How To Do The Standing Hamstring Stretch Video

Stretching the hamstrings is important when weight training the legs or before exercising or sports. Learn how to do standing hamstring exercises in this stretching and flexibility video.

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Cross right foot in front of left leg
Bend down in front & exhale
Switch feet & repeat for other leg
Keep knees straight

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Tom Clifford has a degree in physical education, fitness and health from Eastern Michigan University, where he ran track and cross-country. Tom has worked as a personal trainer for two years. He also has a separate business where he coaches runners and triathletes for upcoming events. He currently works at Gold's Gym in Wilmington, North Carolina.

TOM CLIFFORD: Now, I'm going to demonstrate how to do the standing hamstring stretch. What you want to do, is you want to cross your right foot over your left foot, so your right leg is pushing your left leg back, and I'm focusing this one on stretching my left hamstring. So, my right leg is pushing back on my left knee, and I go straight down, exhaling, trying to get as far down as I can. And I really feel in my left hamstring, because my right leg is pushing that knee back, which is the most important part of the stretch. If your knees are bent, you are not getting the full stretch of your hamstring. After I'm done with that stretch, holding for 15 to 30 seconds, I'm going to switch across my right leg, or my left leg over my right leg, pushing my right knee back. And again, exhaling, and reaching down as far as I can. And, this isolates each side of the hamstring, so when you are going down, if you are going down with your feet together, you don't get quite as good of a stretch, because most of us can't keep our knees lock, as well, unless we have, in this case, we would have our right leg as a device to push our knee back. So, we get the best stretch as possible. So, some points to remember when stretching your hamstrings standing up, is to keep your knee locked back, and the best way to do that is to take your opposite leg, and cross it over, exhale when you are going down toward your feet, hold it for 15 to 30 seconds, bring it up, cross your leg over the other way, switch legs, and do the same thing, two to three times. That is how you do the standing hamstring stretch.

How to Do the Standing Hamstring Stretch Video

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