Hamstring Stretch And Mobility

Hamstring Stretch and Mobility is a mindful movement practice designed to improve flexibility, mobility, and ease through the backs of the legs. You’ll gradually release tension in the hamstrings while supporting healthier movement through the hips and lower back.

Transcript

Hello everybody, Today we're going to be doing a hamstring stretch mobility class. I recommend you have a resistance band or a strap. If you are using a resistance band, Just be careful that it doesn't slip and snap and hit your face because that has happened and I've seen it happen, So careful that it does not happen to you. Now if you have a strap, Let's loop it, So if you don't know how to use the strap, The tail end will come through both loops, Then it will come back on itself over the first loop to the outside, Like so. And we're going to have a wide loop to start with, Like this, And once you have that, You can release the strap to the side and then lie flat on your back. Legs straight, Arms by the side, Softening deeply into your body, Taking a few rounds of deep belly breathing, In through the nose and out through the nose, Again in through the nose and out through the nose, One more round, In through the nose and exhale out through the nose, Bend the knees, Hug both knees into your chest, Here you can just rock side to side, Massage the lower back, Massage the shoulders, The tailbone, The sacrum, Okay now come to centre, Hug the right knee into your chest and stretch the left leg forward, Switch, Left knee into your chest, Right leg forward, Good, Switch, Right knee into your chest, Left leg forward, And switch, Good, Switch again, Hold here this time, Now spinal twist, Take the right knee across the body, Right arm comes out to the right, Feeling the chest stretch, Feeling the hips open, Come back to centre, Hug the right knee into your chest, And then switch, Left knee in, Right leg out, And then rotate, Spinal twist, Crossing the body, Left arm comes out to the left, Back to centre, Hug the knee in, And then release, Right knee into your chest, Now hold here, We're going to take the strap and you're going to hold, Strap a resistance band, Holding whatever you have on either sides, So like this, Now if you have a resistance band, Be careful, Don't let it slip, We're going to take the strap over the right arch, So just on top of the right heel, Take the right leg up towards the ceiling, So if your leg is here, Keep it there, We want the leg to be straight, So keep it as straight as you can, If it's at 90 degrees, Stay at 90 degrees, And walk the hands up the strap, Now in this position, Can you push the right thigh forward, But with the hands, Can you pull the right leg in, So the right thigh here is pushing forward to keep the back of the knee opened, But the hands pull the leg in, So two opposite directions here, Now release a little bit of pressure, Both ends of the strap, Hold it in the right hand, Left hand to left hip, Now don't let the left hip lift, Open the right leg out towards the right, But without letting your left hip lift, So you feel the inner thigh stretch, You feel the left hip trying to work hard, Lengthen through the right heel, Through the right thigh, And hold, Make the left side body heavier than the right, Good, Come back to center and stay, Now switch hands, Left hand holds the strap, Open the right leg towards the left, So you might not go very far here, Because we're crossing internally across the body, I want you to feel the leg and the stretch in the hips, All the way to the right foot, Good, Come back to center, Very nice, Bend the right knee and release, Switching sides, Left knee into your chest, Take the strap or the band over the left arch and extend the leg up towards the ceiling, So same thing here, If your leg is out forward, That's okay, But make sure it's as straight as you can, Now walk the hands up the strap, Push the left thigh forward, Using the hands, Draw the leg in, So feeling the back of the knees are to open up, Hold here, Breathe deeply, Now both ends of the strap, Hold it in the left hand, Right hand to right hip, Keep the right hip heavy, Now open the left leg up towards the left, So you want to lengthen through the left inner thigh, All the way towards the left heel, Right hip stays heavy on the foot, Open a little bit more, Lengthen, Extend, Good, Come back to center and switch, Right hand towards the strap, Open your left leg towards the right, So same thing, You might not go too far, But notice where you're feeling, Notice what you're feeling, Left hip, Maybe left back of the knee, Hold here, Can you bring the left toes a little bit higher and then bring the left toes towards the floor, But the upper body stays heavy, Very good, Come back to center, Bend the knee and release, Hug both knees into your chest, Interlace your hands over the right shin, Stretch the left leg straight, Now without using your hands, Take the hands to the sides, Take the right leg up towards the ceiling, So this time, No strap, Can you ground the shoulder blades into the mat, Make the left leg very heavy, So your left hip is on the floor, Now take a deep inhale in, As you exhale, Pull the right leg closer towards you, So using the core, Using the activation from your hips, Pull the leg in and back to center, Two more, Draw the leg in as much as you can, Keep the leg straight and back to center, Last one, Leg comes in, Good and back to center, Now keep the leg where it is, 90 degrees or wherever you can, Open the right leg towards the right, But don't try to tilt all the way over, Keep the left side heavy, Just right leg open towards the right, Good, Come back to center, Right leg towards the left, Cross the body, No hands, No hands and back to center, Again right leg to the right, But don't tilt, Don't tilt and back to center, Right leg to the left, So we're almost like windshield wipers here with the leg, Back to center, One more round, Right side and center, To the left and center, Very nice, Bend the knee, Hug the knee into your chest and switch, Left knee into your chest, Right leg straight, Now take the left leg up towards the ceiling, No hands, Hands by your side, Now extend your left leg up towards the ceiling and draw the left leg in, No hands, Back to center, Again left leg extends up, Draw weight in and release, One more, Left leg extends up, Draw weight in to you, Closer towards you, Good and release, Now keep the leg at 90 degrees or wherever you can, Open your left leg towards the left, Right side stays heavy, Right side make it heavier than your left, Good, Left leg back to center and to the right, Left shoulder stays on the floor, Come back to center, To the left, Very good, Back to center, To the right, Good, Back to center, One more round, To the left, Good and to the right, To the left, Back to the center, Bend the knees, Left knee into your chest and release, Take both knees into your chest and slowly come back up. Okay, Last exercise to finish, We're going to work on lengthening the front thighs because that was a of pulling in and shortening, So standing in a high kneeling position, Tailbone scoops underneath, Lower spine stays nice and tight, Core engaged, Now both arms stretch out in front of you, Tuck your toes for stability, Now hinge the body back, We want to open the front thighs here, Hinge the body back as far as you can, Feel the stretch in the front thighs, Now power through your thighs to come back up, Standing tall, Again, Hinging back, Hinging back, Hinging back and coming back up, Last three, Hinging back, Arms reaching forward but lower back stays neutral and back up, Last two, Hinge, Tailbone tucks underneath, Arms reach forward and back, One more, Hinge, Looking forward, Chin slightly up and back to center, Good, Hands to the floor, Sitting on the heels, Taking both arms up, Inhale and exhale, Release, Two more, Inhale, Arms up and release, Last one, Inhale, Arms up and release, That is it for today, Thank you for joining me on the mat.