Being that I sit for my job as many professionals do these days, I sometimes will get so involved with my work that I forget to get up and move around. It is recommended that desk people should get up and move around at least once every 45-60 minutes. I really know when I have sat to long as just getting up out of the chair hurts and my first few steps are not the most graceful.
Having issues with tight hamstring muscles hinders ones ability to walk and so keeping the hamstring muscles flexible is very important as they help us flex the knee, extend the hip and thighs. Until I did some research I did not realize that there are actually three muscles that make up the hamstring. The biceps femoris is the largest of the three and is on the outer back of the leg. Next to that is the semitendinosus and is the second largest and lastly is the semimembranosus which is the smallest of them all and located in the back inner area of the upper leg. All three join together to the pelvis or what some of us call the sitting bones.
My right hamstrings are very tight and have been for years. I do many stretches and sometimes I can get to the point where they don't bother me but since I used the leg machines at the gym I have been in agony. So here is what I have done to take control of this situation.
Massage, stretches and ice. If you have a good massage therapist they can help to loosen the hamstrings and give you greater range of motion and relief from pain. Sometimes it can take several visits as what happens with me, as soon as I sit down they tighten right back up.
The stretches that I have been really trying to do more of to help gain back range of motion, flexibility are ones where I sit on the floor with my legs out in front, feet flexed and slowly bend forward and hold only when I feel a slight pull. Hold for a count of 30 and release. Another one that I like to do while standing also stretches the calf muscles. Standing in front of a wall, I stretch out my arms with elbows bend slightly, right leg in front bend but knee does not extend over the toes, left leg is extended behind with heel touching the floor. To maximize this stretch I will also lean in a little which will give a deeper stretch always watching to be sure the knee and foot are in alignment. I hold this for 30 seconds and repeat on the other leg. Doing three sets of each gives me relief and when I am consistent the benefits are great, easier getting up out of chairs and walking is much more pleasant.
One site I have enjoyed looking at some other stretches for the hamstring muscles can be viewed at https://www.verywellfit.com/hamstring-stretches-2696359. It was a very informative site and I am always looking for new stretches that can help. They have one I will try where you place your heel with toes flexed, leg straight, arms over head and lean forward to keep the back straight. I will post an update on my improvement with my hamstrings and the stretches that help me the most.
Update on week - Back and legs giving me much trouble so I went to the gym Monday and Tuesday and had good workouts, ooops "playtime", but I do think I did too much aerobic on Tuesday as I laid in bed that night withering in pain. Nothing worked so up all night. Thursday I saw a different massage therapist as this was short notice to call my regular massage therapist but this was more for sport injuries and he just focused on the area that I needed worked on. It helped decrease the pain and since he told me I had a lot of low back swelling and heat radiating from that area to be sure to ice it. Using an ice pack only for ten minutes at a time. Today I feel much better and will be going for another massage today with my regular massage therapist. I did take time out on Wed, Thur, and Friday to have some "recess" in home. I did my stretches and floor exercises with some light weights and stretch bands.
Reminder for this week is for me to get up and move around every hour and stretch those hamstrings!
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