First of all, a disclaimer. I am not an expert. I'm just a guy who read too much posts. This routine is quite intense, so it can produce pain. I got a lot of DOMS from doing it and if you follow it, you may get injured or your postural issues could get worse. Obviously, I deny any responsibility if any of that happens. Be careful.
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Second of all, the pics, or didn't happen:
This is the basic template, when I started:
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Exercise
Reps (per leg)
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How did I came up with that routine? Well, I just added all the techniques I had read regarding hamstring flexibility: dynamic stretches, active mobility, nerve flossing, end of range drills, PNF with contract-relax protocols and ballistic stretching. I ordered from least intense to more intense and voilà.
Because of my impatience, at the end I was doing closer to 15 reps of each exercise, plus I started doing the hold at the end of range leg lift (5 s hold and only 4 reps per leg) and replaced the knee extensions for this harder kind of knee extension. The pulses also went to around 90 reps.
I stretched 5 days a week (sometimes 6), alternating between intense and light days. On intense days, I'd do the whole routine. On light days, I just did static pike stretching instead of using the lying hamstring stretch, and no pulses. The idea was to maintain a high frequency and to give my hammies some rest at the same time.
I have to be honest, this is not the first time I stretched. I've been stretching on and off for years, never with too much success. Even when I started this experiment, I already was doing a similar stretching routine after months of no mobility work. So, the first picture already shows some of those gains. Besides, I've been a little more flexible than in the before pic in past years, which means that I regained some range of motion. However, I've never been as flexible as in the after pic. For example, now I'm able to kiss my knees with my straight legs, something that I never did before.
I took the pictures already warmed up. The warm-up is just the first 5 exercise of the original routine. I'm also stretching as hard as I can. I did it this way to eliminate possible variations in intensity or muscle preparedness. Sadly, it also means that's not my cold flexibility.
BTW, I know the angle I drew isn't the correct hip angle. I just picked the most reliable way to draw an angle that allows me to make an objective comparison.
EDIT2: To clarify, if I let my back to round, I can place my whole hand on the floor, at ease. I took the pictures with a straight back to isolate the hamstrings.
This kind of intense stretching always leaves my back and hips feeling weird and weak. To counter act that and to prevent my APT from getting worse, I performed isometric ab exercises and hip flexors stretches at the end of every session. I feel like those exercises return some balance to my body.
Also, there's the DOMS. At first, it was pretty intense, so I had to do some hip thrusts and kicks in order to warm-up the muscle thoroughly before even starting the routine. As the days went by, the soreness became less intense and the nerve flossing and high kicks were enough to avoid stretching with pain.
Sometimes I also lacrosse-balled my quadratus lumborum. It really helps release my tight lower back. Now I think I should've add foam roalling in the warm-up, but I didn't want to make it too long.
In all my years stretching on and off, I never progressed this fast. It was hard, but it was worth it. I don't know if doing all of that was strictly necessary, but at least I know it gave me good results.
I hope you find this useful!
EDIT: Two "first of all". I couldn't live with that.
.
Second of all, the pics, or didn't happen:
Progress pics
Routine
This is the basic template, when I started:
.
| Nerve flossing (sliding) | 12 |
| Nerve flossing (stretching) | 12 |
| High kicks | 12-15 |
| Knee extensions | 12 |
| End of range leg lifts, no hold | 12 |
| [url=https://youtu.be/z5ByuvT-zCg?t=21]Lying hamstring stretch (Contract-Relax)[/url] | 2 cycles, ~90 seconds each |
| Standing pike pulses | 70 (bilateral) |
Exercise
Reps (per leg)
.
How did I came up with that routine? Well, I just added all the techniques I had read regarding hamstring flexibility: dynamic stretches, active mobility, nerve flossing, end of range drills, PNF with contract-relax protocols and ballistic stretching. I ordered from least intense to more intense and voilà.
Because of my impatience, at the end I was doing closer to 15 reps of each exercise, plus I started doing the hold at the end of range leg lift (5 s hold and only 4 reps per leg) and replaced the knee extensions for this harder kind of knee extension. The pulses also went to around 90 reps.
Frequency
I stretched 5 days a week (sometimes 6), alternating between intense and light days. On intense days, I'd do the whole routine. On light days, I just did static pike stretching instead of using the lying hamstring stretch, and no pulses. The idea was to maintain a high frequency and to give my hammies some rest at the same time.
Background and measurements
I have to be honest, this is not the first time I stretched. I've been stretching on and off for years, never with too much success. Even when I started this experiment, I already was doing a similar stretching routine after months of no mobility work. So, the first picture already shows some of those gains. Besides, I've been a little more flexible than in the before pic in past years, which means that I regained some range of motion. However, I've never been as flexible as in the after pic. For example, now I'm able to kiss my knees with my straight legs, something that I never did before.
I took the pictures already warmed up. The warm-up is just the first 5 exercise of the original routine. I'm also stretching as hard as I can. I did it this way to eliminate possible variations in intensity or muscle preparedness. Sadly, it also means that's not my cold flexibility.
BTW, I know the angle I drew isn't the correct hip angle. I just picked the most reliable way to draw an angle that allows me to make an objective comparison.
EDIT2: To clarify, if I let my back to round, I can place my whole hand on the floor, at ease. I took the pictures with a straight back to isolate the hamstrings.
Other comments
This kind of intense stretching always leaves my back and hips feeling weird and weak. To counter act that and to prevent my APT from getting worse, I performed isometric ab exercises and hip flexors stretches at the end of every session. I feel like those exercises return some balance to my body.
Also, there's the DOMS. At first, it was pretty intense, so I had to do some hip thrusts and kicks in order to warm-up the muscle thoroughly before even starting the routine. As the days went by, the soreness became less intense and the nerve flossing and high kicks were enough to avoid stretching with pain.
Sometimes I also lacrosse-balled my quadratus lumborum. It really helps release my tight lower back. Now I think I should've add foam roalling in the warm-up, but I didn't want to make it too long.
Conclusion
In all my years stretching on and off, I never progressed this fast. It was hard, but it was worth it. I don't know if doing all of that was strictly necessary, but at least I know it gave me good results.
I hope you find this useful!
EDIT: Two "first of all". I couldn't live with that.
