Tight Hamstrings From Running and Hiking? I'm a Yoga Teacher and This Is the Pose I Recommend (and How to Do It Correctly)

If, like me, you enjoy lacing up your trail running shoes or hiking boots and hitting the trails regularly, you may find that your hamstrings are a little tight these days, especially if you’re not great at stretching regularly.

Running and hiking put a strain on your hamstrings (the generic term for the three muscles that run down the back of your thigh from your sit bones to the back of your knee), which isn’t a bad thing. Adding weight to your muscles helps make them stronger, and strong leg muscles contribute to balance and your ability to perform everyday tasks like standing. Until they don’t.

Overloading the hamstrings, whose function is to bend the knee, does not shorten the muscles, it just makes them feel that way. On the other hand, it can inhibit the ability of the hamstrings to move through their full range of motion. By nature, hiking and running move the knees and hips through a fairly short range of motion, and when you do these movements repeatedly, you can feel quite stiff when you go to put your shoes on in the morning.

You may feel quite stiff when you go to put on your shoes in the morning. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Why does it matter if I have tight hamstrings?

I have been teaching yoga for 15 years, mainly to athletes, and I often see hamstring pain. You don’t have to have the ambition to put your leg behind your head for your hamstrings to be a problem. In fact, the hamstrings originate at the pelvis. When they contract, they can keep the pelvis in a posterior tilt, which has repercussions. Research shows This can lead to posture problems, lower back pain and balance issues.

Additionally, your hamstrings share tissue with your calves, and tightness in one often signals tightness in the other, which can set you up for running injuries like Achilles tendonitis, strains, and shin splints. But that’s just the worst-case scenario.

In fact, some tightness in your leg muscles is a normal part of hiking and running, and it can actually help if you’re a sprinter. It’s not a problem unless it causes you pain or affects your ability to perform daily activities. That’s why it can be helpful to do mobility exercises like those offered by yoga.

Half-splits for runners and hikers

You wouldn’t reasonably expect to be able to do the splits as a runner, and there’s no functional reason to do it, but one of my favorite poses to offset the tightness I feel in my own hamstrings after running and hiking is a pose called Half Splits.

As the name suggests, Half Splits are a variation of splits that are much more accessible and can easily be incorporated into any stretching sequence, like my yoga stretches for runners.

But there’s a catch. Without a little help, it’s easy to do splits in a way that does virtually nothing for your hamstrings. Check out this picture of me doing splits the way I usually see people doing them:

This is how I usually see people doing half splits without assistance. (Image credit: Future)

In this photo, you can see that my back is rounded so I can put my hands on the floor. But why does this matter? After all, I do splits to stretch my hamstrings, so why does it matter what my spine does? The answer lies in the origin and insertion points of my hamstrings.

Since these amazing muscles originate on my hamstring and insert just below the back of my knee, if I round my back like this, I tilt my pelvis further back. This actually means I’m pulling the two ends of my hamstrings together. That’s not helpful when I’m trying to stretch them, is it?

Read on to find out what to do instead.

How to Do Half-Partings Correctly

After a run or hike, roll out your yoga mat for a few minutes of stretching. For half splits, you’ll need to step back one foot and bring your back knee down. If this hurts your knee, place a folded towel underneath it, then do the following:

Forget about putting your hands on the floor. Grab two yoga blocks (large books will do if you’re stuck) and place one under each hand on the highest setting.
Straighten your front leg as much as possible. You may need to slide your heel forward a little to avoid sitting on your heel.
Move the blocks if necessary so that your hands can stay comfortably under your shoulders and lift your chest, lengthening your spine rather than folding it over your leg.
Bend your knee slightly, then see if you can tilt your sitting bones back to move the origin of your hamstrings away from the insertion.
If you can do it without effort, slowly begin to straighten your knee without letting your sit bone roll underneath.
Dorsiflex your ankle to pull your toes toward you to also stretch your calves.

Now your half-partings should look more like this:

Use blocks to help lift your torso, then work on tilting your sitting bones back, away from your knee. (Image credit: Future)

At first, the muscle spindle stretch receptors (cells inside the muscle that detect changes in tension and length) will start telling your nervous system to contract the muscle to avoid injury, but stay here for a few breaths and this activation will stop.

When this happens, you can take it a step further by contracting your quads to actively straighten your knee, then contract your hamstrings and press your heel into the floor. Hold this position for a few breaths, strengthening your hamstrings in a lengthened position, then release again and you’ll likely notice a difference immediately.

If Half Splits aren’t your thing, grab a yoga strap or belt instead, lie on your back, and stretch your hamstrings with this pose:

If Half Splits aren’t for you, grab a yoga strap or belt instead, lie on your back, and stretch your hamstrings with this pose. (Photo credit: Koldunov)

Belamoda

Belamoda

Tight Hamstrings From Running and Hiking? I’m a Yoga Teacher and This Is the Pose I Recommend (and How to Do It Correctly)

Tight Hamstrings From Running and Hiking? I’m a Yoga Teacher and This Is the Pose I Recommend (and How to Do It Correctly)

Why does it matter if I have tight hamstrings?

Orange .N

Related Posts

Theoretical model for multisite alloy catalyst design quantifies active site contributions

Manhunt continues for suspect in interstate shooting; he is ‘armed and dangerous,’ authorities say

Other Story

Theoretical model for multisite alloy catalyst design quantifies active site contributions

Manhunt continues for suspect in interstate shooting; he is ‘armed and dangerous,’ authorities say

Kannada Movie Firefly Teaser: Vamshi Outshines As An Actor And Director

Drama of departure in Barcelona

Ryan Jack hints at Turkish move with new message

‘Don’t play with my emotions’: Iconic sweets make a comeback