Hamstring Helper
By Sage Rountree
The series of lunges we’ve been investigating in months past is designed to help balance the work between your hamstrings and hip flexors, to increase fluidity through the range of motion you need to run and ride. This month’s pose concentrates more directly on the hamstrings. You can slot it after or instead of a runner’s lunge, or pulse in and out of this stretch from a high lunge.
From the lunge stance, fingers toward the floor, hips square, start to straighten the front leg until you feel a pleasant intensity in the back of the front leg. Go no deeper than that initial, pleasant stretch. To pulse, you could move into this stretch with an exhale, then return to the lunge on an inhale. To hold, stay five to ten breaths, then repeat on the second side.
If the stretch is too intense with your hands down, lift your hands onto blocks. Another way to lighten is to keep the front knee intentionally bent. No matter where you wind up for the stretch, keep your hips squared forward and, most importantly, keep breathing!
# # #
Sage Rountree, PhD, is Runner’s World’s expert on yoga for athletes and is the author of numerous books and articles on yoga and triathlon training. A USAT-certified coach, she is co-owner of the Carrboro Yoga Company (mycyco.com), which will hold a yoga teacher training beginning September 2011. Find her class, clinic, and workshop schedule, as well as many yoga and training resources, at sagerountree.com.
