Half splits: I recommend this exercise for tight hamstrings

Woman doing stretch on yoga mat — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Do your hamstrings feel tight when you bend down to pick up the laundry, or try to do a forward fold in a yoga workout? Trust me, you’re not alone. I’ve been teaching yoga for almost 20 years, and tight hamstrings are easily one of the most common reasons that people come to my classes.

Stiffness and restriction in these important muscles can lead to lower back pain and poor posture. It can also increase your injury risk during exercise, especially if you’re doing explosive movements like plyometrics – or just running for the bus.

I can remember being unable to touch my toes as a teenager, and yoga has been really helpful in accessing more mobility - but only once I figured out how to be smart about my approach to stretching.

The half splits pose is my favourite exercise for stretching out tight hamstrings and improving low mobility. But you can do this move over and over with no results if you're only doing it passively. In my years of experience, I've learnt how to do it as effective strengthening yoga.

How to do half splits pose

Step your right foot forward into a lunge. Bring your left knee down (pad it with a folded towel if it’s more comfortable) and place your hands on two blocks – the higher the better.
Start to straighten your right knee, bringing your hips directly over your left knee (don’t sit back on your left heel here). You may have to slide your right heel forward an inch or two as I do.
Bend your right knee a little so you can tilt your pelvis back, drawing your sitting bones up and your chest forward to keep your spine long. This moves the two ends of your hamstrings apart.
Instead of just hanging out here, strongly press your heel down and try to drag it towards you to contract your hamstrings, like you’re trying to bend your knee. This sends a signal to a receptor where your hamstrings connect with tendons to release. Hold for up to 15 seconds.
Now release the contraction, fully straighten your knee and contract your quadriceps at the front of your thigh. Flex your ankle so your toes draw back towards you too, bringing your calves on board.
Hold this more passive stretch for between 30 seconds and one minute to override your nervous system’s bracing response.

EXERZ

Yoga Blocks 2pcs Gym Bricks

A few sets of yoga blocks can help you balance through the movement and focus on stretching out your hamstrings rather than stabilising yourself off balance.

Why are my hamstrings tight?

Your hamstrings are a group of three muscles sitting on the back of your upper leg. Their main job is to help bend your knee, but they also help lift your leg in front of you, so we use them all day long when walking, running, or sitting down/standing up from a chair.

Hamstrings feel tight for a couple of reasons. If you do a lot of exercise without stretching, these muscles could be quite strong, but they're not used to a wide range of motion. That means when you finally try to do that seated forward fold in class, your nervous system might go into fight-or-flight mode and tense up.

On the other hand, if you spend a good chunk of the day sitting down to work at a computer, your hamstrings may have become weak through underuse, and the surrounding connective tissue might have contracted. Because your hamstrings attach to your sitting bones, this can result in your pelvis being constantly “tucked,” or tilted forward, which can affect your posture and lower back. This can increase your risk of injury when you do finally start moving and stretching.

Many people also do yoga to loosen tight hips and glute exercises for similar reasons.

No matter the cause, your hamstrings are not actually short if they feel tight, and stretching them doesn’t make them longer. Your nervous system might just be trying to protect you from injury by contracting the muscle fibres when you want to lengthen them.

What is good mobility?

How do you know if you have good mobility? Well, you don't need to be striving to get your leg behind your head to stretch your hamstrings effectively. The key to functional movement lies in establishing enough mobility, so you perform daily tasks without pain, but not so much that you sacrifice stability. Strong hamstrings help protect your knees and stabilise the pelvis after all.

With the right approach to stretching and mobility exercises, you can temporarily lengthen the muscle fibres and surrounding connective tissues of your hamstrings. Over time and with consistent practice, this can provoke more permanent changes to the connective tissues and essentially retrain your nervous system to allow your muscles to release more.

Julia has been writing about wellness, travel and outdoor adventure for 10 years and has been teaching yoga since 2008. Her recent adventures include walking several of the UK’s beautiful long distance trails as well as trekking to Everest Base Camp. She is the author of two books, Restorative Yoga for Beginners and Living in Balance with Maharishi Ayurveda.