Always quality Kit.

You Sir are next level. I love it, will go check in on your books

I use this method since I watched your video long time ago. It's my favourite hamstring exercise, definitely the best one and very effective. Thank you! :)

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

It's also the best way to get into front splits, too (after stretching the hip flexors, of course). Thanks for commenting!

I felt that 😍👏🏻👏🏻

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

That's the plan! And the loosening effects get stronger, not weaker, with more practice. Cheers, KL

Wow! I've been stretching hamstrings regularly for 30yrs, but I've never done a stretch as effective as this one. Thanks for the video, this is fantastic 👍🏼

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

I do the limbering version of this most days, still, and the version with contractions once or twice a week. It definitely is the best hamstring stretch I have come across. If you had contractions for the back leg, once you're in the full stretch position, it is one of the most powerful hip flexor stretches, too - it is the absolute best way to get into full front splits, in time. Thanks for commenting!

I have been playing with the front foot position in the contractions. With a slight supination, the ‘press the whole leg down’ activates the biceps femoris. With a slight pronation, the ‘hook the heel to the bottom’, I feel the inside hamstrings more keenly. In the end position, untucking the tailbone pulls the top of the hamstrings further away from the knee. An exquisite refinement to the powerful sensations I’m experiencing. The more I practice, the 10,000 tiny details reveal themselves. Thanks for the post Kit.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

Awesome. Do you have a way to stretch the soleus muscle? That's my nemesis. Thanks for all your generous work - IRS fabulous!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

We do, but I am out to sea presently, and would like to reply next week, if that's OK!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Marilynn, have a look here: kzread.infosearch?view_as=subscriber&query=soleus All these are worth trying. Good luck!

This stretch is bonkers. For me, the best for any muscle group. I've done it sporadically to great results, now I'll aim for four times a week (in a more light load ofc).

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

May I suggest going lightly three times a week, and intensely only once a week. Recovery is the missing part of the puzzle for people into this kind of thing-meaning it's what you don't do that's at least as important as what you do do. Cheers and thanks for commenting!

@rayres1074

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Yes, that's how I plan to go. Three days on a general body limbering exercise (after my workout) which includes a light version of this one, three days on specific muscle groups that I desperately need to improve - calves & ankles, hip flexors (which I'll probably put some hamstring stretches here and there) and shoulders, each one a different day - and one day of rest. If I can get those in check I'll be able to progress dramatically on my skill workout.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@rayres1074 Please report back in a few months; interested to see how you go.

@rayres1074

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin If Sure will do.

@mckinleaf

2 жыл бұрын

@@rayres1074 How'd you go with the hamstring stretches?

Sir Kit, i have been following your videos after i have discovered one of your videos on reddit and probably it have been the best choice i've ever done. I've been doing this one in the last few days and the one for quads and hip flexors. Especially the latter, i'm doing it since two weeks already. I want to thank you because that video improved A LOT my hips, both my hips (when i tried to do the front split) were a bit stiff and painful (and i felt that something wasn't right) but after i did this video twice a day i already felt improvements the first time. At first during the exercise it was a bit painful, but in the moment i finished, my legs were so light and relaxed, and only in another video i felt something similar, but not a strong sensation like that. After ten days, my legs (un)fortunately got used to the exercise and that lightness vanished (i liked that sensation xD) but now when i do the front split, i don't feel any pain in the hips and that's why i also want to thank you. Seriously, thank you. Probably you have noticed, but my native language is not English so i'd like to ask you a question and a doubt i have ,and the first question is about this video. In the part at 3:14 i'm not sure if i got the right procedure, should i push the front leg behind and the back leg forward, am i right? It's like i'm bringing both legs towards the center? The second question is a doubt that happened in both videos and i don't know what it could be: when i'm that position (like at 2:13 or like when i'm in the position of the beginning of the video of quads/hip flexors) the front leg after a while, in the front of the leg (i don't know, after 1 minute?) starts to pain me...it's not a pain, it's like my leg is not able to stand in that position and it's giving me that signal, i'd like to bend my leg and sit on my heels because my legs is begging me to stop, but at the same time is not so painful, i can bear it but it's annoying, but i have noticed that after a while i continued to do the quad/hip flexors video every day, the pain is subsiding, it's more bearable...could it be that my hips flexors are shorts and/or are weak? I have a doubt that i may have anterior pelvic tilt and i have both snapping hips. After i did some researches on the web, i found out that the hips may be the main cause because they are weak. Could it be the cause of this annoying problem or it may be something else? Thank you in advance for your answer :D (and also for reading me, i wrote alot ahaha, i'm sorry xD).

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

Short reply: re. 3:14, yes, scissor legs together. Re. 2:13, yes that your hip flexors-this exercise uses tension in the hip flexors to hold the pelvis in s fixed position, so all knee extension works the front leg's hamstring. If you search on my channel, you will find other exercises for quads and hip flexors in addition to the one you are using. Final point is that it will take a lot longer than a few weeks to see the deep benefit of both quad/hip flexor and hamstring exercises. See where you are now, and mark the calendar six months from now, and see what they are like then. And don't do deep stretching more than twice a week (I have only ever done once a week myself on my tight parts); stretching is the *stimulus* for change, change/adaptation happens while you rest and do other movements. Slow change in this respect is better and safer. It took me two years of weekly hip flexor sessions before they let go-and they have stayed loose ever since and I stretch them only occasionally now. Best, Kit

@dancingintime

2 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Wow, what a fast reply o.o! Thank you sir :D! Actually, i also tried another one of your video, the wall quad hip flexors, however, i didn't feel anything (so that's why i stopped) but i wasn't surprised because i also tried sometimes the couch stretch and even in those cases, i couldn't feel anything in the quads (the first time yes, i felt a lot, but now nothing) the same thing happened when in the quad/hip flexors video i take my back leg and pull it towards my butt, i don't feel nothing, only if i pull myself downward, maybe i feel something (and only when i have started to do it, now is less and less common). It's not the first time that i heard that stretching the quad in that way is painfult, but for me the pain doesn't exist, i pull it and my feet is touching my butt cheek easily without any problem, it's strange o.o. I'm aware that a problem that i have for decades requires a lot of months (or even years, i don't know) but i'm already satistifed to see already a nice result like that, i will continue to go on :D. Do you mean the hamstring stretch or the quad/hip flexors stretch? I usually do the hamstring stretch only one time for day, because i know that they're a bit delicate (and i'm trying to focus more on the hip flexors) but i also do them every day, because the day after, i don't feel any pain (and of course, if i feel pain i usually stop until i've recovered, for one-two days) especially if it's involved pnf stretching, which i added in the same period when i started to do your video.

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

@@dancingintime Please re-read my reply to your first post: you are doing too much.

@dancingintime

2 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Then i will do less, thanks for the reply :).

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

@@dancingintime Try this reduced frequency approach for a few weeks, *and see what happens*. If you suddenly feel a bit more 'stretchy' (technical term meaning feeling like you can elongate a bit more, or a bit more easily), then you'll know for sure that doing less will work for you. It's the only way to find out the best frequency for your body-this is the least understood aspect of stretching. And you can always go back to doing more if this is not effective. Do please report back with what you find.

Dear Mr. Laughlin, Can you please do an elaborate video on non- specific low-back pain, the reasons and the stretchings which might help ? Surely every person differs in one respect or other, and a common prescription might not work optimally, but still, it will be of immense help if you share your insights, may be in a series of videos. I am 45,male, had a laminectomy done in L5-S1 22 years ago due to sciatic pain, but still get spasms and limited range of motion, though the sciatic pain is no more present. MRI shows disc dessication too in that area. Can not get an idea why the spasms are happening and how to alleviate them.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

please visit our site and subscribe to out mailing list to be notified; we do have exactly this program you want coming soon. cheers, KL

Thank you for putting this out. Is there a reason you push the back leg back and not the front leg forward?

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

You can slide the front foot forward, in fact, and that is the choice if (in this position) you feel too much tension in your hip flexors on the back leg. Try both and please report back. Cheers, KL

@Dendearts

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin I tried both in a single session. Definitely feel more in the hip flexor when pushing the back leg back. Maybe this is poor form? With moving the forward leg forward, looks like there is more potential for cramping depending on intensity. I prefer the latter, but maybe some people would like the former if they want to avoid the cramping pains.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@Dendearts Yes; experimenting to find out what works for you is fundamental to our system. Thanks for commenting!

Just did the follow along on both sides. I could tell a difference with just one session. How long should we hold the stretch and how often should we do it? Very helpful. I've never seen anything like this anywhere. Thanks.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Hold the final position until you can *really* relax (at least five breaths; 10 is better!), and once or twice a week (when you achieve new movement, you will be sore, and the muscles need time to recover. It's much better to 'make haste slowly'. And I should add, you will not be *able* to relax if you have gone too deeply into the end position, so if you find you can't let the body go soft, back it off a tiny bit and try again. It takes a while to learn how to relax in the face of strong sensations. Good luck!

I still seem to need more release. I like the nuero idea but, ithis but there tense

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

Change takes time, Cindy. Do whichever exercises you have selected a couple of times, twice a week, paying close attention to the sensations in the body, and all the while trying to relax. There are many free relaxation recordings over at our site, too, and using these daily will help enormously.

quick question - I can't see the hand position below your front knee. is it softly holding the other hando or you are maintaining a grip?

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

Either works fine; I am holding my arm with the arm that goes around the leg (helps to hold the leg into the body). Some students who are not as strong or whose arms get tired lean the outside elbow on a chair-as long as the main form is maintained, no problem.

I was trying to learn the move that you the one move (steech) to learn, was it getting into a squat ? I was trying but, I have too much tension in my abdoman, my spine seems to have compressed or whatever it effects my mood, pains, thoughts....,, My husband thinks I need a psych sometimes, my anger consumes my being and our relationship, in too many ways You have been very nice to respond to me. Sorry b to spill my guts b on n you.

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

No problem; these are trying times doe everyone. As someone who used to be angry all the time, i can tell you that learning how to relax deeply will be the greatest gift you can give yourself. See here: stretchtherapy.net/why-being-able-to-relax-is-the-most-important-skill-one-can-learn-now/ Download the free audio recordings, lie down, and follow the instructions.

I would like if to give us a daily programe for flexibility ... I am 34 years and so stiff ... I did like your method ... And thanks for all your information

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Samir, we sell exactly this program from our site, called the Starter Program. Go to the URL above in the description and everything you need is there.

@samirbenha9561

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin thanks for all

Hello, if I want to do second set of this exercise, can I start from the end positon from the first one? Or from the beginning again? Thank you

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely start from where you stopped; our advanced students would repeat the contractions up to three times in a session. You'll find that after a certain point, more contractions does not get you any deeper, and that's the time to stop for today's practice session.

@luciakotvasova6038

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin thank you! :)

Hey Kit! This isn't probably the most accurate question in regard to the video but I'm desperate, I tried everything but I cannot sort this out. I have terrible ankle dorsiflexion. I know it's likely a lack of strength in my tibialis anterior. The problem is that I cannot do any tibialis anterior exercise (like toe raises) because, no matter what, I feel a strain in my tibialis anterior tendons. It's not that I cannot raise the toes, but it's like my muscles aren't working how they should and all the stress goes directly to the tendon. I tried various intensities and positions, but the outcome is always the same: either I don't feel anything at all or I feel my tendons overworking. What's your advice on the matter, if you have one? Thanks for your time.

@Christian-ki5js

3 жыл бұрын

You might be over thinking it. Just go about a full foot and hip schedule using some of his videos and see if you make progress!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

A lack of dorsiflexion is usually a combination of tight ligaments in the ankle as well as tight soleus. Any of the bent-knee ankle stretches can help. And an old student of mine used the seated calf raise machine to do exactly the same thing and he got full range of movement back in about six months. He had to get strong enough to be able to hold the whole of the weight stack, and then he used that weight to stretch soleus.

Hey Kit! What kind of plastic are you using to put under the cushion for the back knee? I'm attempting to follow along with the vid, but am only doing it on carpet, and my back knee comes under a lot of pressure! Then I try to use a cushion, but it's not great at sliding with me. What do you recommed here? On a related note, one of my knees underwent surgery a few months back. There's still some pressure there, but it's actually my other knee which feels it more! Being at roughly 120 degrees open puts intense pressure on the inner side and inner-top side of that knee. Any idea what may be doing this, and what I may be able to do to alleviate that, outside of getting the cushion to slide with me? Thanks a ton!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for writing. You know, when we used to teach classes at the University, about half the students would report exactly the same sensations in their knees and many of them had no knee problems whatsoever. The fact is the patella, and the back of the patella, can be very sensitive to pressure. So you need to have a firm cushion underneath the back leg's knee for sure, and use a plastic A4 document folder or something like that between the cushion and the carpet to reduce the friction. That should work perfectly.

@Agililord

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Thank you so much for the prompt and thoughtful reply! I''ll be sure to let you know the results! I appreciate the help!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@Agililord A pleasure-answering questions here first thing in the morning over a cup of coffee is something I enjoy very much!

@Agililord

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Hey Kit! Checking back in. Hoping this finds you well! Right now I've got a pillow and blanket sitting on top of a plastic box lid, and I use that to help move the back leg. Not perfect, but with a little encouragement from the non-bracing hand, I can usually achieve the same effect. Running into something else I'd like your perspective on: I'm struggling to get the amount of lengthening of the hamstring I know I can through a pressure or other in the back leg. Sometimes it's the hip flexor, and sometimes it's a particularly tight muscle (on my right leg) that runs almost perfectly opposite the IT band on the inner side of that leg. On my right leg, that particular muscle has been INCREDIBLY tight for several years, and is partly responsible for it being more difficult to stretch out my right leg at all. It's particularly sensitive to anything like a wide-leg forward-fold. Right now I'm just trying to alternate this hamstring stretch with your hip flexor stretch for both sides, and add in an extra stretch for that tight right inner-thigh muscle? What else would you recommend for all this? The right knee's recovering from some surgery removing scar tissue from sports, and I'd love to make progress towards splits, pancakes, and pikes. Sorry for the novella, and thank you for any help you can share!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@Agililord This question really belongs on the Forums, so you can post images with it, but I understand the problem. When the front leg is flexed in this position, the adductors are powerful *extensors* of the hip, and hence in this position you are stretching the adapters as well. This is why when you do squats for the first time in awhile, often the most sore muscles are on the insides of the legs and know and understand why - the reason is these muscles are being used to extend the hip from the bottom position. So, in short, you need to do something like that Tailor pose (sometimes called the butterfly pose) and you'll find a good explanation of how to do that on this channel. Add this to your hamstring stretches and stretch above should be easier to do.

Kit, when I do this exercise I get an uncomfortably intense stretch in the hip of the back leg, which means I can't hold the pose for very long at all and actually get in that hamstring. I assume that's not right? I have been working on improving hip flexibility a lot too so I'm not sure why this is.

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Your reaction is very common these days-pretty much everyone's hip flexors are tight! That most likely what you are feeling. One way to overcome this is to start the exercise with the back leg much closer to underneath you, and slide the front foot away from you while you hold the thigh to the body. There are others but this one's the easiest-can you try that and report back?

@bkhpanigha

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Ok, that's makes it a lot more tolerable. Initially I was doing it like that actually, but tried to start using the back leg instead thinking it might be better. Also a few times I tried this exercise after an all out hip stretching session, which was probably not very wise. From now I'll do just a gentle warmup for the hips instead. Thanks for the tip!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@bkhpanigha you're right - better to do the hip flexor stretching on another day. If your hip flexors are tight, it doesn't take that much stretching to make them feel really sore - and don't forget we are using hip flexor tension in this hamstring exercise to hold the pelvis in place.

I notice your toes are raised on the foot of your forward leg - is this of any significance?

@neilpaton44

3 жыл бұрын

.... When I try to relax I'm aware that it seems an effort to keep the foot in this position and prefer to let it fall to the floor - will this change the stretch?

@neilpaton44

3 жыл бұрын

... when I try to relax it seems an effort to keep the foot in this position and I prefer to let it fall to the floor - will this change the stretch?

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

No, just what the body was doing at the time.

Could you stretch like this with high hamstring tendon apathy? I tried it gently and did not feel pain in the connection point!

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

Do you mean tendinopathy? I would need more detail to offer any advice, Tony.

@FihasiaTshirtStore

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin yes thats right, sorry phone autocorrect 🙏

@KitLaughlin

3 жыл бұрын

@@FihasiaTshirtStore No worries, brother, it's happened to me many times! How bad is your tendinopathy, on a scale of 1 to 10? The beautiful thing about this exercise it is that the intensity is completely scalable, from 0 to 100. If you did not get the effect you want the first time, tried a few more times where you increase the final stretching intensity a little bit each time. Don't exaggerate it, and take your time.

@FihasiaTshirtStore

3 жыл бұрын

@@KitLaughlin Thank you! It ranges 0-6/7 most especially if seated long or stretching hamstrings. Everything else I can do normally thank God, its frustrating tho, I just got the full pancake 2sessions row for 2 weeks finally done and now im out for recovery.

@FihasiaTshirtStore

3 жыл бұрын

I will add this is my favorite hammy stretch and one I teach to beginners always so big thank you for this 🙏

Hamstring, this is my problem!

I hate how stuff my hamstrings are

@KitLaughlin

2 жыл бұрын

Do this once a week, and be consistent in this-in six months, your hamstrings will be *much* looser.

I'm not really feeling it in the hamstrings. I'm feeling it more at the front of my leg.

@KitLaughlin

Ай бұрын

This exercise's position uses tension in the hip flexors (where you feel that sensation at the top of the back leg) to hold the lower back straight-this is deliberate (and you get a free HF stretch!). This will pass, in time. Please do keep going and report back if anything changes.

@infinibit941

Ай бұрын

@@KitLaughlin thanks Kit, I'll keep it up and see how it goes