As many of you will know I have found Stretch Therapy\u2019s approach to stretching quite transformational for me personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stretch Therapy has a couple of series for hip and shoulder mobility that are worth about 10x the 10 or so USD they cost to download (https:\/\/vimeo.com\/kitlaughlin\/vod_pages<\/a>), there’s also a ton of material on youtube (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/KitLaughlin<\/a>) and the website and forum (Kit Laughlin Stretch Therapy Forums<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve had a couple of queries from people recently who wanted more flexible hamstrings specifically, so I put together a pick\u2019n\u2019mix selection focussed on just that. The vimeo links are for on-demand videos that cost about 2 USD each, but again worth every penny. The youtube ones are free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diagnostic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it really hamstrings? Hamstrings will have to take up the slack if the muscles upstream and downstream are tight. The posterior chain runs from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Single Leg Dog Pose. https:\/\/vimeo.com\/117398275<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Az5h5G6BLm4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This exercise is hard work at first but really great, and will give you a real feel for what really is tight (ankles, calves, hamstring, glutes). Don\u2019t be afraid to start with hands well elevated (eg even 24\u201d box) and if you don\u2019t have ladder bars just hook the free foot around your ankle or use another box to rest it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamstrings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Great stretches just for the hamstrings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Limbering. Elephant Walk. https:\/\/vimeo.com\/111655899<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bent Leg Stretch https:\/\/vimeo.com\/111655907<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CrF2iMnn09w<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Straight Leg Stretch https:\/\/vimeo.com\/111674498<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hip Flexors and Quads<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If your hip flexors and quads are tight, the hamstrings have to be tight to compensate and will end up short. If you are sitting as much as we all do your hip flexors are proabably in serious need of some attention. In fact if you only have time for one exercise just do the hip flexor ones and forget about your hamstrings for a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quads https:\/\/vimeo.com\/106095112<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=p7nV-kiGhsQ<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Solo Hip Flexor. https:\/\/vimeo.com\/106095113<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4bWQGIm9raw<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Partner Hip Flexor. Looks a bit crazy but fantastically effective and a good way to make new friends. https:\/\/vimeo.com\/106095114<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Limbering. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NOiLJnuuKMM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upstream\/Downstream<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Feet https:\/\/vimeo.com\/111655907<\/a> in addition I recommend massaging the soles of the feet by standing on a lacrosse ball or similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calves\/Ankles https:\/\/vimeo.com\/98187778<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Piriformis https:\/\/vimeo.com\/98163303<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=idJdXbVUjNI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I terms of reps and sets… ideally spend about an hour once a week and preferably after exercise, doing intense versions of these stretches spending several minutes per side and exploring new range of motion. You can use more gentle “limbering” variations of these as part of your warm up. Go with the flow, focus on what seems tightest on the day. Try and tune into the sensations. Good luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As many of you will know I have found Stretch Therapy\u2019s approach to stretching quite transformational for me personally. Stretch Therapy has a couple of series for hip and shoulder mobility that are worth about 10x the 10 or so USD they cost to download (https:\/\/vimeo.com\/kitlaughlin\/vod_pages), there’s also a ton of material on youtube (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/KitLaughlin) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crossfit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":620,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/templemanadvisory.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}