Tight hamstrings in Yoga

Dandelion515

So I was thinking of joining Yoga, but I am not at all flexible and have tight hamstrings, and was wondering if this will make a difference to my experience? I did an intro class to Yoga once and found it a little hard. The teacher told me if I do it again in the future to let my teacher know I have tight hamstrings, so I am a little worried about this getting in the way! Any advice? Thanks

purethick

Dandelion515 wrote: »

I am not at all flexible and have tight hamstrings

Loads of people have tight hamstrings - usually from sitting all day. Don't worry you're in good company.

Dandelion515 wrote: »

I am a little worried about this getting in the way! Any advice? Thanks

Don't be, a good instructor will be able to modify as appropriate. I'd suggest checking out the Iyengar style of yoga as a lot of props (foam blocks, wooden blocks, belts etc) are used. So with the props the teacher can use them to get your body into the correct alignment. Also since Iyengar holds the poses for a longer period than most other styles you'll get a better understanding of correct form. Get a recommendation for an instructor rather than just picking one at random.

Dandelion515 wrote: »

this will make a difference to my experience?

Some poses you'll struggle with, some you'll find easier. But pretty much everyone experiences this in their own way. However the ones that you finder harder are the ones you gotta work on unfortunately!

As an aside if you really want to make your hamstrings flexible (or work on any area of flexibility) then have a look at PNF (aka contract/release) stretching. It can be done on your own but it works better with a partner. Both people need to know what they are doing to avoid injury, so read up on it first and go easy if you are attempting it. Here's an overview - lot's of videos on youtube too
http://injuryfix.com/archives/pnf-stretching.php

CBRLizzie

First of all, yoga isn't a competitive sport. You would probably get far more bending slightly forward than I would going forwards and touching the ground, because I don't get any stretch. Its about going as far as you can, even if that is just to bring your hands to your knees. If you go to a yoga class, don't worry about what anyone else is doing, do what your body allows you to do. Yoga is about listening to your body, being mindful of what you do and how it makes you feel. Gradually and with practice you will loosen out those hamstrings, but never, ever strain them. I would recommend a hatha yoga class, but if a teacher tried to get me to go further into a pose than I was comfortable with, I wouldn't be returning to that class. You can injure yourself going further than your body will allow. And I have heard of (bad) yoga teachers injuring students by forcing them further than they can go.

Good luck with your practice and always just listen to your body. You should enjoy practising yoga, so if its an effort and you're not enjoying it, that's not the class for you. Try a different form of yoga. There is one for everyone out there, or every humour. Some days you might fancy something more strenuous (bikram, ashtanga), other days you just want a gentle practice. Its all about listening to your body.

catbradleyyoga

I'm surprised to see only 2 replies to you on this topic, this is such a common question and i always get asked it before anyone signs up to my classes. i did my very first Yoga class 2 years ago, i honestly could barely touch my knees let alone my toes, my hamstrings are super tight and very short from years of running and long distance driving and sitting at laptops all day. After about 6 months i could comfortably touch my toes from taking a regular Yoga class and being patient and enjoying seeing that tiny bit of progress weekly, i can now comfortably place both hands flat on the ground.

Remember it took you years and years to shorten and tighten those hamstrings so you need to consider this when trying to lenghten them again, they will fight back as you try to stretch them so be super patient and do lots of different stretches to lenghten them, and also bear in mind your back has a lot to do with how your hamstrings can lenghten too, so ensure you get an overall body workout stretch and dont focus too much on your hamstrings and in time they will lenghten. You may find youre super flexible elsewhere on your body so having tight hamstrings will not limit your practise. Find a good instructir who is patient and works with you and your body and not against it.

Good luck!

Joya

any tips on how to achieve right split (Hanumanasana)? ive always been able to get it up to approx 8cm to floor but never fully.. would love ti be able to achieve that..

i know it is connected with hamstrings and inner thighs but which set of exercises would help me to doing it
i do try almost every day to get the split but that is up to where it goes and no further, for russian split i'm even further away, like about 15cm... i also do pigeon and half pigeon poses etc to strech the hips etc, but after a while it seems as perhaps my body cannot do the full proper split.. :unsure:

thanks : ).

catbradleyyoga

Hi Joya,

Achieving the splits takes time and plenty of practise... as im sure youve heard

Please remember though if you overstretch too quickly you will slow down the process rather than improve it, if you ever feel any strain pull back, stretching is slow and should never ever hurt anywhere, so be safe first!

Think of your muscles as elastic bands, if you stretch is really slowly a little at a time every day it will gradually learn to open, but if you stretch it hard and fast it will snap and cause more damage than good.

However here are some simple stretches that if done regularly you will feel your muscles begin to lengthen:

For straddle splits, the best stretch i would recommend is wall splits, lie on the floor with your legs up the wall and open the legs to form a V, slowly allow the legs to open wider each day. The other exercise i would recommend is frog splits, these are great for increasing groin strength and flexibility. Also doing wide legged forward folds is great for stretching the inner thighs and a butterlfy sit with forward fold would be beneficial.

Have you tried wall splits for your forward splits? Use a chair to hold onto and send the back leg up the wall, theres loads of tips on wall splits online so i would google these for more information rather than me bombarding this thread

Lizard pose is the main prep pose for forward splits, but i also recommend my students dont remain static in the pose move slowly forward and back and sink the hips lower and the forward knee out to the right, and bring your elbows to the floor.

So for convenience here are a list of the my favourite split prep poses that if you really want to progress try holding for 30-60 seconds and breath slow and deep:

Pigeon
Seated king pigeon
Lizard with elbows on the floor
Grasshopper (very advanced pose but great for opening the outter hips)
Goddess pose with deep squat variation
Triangle pose
Hero pose (variation with lying back flat on your back) dont do this if you have any knee injusries.
V sit (forward, and side stretches) also variation with one leg bent to the outside of hip.
Butterfly pose

These are all variations of split prep poses.

Always make sure you a super warm before you attempt any of the above poses. Be safe and if you practise these i guarantee you will have thge full splits in no time. (you are only 8cm away so that to me is amazing, also one last tip, when youre in your forward splts, keep rotaing the front leg externally from the hip (never from the knee!!) and you will feel yourself sink further.....

Enjoy! (sorry about the long post, as you can guess this is my passion )

Joya

catbradleyyoga wrote: »

Have you tried wall splits for your forward splits? Use a chair to hold onto and send the back leg up the wall, theres loads of tips on wall splits online so i would google these for more information rather than me bombarding this thread

Hi, thanks, no I haven't tried that, but will certainly do now.

Lizard pose is the main prep pose for forward splits, but i also recommend my students dont remain static in the pose move slowly forward and back and sink the hips lower and the forward knee out to the right, and bring your elbows to the floor.

yes i am doing lizard pose even didnt know it would be helping the spplits : ) I will try to remain in this pose for longer than usual..

So for convenience here are a list of the my favourite split prep poses that if you really want to progress try holding for 30-60 seconds and breath slow and deep:

Pigeon
Seated king pigeon
Lizard with elbows on the floor
Grasshopper (very advanced pose but great for opening the outter hips)
Goddess pose with deep squat variation
Triangle pose
Hero pose (variation with lying back flat on your back) dont do this if you have any knee injusries.
V sit (forward, and side stretches) also variation with one leg bent to the outside of hip.
Butterfly pose

These are all variations of split prep poses.

Always make sure you a super warm before you attempt any of the above poses. Be safe and if you practise these i guarantee you will have thge full splits in no time. (you are only 8cm away so that to me is amazing, also one last tip, when youre in your forward splts, keep rotaing the front leg externally from the hip (never from the knee!!) and you will feel yourself sink further.....

Enjoy! (sorry about the long post, as you can guess this is my passion )

thanks for this list, I did some of those but will include them all for next period and can let you know about the progress in a month or two : ) thanks again.

purethick

Joya wrote: »

any tips on how to achieve right split (Hanumanasana)?

PNF (contract/relax) method will get you there in a safer manner than static stretching. Have a look at this video, although this particular one requires a partner but you can employ the same methods without one. Note the contract/relax sequence

Joya

purethick wrote: »

..., although this particular one requires a partner but you can employ the same methods without one. Note the contract/relax sequence

thanks for that purethick, don't know why it never occurred to me to search for videos on this topic. that one with a partner looks very good, however i do not have one. will try myself though and see if i can do it alone.

I also found this video and seems these exercises that the girl is doing are very good too, I will give it a try for few months : )

youtu.be/wOuYgqvixO4?list=UUn-zuDrLLO1VMra77rIn5_Q
youtu.be/IXK_raBQ1ow?list=UUn-zuDrLLO1VMra77rIn5_Q

(sorry but as a newbee i cannot yet post videos so you'd need to add the "http:// to front )


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bonzo_k

One thing I would say about Hanumansana is to ensure that the hips remain square and the back knee is on the ground.

Balky78

Yoga is not Gymnastics, being flexible is not a requirement nor should you deter as a lack of. Tight hamstrings can actually prevent you from over strecthing too fast which can lead to injury.
Try Iyenga or a traditional hatha yoga
Accepting the body you have now and maintaining a balance in effort, acceptance and relaxation is the main requirement to transition the place you are in the Now to a place of more ease in the future! This is Yoga.
Namaste! and good luck with your practise!