Jefferson Curls question

I have been doing the Jefferson Curls for a few months now and my mobility had gone from terrible to just bad. So it is an improvement. At this stage I can get the bar just a bit above my toes. I wanted to ask you about the locked knee position. Should I unlock my knees a bit so I can get more depth (get bar below toes) and then work slowly to straighten the knees while keeping the depth? Or shall I always keep the knees locked and work on getting deeper mm by mm?

With the knees straight I feel the stretch at the back on my knees when I am fully bend over. When I tried it with the knees a bit unlocked (and bent deeper), I feel the stretch a bit more on my hamstrings.

To my mind both ways can lead to the result of getting a deep bend, but I do not know if one of them is cheating or just wrong. What do you guys recommend?

Thanks,

George

George, as a matter of personal preference I would prefer you do not bend your knees unless the Jefferson curl or similar variations give you knee pain, rather focus on the vertebra by vertebra articulation of the movement. 

Hi George,

Great question. You want to keep your knees locked when doing Jefferson curls, this way you will not only stretch your hamstrings and spine, but also your calves and Achilles' tendons. 

You are absolutely right, both stretches will give you a good stretch. Bending the knees are not wrong or cheating, simply another variation of the exercise. 

As Luke mentioned I'd recommend to really focus on your spine in this exercise. The reason you feel it in the back of the knees is because there's tightness there, this will get stretched and as you improve you will be able to go deeper