FLO FITNESS

Hamstring Mobility If you were to look at the hamstring muscles ( biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus) of the general population, you would find that the majority of people, especially those who sit with poor posture, have “tight” hamstrings. Why should you care about hamstring mobility? “Tight” hamstrings are chronically shortened. Chronically shortened hamstring muscles are problematic for many reasons but in an attempt to keep this post brief, I will discuss only two. 1.     Tight Hamstrings can cause low back pain The hamstring muscles (with the exception of the short head of the biceps femoris) attach to the ischial tuberosity which is part of the pelvis. Tight hamstrings both result from and subsequently cause a posterior pelvic tilt.   When the pelvis is chronically pulled into a posterior tilt by tight hamstrings, it cannot properly/smoothly tilt anteriorly in synchrony...

Why is it important to include mobility work for the quads and hip flexors? Tight muscles in the anterior compartment of the leg can cause a number of problems, two of which I will discuss in this blog. 1.     Tight quadriceps and hip flexors can put you at an increased risk for a hamstring injury. When people say that a muscle is “tight,” they are essentially saying that the muscle is chronically shortened. Without getting too much into the anatomical specifics, when the hip flexors are “tight,” or shortened, they pull on the lumbar spine. This pull on the lumbar spine increases the curve of the lumbar spine (excessive lordosis) and in turn causes an anterior pelvic tilt.  When the pelvis tilts anteriorly, the hamstrings (attached to the ischial tuberosity) can become excessively stretched/lengthened, which can lead to a strain. Therefore, by keeping the hip flexors and quadriceps at proper length, we can keep our ...