Stretching

Hi All

Can anyone recommend good stretching exercises for the shoulders and hamstrings? Due to lack of care and injuries I have very tight shoulders and hamstrings, to the extent that I am about 3 to 4 inches from being able to touch my toes before it becomes extremly painful behind the knee.

Cheers

Dougie

One of the hamstring flexibility movements that I use with my athletes may be helpful to you. It is a weighted pike stretch. Simply stand on the end of a weight bench with a 25-45lb. plate and stretch down into a pike. Be vigilant about keeping the knees locked and try lean slightly forward during the pike while pressing the heels strongly into the bench. This forward lean will greatly intensify the stretch of the calves as well as the hamstrings. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Do two sets with approximately one minute rest inbetween.

As you get more flexible and are able to put hands flat on the floor in a standing pike, make the weighted pikes more difficult by standing in the middle of the bench and holding the weight underneath the bench. To get into this position, assume a squat position on the bench, grab your weight and then straighten your legs to the pike position.

Be patient and consistent in your stretching. The most common mistake in stretching is people working too hard too soon and expecting overnight results.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

This sounds like a good way on getting closer to that V-sit.

Coach Sommer, I assume this requires a very tense back too. Is that correct? Letting the back go loose would only act as a lower back stretch, and possibly cause injury.

Could someone please provide a link or make a video about the weighted pike stretch? I couldn't understand quite well how it is performed from the written explanation. Sorry for the stupid question but I'm not sure how to hold the weights and make the stretching itself. I know what's a pike stretching but I can't see how the weight should be grabbed and the angle to make it better than the normal unloaded execution.

Thanks

This is a stiff legged deadlift, but the movements are very similar. Just imagine performing that movement holding a 25-45 lb plate rather than the barbell pictured. Perform the movement at the edge of the bench so as your flexibility increases, you can allow the plate to dip past the bench to deepen the stretch. Once you can place your hands to the floor in a standing pike, move to the center of the bench and grab the weight from underneath the bench. Your body will be on top of the bench and the weight below separated by the bench itself (ie. if you stood up, the weight would bang into the bottom of the bench).

Hope that helps!

Thank you very much! Crystal clear now

Coach Sommer said:

Increasing Hamstring Flexibility

Be patient and consistent in your stretching. The most common mistake in stretching is people working too hard too soon and expecting overnight results.

I was actually going query as to how often your suppose to stretch and for how long. Reason i ask is just as Coach sommers has pointed out above i feel as though i might be over doing the stretching an am seeking a little guidance on how often and how long one should stretch. Example i was doing a straddle stretch with my elbows on the ground and also pike stretch, but i only did it like twice-three times in a week and got really excited when i was getting really good results quite quickly and decided that since two-three days was working great lets do it everday. Now i feel the inside of my legs hamstrings are not only are very tight but also quite sore and it seemed to have the almost opposite effect that i was hoping to achieve. So how often should one do these kinds of stretchs and how long should the stretch be held. I found my self holding some for up to a minute. Look forward to some advise thanks in advance.

Frequency and timing of joint preparation/flexibility work.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Well that definatly cleared everything up Thanks for the timely response Coach Sommer.

Coach says:

"As you get more flexible and are able to put hands flat on the floor in a standing pike, make the weighted pikes more difficult by standing in the middle of the bench and holding the weight underneath the bench. To get into this position, assume a squat position on the bench, grab your weight and then straighten your legs to the pike position."

Can someone post a picture of this, or clarify? Do I actually stand on the middle of the bench? The only way I can imagine getting more of a stretch is to put my hands past my toes, which can involve standing on the bench.

After about a minute warmup of my hamstrings, I can put both hands flat on the ground with knees locked. So I assume I'm ready for the more advanced stretch. Thanks!

Just finished My legs are a little tired but it was also a good cardio workout