Coping with achy stiffness at the back of your thighs is usually a actual ache within the butt. Thankfully, the most effective hamstring stretches is usually a balm for tight and cranky legs, offering candy, candy aid.
And that’s one thing a lot of people can have fun. That’s as a result of tight hamstrings are “quite common,” Natalie Frizzell, PT, DPT, an train and sports activities bodily therapist with FX Bodily Remedy, tells SELF. There are a bunch of explanation why—and likewise a bunch of various stretches you are able to do to assist. Under, necessary intel on the causes and repercussions of tight hammies, the right way to loosen them up, and 10 bodily therapist-approved hamstring stretches that may do exactly that.
What’s the root reason for tight hamstrings?
There are many causes why tight hamstrings occur. A extremely widespread one is on a regular basis we spend sitting on our butts, bodily therapist and run coach Kimberly Melvan, DPT, CSCS, tells SELF. “While you’re in that sitting place, it shortens the muscular tissues,” she explains. So should you’re doing that for lengthy intervals of time, stiffness can begin to creep in. Being inactive typically also can contribute. “Simply not utilizing them could cause them to tighten up”, Dr. Melvan provides.
Weak glutes are one other perpetrator, since that causes the hamstrings to tackle extra work to increase the hips, Dr. Melvan explains. When the hammies get overworked, they will tighten up.
Different contributing elements embody having weak hamstrings, a historical past of hamstring strains, flexibility points in different muscular tissues, or motor management points within the hips or knee joints, Dhara Shah, PT, DPT, bodily therapist in outpatient rehab at Emory College Hospital and spokesperson for the American Bodily Remedy Affiliation, tells SELF.
Genetics could also be at play too; a few of us simply have tight hamstrings due to our DNA, Dr. Frizzell says.
Lastly, it may not need to do with the muscular tissues themselves, both. Generally when you’ve got tight hamstrings, the muscle itself isn’t shortened, however fairly there’s tightness within the myofascia, which is connective tissue that surrounds and interweaves a number of muscular tissues, Dr. Shah explains. When a muscle is injured or put beneath additional stress, myofascial set off factors—mainly, irritable spots within the muscle—can type and trigger ache. Your hammies also can really feel tight when there’s restricted blood movement to them. “If muscular tissues don’t get sufficient oxygen from acceptable blood movement, it will probably trigger ache or discomfort,” Dr. Shah explains.
Tight hamstrings don’t really feel nice, however can they put you prone to damage?
Right here’s the factor: “Tight hamstrings don’t all the time equate to damage or ache,” Dr. Melvan says. Some individuals might have tight hamstrings and be simply tremendous. However different occasions, they will trigger issues in surrounding muscular tissues and joints. “If you do not have sufficient movement in a single space, you will see points in one other space,” Dr. Melvan explains. “The again, hips, knees—all of these can have points if the hamstrings are tight.” That’s as a result of tight hammies can shift your motion patterns, change your posture, and restrict your vary of movement, she says. And these alterations can result in different muscular tissues taking up extra stress than they’re designed to, in the end upping the possibilities of ache and damage.
