Let’s talk about whether you should stretch your hamstrings or not??
What are your hamstrings for and why do we think we need to stretch them?
I don’t know about you but I grew up in the era of; “If your back hurts…. stretch your hamstrings”.
And we all know those types of folks who are super flexible and love to do yoga because they are innately good at it….. maybe too flexible in some cases.
Your hamstrings are there to support you.
Here is what I have learned over the years. Your hamstrings are there to support you. Period.
If you stretch the heck out of them, they become less able to do that for you.
Your hamstrings attach to your sit bones and they help stabilize your sacro-iliac joints and your low back. If you over stretch them you can get into trouble. I see this a lot in my practice.
In the video below I demonstrate a quick assessment you can do yourself to see whether or not you need to stretch your hamstrings.