Your Hamstrings…Are They Tight For A Reason???!!!

We all know the feeling, you bend forward to touch your toes and the muscles in the back of your legs feel like they are going to snap!

Here at Pro Performance Clinics, almost everyone we treat thinks they have “tight hamstrings”.

Well, the good news is the 99% of you don’t! Just like this guy…

Here’s the truth: Your hamstrings feel “tight” because they are actually doing their job. They are switching on to stabilise your pelvis because your core stability muscles and glutes aren’t work properly! You should actually be grateful, if they didn’t compensate for your weak hip flexors and abdominals, you would fall flat on your face (very embarrassing in the gym)!

So, why are my glutes and core not working?

Modern humans spend 80% of their lives time sat down in front of a screen, we simply aren’t designed to sit for this length of time. I’ve never seen a chimpanzee use an ipad, but they would probably use it as a frisbee! When we sit down lots, the hip flexor muscles get short, tight and weak because we don’t use them.

 

So, how does having tight hip flexors cause tight hamstrings?

As our pelvis gets pulled forward by the shortened hip flexors,  the head also moves forward, so the hamstrings have no choice but to pull tight!!!

How do I fix it? Stretch my hamstrings?

Absolutely not, stretching your hamstrings will in fact make the problem worse by taking away your bodies clever survival pattern.

What do I do instead?

The first thing that 99% of people need to do is lengthen the front of their hips and legs, not the back! Foam rolling the quads, stretching and mobilising the front of the hips is essential to correct this very modern problem.

We see this in people who are active in lots of sports too, cycling, triathlon, rugby, football and weightlifting. People tend to concentrate on the parts of the body they can see in the gym and forget about the deep muscles that really matter.

How do I lengthen my hip flexors?

Here’s a great stretch and mobilisation video from world renowned author Gray Cook.

http://www.functionalmovement.com/exercises/brettzel#ooid=BweW9iNjrHeyjD5Ny0d0n4vhCjANFLjE

Do this before and after your workouts. It will also help to improve your thoracic spine mobility (Always a good thing).

Suffering with a hamstring tear?

If you have suffered with a hamstring tear or injury, we have achieved great results with getting athletes back on the field by addressing the underlying reason why the hamstring tear occurred in the first place.

Treatment includes:

• Muscle imbalance and Strength testing
• Functional movement correction
• Pelvic and postural realignment
• Tailored rehab exercises
• Muscle tone resetting, using dry needling and active release technique.
• Chiropractic manipulation to address skeletal imbalances i.e twisted pelvis, leg length difference etc

Call today on 02071682471, Notting Hill or 02073746181 Liverpool St to get expert advice and treatment.