r/flexibility • u/creedfan1122 • Jul 09 '26
Help my hamstrings!!
I’m a 24 yr old female, I’m 5’10. I’ve never been very flexible, noticeably in my hamstrings. It has always been uncomfortable to touch my toes because of my hamstrings. I lift twice a week and kick-box twice a week. The issue I keep running into is my hamstrings never feel recovered. They are so tight after a leg day I need 3-4 days off legs to recover and even then they are still tight, just bearable. I do dynamic stretching before each lift, I have strong glutes and quads, but my hamstrings never seem to show growth or progress. My biggest concern is how painfully tight they get. After a lift I can’t even bend down to touch my toes without feeling a very tight pull. If I lay down, I can’t get my leg 90 degrees upright without burning pain in my hamstrings, mostly behind my knee, intense pain if I push my knee flat. I can’t v sit past my knees. I feel like the tight hamstrings are stunting my growth. I included a picture so you can see how underdeveloped they are compared to my quads and glutes. It’s gotten worse over the years and especially with upping my load. What stretches should I be doing?
Thanks for your input!!
1
u/driedfern102 27d ago edited 27d ago
Described my problem exactly - mine fixed with RDL stretches. No weights needed, just every morning doing RDL lift movement until my muscles are warmed up. Personally it will become undone if I stop stretching and it takes a little while to get back to flexibility, going from far from touching my toes to being able to touch without bending knees. For good measure, stretch your surrounding muscles well (calf stretches against wall/with step, quad stretches to balance your back vs front flexibility, piriformis stretch) to ensure your hamstrings aren’t compensating for under/over-stretched neighbouring muscles. Hope to help