Protect your hamstrings when you fold forward.
Bob is walking on the side of the road. He is walking back and forth, back and forth beside his car. He is about 2 hours into a 4 hour drive. His backside is so sore he can not sit down any longer.
A couple of weeks ago Bob was doing his yoga practise and he injured his hamstring muscles while he was doing Pashimottasana. This injury is making it impossible for Bob to sit for an extended period of time.
There are several things that Bob could have done to avoid injuring his hamstring muscles.
How to do Pashimottasana
Sit on the floor in Dandasana with your legs straight out in front of you and the back of your hips and torso rising straight up from the floor.
From here you engage Uddiyana Bandha (your lower abdominal muscles).
Exhale, bring the top of your hips forward, bring your arms forward toward your feet and lower your torso toward your thighs.
Bring your gaze toward your toes.
You hold this position for several breaths.
What are the hamstrings
The hamstrings are the long muscle in the back of your leg. The muscle connects to the leg just below the knee on the shin bone and at the back of the hip.
Most people when they start a yoga program have very short hamstrings. Because the hamstrings are short they are prone to injury unless you proceed cautiously in the various poses that stretch them.
How to tell if you have short hamstrings
You can tell if you have short hamstrings fairly easily. Sit on the floor with your legs together and straight out in front of you. Keep your legs straight and do not bend your knees. Keep the back of your hips vertical.
Now pull your toes toward you body. Did the back of your hips tip backward away from your feet when you brought your toes toward your body? If they did you have moderately short hamstrings. If they did not then your hamstrings are in good shape.
There is another check you can do.
If you can not get the back of your hips vertical to the floor when your legs are straight out in front of you then you have very short hamstrings.
How do the hamstrings get so short
The typical lifestyle of North Americans leads to shortening of your hamstrings.
Bob like a lot of people spends a lot of time sitting down in a chair. Sitting in chairs all of the time resulted in Bob’s hamstrings becoming very short. His legs are bent at the knee while he is sitting in his chair, which shortens the distance between the two attachment points of the hamstrings. As a result the hamstrings shorten up.
It took many years but gradually over time Bob’s hamstrings got shorter and shorter until he could no longer fold forward very far.
Why do the hamstrings get injured
The injury to the hamstrings happens when you try to do Pashimottasana and you try to go too far into the forward fold.
You ignore the feedback from your hamstring muscles and pull your body forward into the forward fold.
Your ego is telling you that you have to do the pose as well as the teacher and you pull your torso further forward than it can comfortably go.
There are several things that you can do to protect your hamstrings from injury. One of them is to get your ego under control.
How to avoid injuring your hamstrings
There are three things that you can do to protect your hamstrings and prevent them from being injured.
1 – bend your knees
To take some of the strain off of your hamstrings, bend your knees up toward your chest. You keep bending your knees more and more until the back of your hips are vertical. Once the back of your hips are vertical you are ready to fold forward.
2 – Pay attention to the feedback from your body
Once you start to fold forward you need to pay attention to the feedback that your muscles are giving you.
When your hamstrings start to warn you that you are approaching their limit of stretching, it is time to stop moving your torso forward and back off a little bit. A mild stretching sensation is what you should be feeling in your hamstrings. Maintain this mild sensation while you are holding the posture.
3 – round the back slightly
The last thing that you can do to prevent injury to your hamstrings is to round your back slightly like a bracket “(”, but not like the letter “C”. This mild curve in the back will take some of the pressure off of the hamstrings as you fold forward.
These three techniques will help to prevent injury to your hamstrings.
What about the “No Pain – No Gain” Philosophy
A lot of people when they first start yoga are following the philosophy of “No Pain – No Gain” when they do a yoga pose. They believe that they should work through the tightness and ignore the pain signals from the body.
The “No Pain – No Gain” philosophy has its place in the gym when you are strengthening your muscles but not in a yoga practise where you are working on lengthening your muscles.
Listen to the feedback from your body and stretch the hamstrings gently.
Summary
Most people when they start practising yoga will discover that they have short hamstrings and they will have difficulty doing forward folds. There are few things you can do to protect your hamstrings and keep them from being injured.
- Bend your knees and straighten your hips.
- Pay attention to the feedback from your body as you move into the pose.
- Round your back slightly to take some pressure off of your hamstrings.
The next time you go to do Pashimottasana, remember Bob and his uncomfortable car trip. Follow these tips and you will be able to start stretching your hamstrings safely.
Next steps
Ask your yoga teacher to help you with Pashimottasana. They will be able to help you to adjust your legs to take pressure off of your hamstrings. They will also make sure that you do not fold too far forward and injure your hamstrings.
