting on

    blankets, or avoiding forward bends altogetherare only part of the wholepicture, and they do not address the imbalances that keep the hamstrings

    locked year after year.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitendinosushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semimembranosushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biceps_femorishttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-practice-to-combat-the-effects-of-sittinghttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/hello-hip-hinge-goodbye-roll-up-rethinking-the-kindest-way-to-rise-to-standhttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/folding-into-fall-how-to-sequence-a-forward-bend-practicehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/folding-into-fall-how-to-sequence-a-forward-bend-practicehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/relief-for-tight-hamstrings/#uttanasanahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feet#prasaritahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feet#prasaritahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semimembranosushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biceps_femorishttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-practice-to-combat-the-effects-of-sittinghttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/hello-hip-hinge-goodbye-roll-up-rethinking-the-kindest-way-to-rise-to-standhttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/folding-into-fall-how-to-sequence-a-forward-bend-practicehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/folding-into-fall-how-to-sequence-a-forward-bend-practicehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/relief-for-tight-hamstrings/#uttanasanahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feet#prasaritahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feet#prasaritahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-for-your-aching-feethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitendinosus
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    Classes that promise to lengthen tighthamstrings through a program of diligentforward folding may not necessarily leadto the release we are hoping for.

    Challenging the following prevailing myths about the hamstrings may

    empower us to make revisions to our movement habits and yoga

    practices that will eventually enable us to deepen our forward folds and

    ease our lower backs.

    1. My hamstrings are tight.

    The problem is often not tight hamstrings. You see, its often not your

    muscles that are tight, but rather thefascia, or connective tissue, around

    the muscles. Fibrous adhesions (stuck places) and micro-entanglements

    (minute knots) in the fascia are clumping your hamstrings together,

    essentially holding them in a Chinese finger trap. In other words, the

    knotted sticky places in the connective tissue around the hamstrings are

    often what keep us from going deeper into our forward folds.

    2. My goal is to get my hamstrings to lengthen.

    Your hamstrings are probably long enough. They need to be able to widen

    and spread from side to side in the course of their engagementlike a

    curtain being pulled across a rod. The knotted sticky places in the

    connecting tissues surrounding the muscle are often preventing that

    lateral play. Because of the interconnectedness of fascia, if a muscle

    doesnt have side-to-side wiggle room, elasticity is going to be limited in

    all directions (and this includes the more obvious lengthening potential).

    But once that side-to-side wiggle room is available and your bones are

    well aligned for hip-hinging, the tissue can broaden and you can safely

    move more deeply into your forward fold.

    https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-anatomy-what-every-teacher-and-practitioner-should-know-about-fasciahttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-anatomy-what-every-teacher-and-practitioner-should-know-about-fascia
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    3. The only way to release my hamstrings is to stretch the back of

    my thighs through poses like forward folds.

    Actually, when any movement or posture is created with healthy skeletal

    alignment, the bones will guide the hamstrings along their intended lines,

    gradually releasing the adhesions binding the hamstrings in order to

    mobilize the fascia and muscle tissue. Healthy alignment assists the

    hamstrings to find their grooves, where they will be able to slide and

    glide freely.

    The keys to hamstring release (applicable to a wide range of poses and

    movements) are to drop weight into the feet, track the knees toward the

    middle toes, and create an elongatedneutral spine.Think well-rooted feet,

    whose balls and heels both bear weight evenly; knees that move toward

    the centerlines of the feet (right between the second and the middle toes);

    and a spinearranged so that the back of the head and the tailbone move

    equally far back, while lengthening away from each other.

    Many patients come to physical therapy with hamstring-related injuries.

    The key to their recovery is to examine how they are positioning

    themselves through their feet, where their knees are in relation to their

    toes, and the shape of their spines. Once they learn to balance weightmore evenly through the balls and heels of the feet, track their knees

    toward their middle toes, and lengthen their spines, the root pathology is

    undone and their hamstring tension releases.

    For a quicker fix, many body workers (like physical therapists, massage

    therapists, structural integrationists, and ROLFers) are experts at freeing

    adhesions in connective tissue. Self-massage can work as well. Try sitting

    on a firm chair, place atennis ballunder one thigh, lift that foot slightly,and move the leg from side to side to strum the hamstrings, pressing

    down into the ball as much as possible. When you find a tight spot, hold

    and breathe.

    https://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-anatomy-what-is-neutral-spinehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-alignment-exploring-the-feet-and-legshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailboneshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailboneshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/tennis-ball-techniques-for-tight-muscleshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-anatomy-what-is-neutral-spinehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-alignment-exploring-the-feet-and-legshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailboneshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailboneshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/tennis-ball-techniques-for-tight-muscles
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    However, freeing adhesions manually does not address the underlying

    movement issue strategies that may have led to the adhesions forming in

    the first place. It may even set the stage for injury, if that increased

    mobility is not accompanied by increased stability and postural changes.

    A yoga practice that emphasizes healthy weight-bearing habits is one way

    to foster that stabilizing alignment.

    In addition, establishing healthy habits such as drinking plenty of water,

    eating nutritious food, and moving continually throughout the day (as

    opposed to sitting for hours on end) can help establish a good context for

    hamstring release!

    4. I may have stretched the same way for years, but if Im patient, myhamstrings will eventually release.

    Not so. Its likely that doing what youve always done, the way youve

    always done it, will continue to get you what youve always gotten.

    Continue to forward fold without addressing underlying alignment and

    weight-bearing issues, and youll probably keep feeling stuck. To find the

    release youre looking for, try rooting the feet well and tracking the knees

    and feet with greater care, while moving with an elongated neutral spine in

    as many different poses as possible and throughout your daily activities.Applying these principles to your forward folds might serve to make the

    same old poses feel newly productive!

    5. If I experience hamstring tendonitis (pain at the origin of the

    hamstrings, just underneath the buttocks) I should avoid all forward

    folds.

    Its not what you do, but how you do it. Often, hamstring tendonitis occurs

    because of an imbalance in the weight-bearing and alignment in a pose,and not because of the pose itself. The tendonitis (called tendonosis

    when chronic) usually means that one part of the hamstring group is

    overstretching or overworking. This is a symptom of an underlying

    movement dysfunction. Its an indication that you need to build the

    strength and coordination that will enable you to share the stretch load of

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    a forward fold throughout the whole leg and its connective tissue. Doing

    that will often get you out of the repetitive strain cycle.

    For self-treatment of hamstring tendonitis, come into a standing forward

    fold until you are just above any sensation of pain. For two minutes, holdyour forward fold at that pain-free depth; continue to lengthen the spine,

    track your knees toward your middle toes, and relax your weight into each

    foot with great sensitivity. Then come back up with a long spine. The two-

    minute hold facilitates tissue remodeling and neuromuscular re-patterning

    (leading to enhanced coordination and strength), which will likely allow

    you to fold deeper without pain in your next forward fold.

    6. As long as I activate my quadriceps when stretching myhamstrings, the stretch will be safe.

    While the inclination to stretch actively instead of passively is a good one,

    activating the quadriceps (the muscles at the front of the thighs that work

    in opposition to the hamstrings to extend the knee and flex the hip)

    guarantees very little. The bones can be misaligned, even with the

    contraction of the quadriceps. In this case, the tracking issues will remain

    unaddressed, potentially causing limitations and injuries. Rather than

    focusing on activating any particular muscle, if you focus first on skeletalalignment, youll get the muscle engagement for free! By tracking the

    bones of the legs and feet during a forward fold, for instance, you will get

    the oft-coveted contraction of the vastus medialis (the medial or innermost

    quadricep, just above the knee toward the inner thigh)which tends to be

    harder for many of us to engage than the other quadricep muscles, but

    whose activation can aid in healthy knee alignment.

    7. If in a pose likedandasana(staff pose) I cannot lengthen my spinebecause of tightness at the back of my thighs, my only recourse is

    to sit on a pile of blankets.

    Blankets can certainly help you to elongate your spine. But you might

    meet with more success by keeping your legs in the traditional pose, while

    modifying by walking your hands back and leaning your trunk back. In this

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    alternative, you retain the advantage of the floor underneath your legs,

    which may make it easier for you to align your knees. You will get more

    feedback about your knee alignment with your knees on the ground

    instead of lifted (as they would be if you were sitting on a stack of

    blankets).

    From dandasana, try leaning back, walking your hands back as far as you

    need to in order to gently curve your lower back in. Bear weight through

    all your limbspressing not only your hands, but also your heels and

    thighbones into the floorto help youuntuck your pelvis, curve your lower

    back in gently, and broaden across your collarbones. As in the more

    traditional upright version of the pose, aim to move your head and

    tailbone to the same imaginary yardstick behind you, and to elongate

    them away from each other. Since you are leaning back, the yardstick

    has to tip back with you, bringing your head and your tail to a back-

    slanting diagonal line. Here you can practice maintaining your lumbar

    curve, and reinforce healthy actions in your feet and legs: Arrange your

    feet as though they are pressing against a wall (or better yet, actually do

    press them against a wall!), and point your toes and knees straight up.

    Gradually, breath by breath, put more weight into your legs and less in

    your arms, bringing your spine closer to perpendicular with the earth.

    .

    https://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailboneshttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/friends-dont-let-friends-over-tuck-their-tailbones
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    8. Bending my knees in forward folds makes forward folding safe for

    my hamstrings and lower back.

    Bending your knees does not ensure safety, especially if the knees and

    feet arent tracking well, or you havent balanced your weight in your feet.

    To keep a standing forward fold safe, you may bend your knees or not,

    but be sure to drop your weight evenly into the full surface area of your

    heels and the balls of your feet, and track your knees toward the space

    between your second and third toes while elongating your spine

    towardneutral.

    9. My goal is to keep a flat back/neutral spine all the way down into a

    fold.

    Not necessarily. Your goal is to elongate your spine over well-tracked legs.

    Most people will have to round their spines at around 90 to 120 degrees

    of hip flexion (the angle between the lines of the spine and thighbones).

    For example, if you move from standing into a forward fold over straight

    legs, shortly after your spine lowers past parallel to the earth, your spine

    must round. (While hypermobile yogis may be able to keep their spines

    neutral past that mark, that can simply indicate an excessive range of

    motion in the ball and socket joint of the hip, which does not guarantee a

    long spine or well-tracked legs.)

    Rounding or flexing your spine in a forward fold is fine if the rounding is

    evenly distributed throughout the bones of the spine and supported by thecore. To best engage your core-stabilizing muscles, aim to hit that 90- to

    120-degree mark while maintaining a neutral spine; after that, forward fold

    gradually, with the intention of lengthening your spine over well-tracked

    https://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-anatomy-what-is-neutral-spinehttps://yogainternational.com/article/view/asana-anatomy-what-is-neutral-spine
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    leg bones. If, as you go down deeper into a fold, you lose the alignment

    that anchors you, come back up to re-root and re-lengthen.

    10. If I can forward fold easily and deeply, I should always go to the

    end of my range, moving as far as possible into every stretch.

    Yogis often benefit from less focus on mobility and an increased focus on

    stability and formbacking off from end-range stretches, and doing the

    humbling work of stabilizing and breathing. Hyperflexible yogis can gird

    core strength and benefit their connective tissue by refining the weight-

    bearing in their feet, tracking their knees toward the centerlines of their

    feet, and lengthening their spines, in what will feel like midranges of

    flexibility to them (at a depth in the pose where they might feel only a hint

    of a stretch).

    If they are hungry for more sensation there, they can attune themselves to

    the feeling of the breath moving in and out of the body, and work to retain

    the groundedness of the feet, the tracking of their knees, and the length in

    their spineall while allowing the expansion of each inhale and the gentle

    contraction of each exhale.