Yoga for Athletes: 3 Hamstring Openers for Lower Back Relief

While getting into the preliminary training for my upcoming half marathon earlier this winter, I put together a three-part series of yoga poses intended to open tight hamstrings and their supporting muscle groups for Active Life DC. Tight hamstrings are the common culprit of lower back pain and frequently contribute to back injuries in yogis, runners and office warriors alike. Hamstrings are a finicky group of three muscles located on the backs of our thighs. Two of the muscles (semitendinosus and semimembranosus) stem from the sitz bones and connect along the inner side of the knee. The other one (biceps femoris) also originates at the sitz bones but connects along the outer side of the knee. When these muscles lose their elasticity they tend to lock the pelvis, removing the normal curve of the lumbar spine and flattening the lower back. This rigidity makes your back work extra hard to accomplish simple tasks like bending down to pick something up, let alone what I and most fitness fiends ask of our bodies on a daily basis. Without proper attention to caring for tight hamstrings you are bound to end up achy, or worse, injured.

Fret not! With daily stretching (like the yoga poses I provide in my monthly Yoga for Athletes series for Active Life DC) you can start to proactively compensate for rigidity, mend your hamstrings and ease lower back pain. Check out my favorite yoga poses for providing some much-needed TLC to your hamstrings below. All three poses are designed for all people of all abilities and all body types.Yoga for All!

No. 1: Modified Extended Hand-to-Foot Pose

Stand with one leg extended onto a chair, straight but not locked out. Your heel should rest on the chair’s seat.
Take a strap (or belt) and sling it around your lifted foot, holding onto either end with your hands.
Square your hips to the front edge of the chair and bend forward until you feel a gentle stretch, adjusting your strap to the appropriate length. Hold and breathe into that initial feeling of tightness for 90 seconds to three minutes. With each inhale try to lengthen through both sides of the body. With each exhale slowly hinge forward millimeter by millimeter, tightening up on your strap as necessary. Ground down through your standing leg for stability.
Once you’ve completed your long hold, relax and switch legs.

An important reminder—the key to safe hamstring stretching is to ease in, listen to your body for signs you might be pushing too far, and hold each pose for at least 90 seconds (and ideally a full three minutes.) Holding a pose for this amount of time allows your body’s connective tissues to open up and release.

No. 2: Supine Hand to Foot Pose

Lying on your back, loop a strap (or belt) around your right foot and extend the sole of your foot toward the ceiling. If you know you have tight hamstrings you can bend your left knee, planting the left foot firmly on the ground and enabling the right leg to straighten out.
Gradually pull the strap toward you until you feel a gentle stretch, adjusting it to the appropriate length by wrapping the loose ends around your hands.
Hold and breathe into that initial feeling of tightness for 90 seconds to three minutes. Let comfort be your guide—this should feel good and if it doesn’t you’re likely pulling too hard or too fast. With each inhale try to ground down through your rest leg and length through the heel of your extended leg. With each exhale slowly pull your leg closer to your torso, little by little, cinching up on your strap as necessary. Make sure you stabilize both hips on the mat—perhaps even draping a heavy blanket across your belt line—to keep the stretch in your hamstrings.
Once you’ve completed your long hold, relax and switch legs.

No. 3: Supine Bound Angle Pose

This third pose (also known as Reclining Butterfly) focuses on the supporting cast of tight hamstrings and an achy lower back: the adductor group. Adductors, or inner thigh muscles, and groin muscles are closely linked to stiff hamstrings. When big muscles like the hamstrings or quadriceps get overworked as they often do, adductors and abductors are left underdeveloped. This common imbalance can lead to injury. The muscles of your inner and outer thighs play a crucial role in stabilization and movement of the legs and pelvis. One of the key functions of adductors for athletes is that they pull your legs in toward the midline so that as you run your weight stays balanced on your planted foot and your gait doesn’t bow outward, which can lead to rolled ankles and stress on outer knee ligaments. Since they help keep you upright as you stride from left to right, they’re also key to getting maximal power out of each and every step. What athlete doesn’t want a little extra oomph wherever they can get it?

Lie down on your back. Bend your knees bringing the soles of your feet together and allowing the knees to fall open to either side.
Add a pillow under each knee or wrap a strap around your ankles as depicted to enable yourself to remain comfortable and feel supported in this pose as you hold for 90 seconds to three minutes. Your arms can rest by your side, or atop you hip bones if you’re using a strap. Be sure your elbows relax to the mat and you release any tension in your shoulders, neck and jaw.
When you’re ready to let go of the pose draw your knees into your chest, give them a strong hug and take Happy Baby pose to neutralize the spine and feel some nice compression on your hip-flexors.

Head over to Active Life DC to view the full articles on therapeutic hamstring opener poses 1 (Modified Extended Hand-to-Foot Pose), 2 (Supine Hand to Foot Pose) and 3 (Supine Bound Angle Pose), or revisit my Daily Dozen Yoga Poses for Post-Athletic Recovery.

July 13, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 12 – Reclining Shoelace

Step-by-Step:

Lay flat on your back, legs long with head resting heavy on the mat.
Draw your knees in toward your chest, bent, and cross your right leg over left. Reach for your ankles or feet with each hand (right hand grabs left foot, left hand grabs right foot). Gently pull the feet toward your hips as you lower the legs – still stacked in this pretzel-like set up – to the mat.
Holding the left foot with your right hand just outside the right hip, rotate your pelvis toward the left side, coming to rest on the left hip. Your left hand is still gripping the right foot as you twist. Keep your shoulders glued to the mat and turn your head to the right.
Stay here, or deepen the pose by extending the right leg. Kicking your right foot into the left hand and working to straighten out that right knee will bring an intense IT band stretch into this contralateral twist.
Hold for 10 deep breaths, then slowly come back to center and hug your knees into your chest. Plant your feet on the mat, hips width apart. Windshield wiper the knees from side to side.
Repeat steps 1 through 5, this time crossing left leg over right, twisting to the right as you look to the left.

How It Will Heal You:

Hip Pain – The best way to prevent and treat hip pain is to increase your ROM (range of motion) in all directions. If you play a sport like soccer, which involves a lot of explosive movement and running, you are particularly susceptible to hip pain. As you work into this hip-helping posture, chances are high that you’ll notice that one hip will be tighter than the other. To bring balance to the body, be sure to hold postures for 10 extra deep breaths on the side that’s talking to you. Use your breath to calm your nervous system and let the body open.

Hamstring Pulls – The vast majority of the time, hamstring pulls are a direct result of inflexible hamstrings. This big muscle group requires patience and daily attention to open up and can be really frustrating in their resistance to change. You are not going to go from barely touching your toes to Jordyn Wieber overnight. Commit to working on this posture every day and slowly but surely you’ll get the results you want and your body needs.

Knee Injuries – We all know someone that has torn their meniscus, had a knee replacement, or had some sort of debilitating knee injury. Our knees take a serious beating from all of the physical stuff we do day in and day out—not to mention the high heels some of us ladies rock to look lovely but brutalize our bodies from the tippy toes on up. The best way to prevent pain and avoid trouble is to keep the hips, IT band and hamstrings strong and flexible. Hips, IT band and hamstring mobility keeps the work in your bigger muscle groups (hamstrings and quadriceps) rather than the body’s default of looking to the place of least resistance–which is almost always the knee joint–for speed, power and agility. If you give the body freedom to move using your large muscle groups and stabilizers it will learn not to rely upon vulnerable and complex joints.

Lower Back Pain – How many of you have experienced lower back pain? I’d venture to say that anyone who sits in a chair all day has suffered through their fair share. This is also a big one for athletes. Why is that? Most often, lower back pain in athletes stems from tight hamstrings. For my fellow anatomy nerds out there, the hamstrings originate on the sitz bone–aka those little nobs deep in the flesh of your booty that us yogis balance on when doing boat core work (my favorite!). , If your hamstrings are tight they will pull down on the pelvis from the insertion point (the sitz bone) tilting it out of proper alignment and forcing your body to compensate using your lower back to remain upright. Another common reason for low back pain is underdeveloped abdominal muscles. I’m not talking just the six-pack abs (rectus abdominis) but also the deeper corset abs (transverse abdominis) that are critical for balance and stability. The simply solution to preventing and treating lower back pain is to stretch out your hammies and workout your core every day.

Foot and Ankle Issues – I can’t tell you have many times I wrenched my ankle playing soccer and field hockey as a kid, or more recently while hiking and running. Ankle sprains, Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis are three very common foot and ankle injuries. These injuries are no fun because let’s face it, when our foundation is out of whack everything else is thrown off and dysfunctional. The answer to avoiding these frustrating beasts of burden is to strengthen the ankle, increase the flexibility of the ankle and toes and work on your balance. Not only does this require concerted effort to increase the openness in these areas but it also means more core work. Core is your key to stability, meaning you’ll be less likely to get thrown off balance and tweak something if your abdominal and back muscles are strong.

July 9, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 8 – Plow

Step-by-Step:

From laying on your back, exhale and use your core to send your legs up and over head with control. Slowly lower your feet toward the floor behind and beyond your head. Keep your chin to your chest, neck straight, and do not look from side to side.
If your toes touch the ground, your hands can stay long by your side. Work to keep your torso as close to perpendicular with the floor as possible, legs fully extended and engaged.
If your toes don’t touch, bring your hands to your lower back, fingertips facing up. Rock your shoulders underneath you so the shoulder-blades draw closer together, creating a little air pocket for your C7 vertebra (that little knobby bone at the base of your neck). Again, work to keep your torso as close to perpendicular with the ground as possible, legs fully extended and engaged.
Hold for 10 deep breaths then slowly roll down one vertebra at a time, using your core to decelerate, until your legs extend long.
Hug your knees into your chest and rock a little from side to side for a quick release of the lower back before moving on to other postures.

How It Will Heal You:

Lower Back Pain – How many of you have experienced lower back pain? I’d venture to say that anyone who sits in a chair all day has suffered through their fair share. This is also a big one for athletes. Why is that? Most often, lower back pain in athletes stems from tight hamstrings. For my fellow anatomy nerds out there, the hamstrings originate on the sitz bone–aka those little nobs deep in the flesh of your booty that us yogis balance on when doing boat core work (my favorite!). If your hamstrings are tight they will pull down on the pelvis from the insertion point (the sitz bone) tilting it out of proper alignment and forcing your body to compensate using your lower back to remain upright. Another common reason for low back pain is underdeveloped abdominal muscles. I’m not talking just the six-pack abs (rectus abdominis) but also the deeper corset abs (transverse abdominis) that are critical for balance and stability. The simply solution to preventing and treating lower back pain is to stretch out your hammies and workout your core every day.

Neck Pain – From foundational issues in the ankles and feet to the top of the tower, the neck is a critical player in athletic endeavors and requires great care. Having had two of the most important people in my life suffer debilitating neck breaks, I really can’t stress this one enough. Full rotation of the neck makes all the difference in any sport you play. How else are you going to see your opponent coming up behind you to try and steal the ball away? And with a fastball speeding toward you, you want to be able to turn your neck and see that baby coming! Unfortunately, like the feet and ankles, the neck is often neglected when it comes to stretching and strength training. Avoid that pitfall with the postures in this post.

July 7, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 6 – Half Split

Step-by-Step:

1. Start in downward facing down.

2. Come into a low lunge, bring your right foot forward just inside your right hand. Knee stacked over ankle.

3. Shift your hips back, straightening the right leg and stacking the left hip over left knee.

4. Keep your hands or fingertips to the mat and keep a long, flat back. If you are rounding through the spine, bring a block under each hand.

5. Inch the heel forward if you want to deepen the stretch. Engaging the quads will also work to open the hammies.

6. Take 10 deep breaths, perhaps walking the fingers a few inches forward every couple of breaths.

7. Shift forward back into a low lunge. Plant your hands on the mat framing your right foot. Press the mat away and hips back into downward facing dog.

8. Repeat steps 2-7 on the other side.

9. Come back to downward facing dog and pedal your feet from side to side.

How it will heal you:

Hamstring Pulls – The vast majority of the time, hamstring pulls are a direct result of inflexible hamstrings. This big muscle group requires patience and daily attention to open up and can be really frustrating in their resistance to change. You are not going to go from barely touching your toes to Jordyn Wieber overnight. Commit to working on this posture every day and slowly but surely you’ll get the results you want and your body needs.

July 5, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 4 – Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Step-by-Step:

1. Come to standing, facing the long edge of your mat.

2. Separate the feet at least 3 ½ to 4 feet apart, feet parallel or slightly pigeon toed. Ground firmly into the outside edges of your feet and engage the quads.

3. Bring hands to waist, inhale deeply and puff up your chest. Exhale as you fold forward, hinging from the hips.

4. Keeping a flat back bring your hands to the mat (or a block), fingertips in line with toes. Make sure your weight is centered in the middle or your foot.

5. Hold for 10 deeps breaths (count to 4 on the inhale and 4 on the exhale), letting the hamstrings slowly release.

6. Bring your hands back to your waist and rise up, keeping a flat back. Return to standing.

Note: you can also do this posture with a shoulder rinse by interlacing the hands behind your back and bringing them up and overhead as you fold forward.

How it will heal you:

Hamstring Pulls – The vast majority of the time, hamstring pulls are a direct result of inflexible hamstrings. This big muscle group requires patience and daily attention to open up and can be really frustrating in their resistance to change. You are not going to go from barely touching your toes to Jordan Wieber overnight. Commit to working on this posture every day and slowly but surely you’ll get the results you want and your body needs.

July 4, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 3 – Dolphin Pose

Step-by-Step:

1. Come to tabletop position, shoulders stacked over wrists, hips over knees.

2. Leave your knees where they are but come down onto your forearms, elbows directly under shoulders.

3. Spread the fingers wide and press hands and forearms firmly into the mat. Curl your toes under and press into the balls of your feet as you straighten your legs out, hips reaching high to the sky.

4. Keep a nice long spine and walk your feet closer to your elbows by a couple of inches.

5. Keep your gaze between your hands and let the chest melt back towards your thighs as your shoulders soften and hamstrings slowly open with breath.

6. Take 10 deeps breaths (count to 4 on the inhale and 4 on the exhale) then slowly release, coming back to tabletop.

How it will heal you:

Shoulder Pain – Football, lacrosse, and baseball players know shoulder pain. As a yogi, I can also vouch for the frequency of shoulder injuries in yoga–a misaligned jump-back to chaturunga is one of the fastest ways to wreck your rotator cuffs. Shoulders, like hips, are a ball-in-socket joint and thus are designed to have a broad ROM (range of motion). Athletes and office bees alike experience a lot of shoulder pain because not enough attention gets paid to maintaining the flexibility of this critical joint. Increase the openness of your wrists, chest and upper back to prevent and treat discomfort. Additionally, focusing on contralateral movement (i.e. twists) will help to eliminate rigidity from the upper body.

Wrist Problems – Football, lacrosse, baseball, tennis and basketball players are incredibly susceptible to wrist injuries. Amongst others, yogis should be added to that list–just ask two of my fellow yoga teachers who went through training with me and are still modifying their Down Dog months later. In order to avoid wrist issues, it’s critical that you build strong forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders and upper back. Like all other joints, it’s also important to maintain ROM (range of motion) and flexibility in the joint itself as well as the elbows and shoulders so that the body can maintain proper form and alignment when generating power and movement from the upper body and arms.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

July 1, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: 12 Yoga Poses for Post-Athletic Recovery to Do Every Day

Over the next 12 days, I am going to walk you through my Daily Dozen Yoga Poses for Post-Athletic Recovery. Work on each pose for a few minutes each day and at the end of the 12 days try stringing them together, holding 10 breaths per side (if applicable). The whole sequence should take you between 20-25 minutes. My suggestion? Do it while watching an episode of Modern Family or Arrested Development and make it a happy ritual rather than a chore.

MOAR’s Daily Dozen:

Hero’s Pose
High Plank w/ Flipped Hands
Dolphin
Wide-Legged Forward Fold
Low Lunge w/ Twist
Half Split
Prone Shoulder Opener
Plow
Half Pigeon
Seated Spinal Twist
Reclining Figure-4
Reclining Shoelace

These postures were specifically selected to help fortify your body against the top ten sports-related injuries, which are in no particular order…

Achilles tendonitis
Plantar fasciitis
Ankle sprains
Wrist problems
Shoulder pain
Hamstring pulls
Hip pain
Knee injuries
Lower back strain
Neck strain

If you lead an active lifestyle, chances are you have dealt with at least half of that list. The best way to prevent these common sports-related injuries is to work on increasing your flexibility and ROM (range of motion) on a daily basis. We are constantly stressing our muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons and most of us barely do two minutes of stretching post-physical activity, let alone a solid 20 minutes.

Check back every day for a new posture how-to and learn about the different injuries it will help you prevent and treat. At the end of the 12 days, I encourage you to come back to this post and try the entire sequence in succession. If you can work these stretches into your routine three to five days a week, you’ll be well on your way to a flexible, strong and injury-free body.

As always, I welcome your feedback and would love to hear what you think!

June 26, 2013

Monkey Around with this Acroyoga Assist

As someone who thoroughly enjoys a good Ashtanga class, I am not averse to structure. Those who know me personally might consider that an understatement. I admit it: I’m a major planner and organization freak. That said, I love yoga for the freedom, creativity and playfulness it invites. As a teacher, there is nothing that energizes me more than putting together a sequence with unexpected twists and turns (literally) to keep people engaged and challenged. I think it is this spirit of play that makes Acroyoga so appealing to me and many others who have jumped on this evolution of circus/monkey yoga.

Per Wikipedia, Acroyoga is “a physical practice which blends elements of yoga, acrobatics, performance and healing arts.” I love it because it encourages practitioners to think outside of the box in yoga poses and find a way to make postures not only functional but fun. One of my all-time favorite Acro assists, and one that I have brought out a couple times during my private client sessions, is Down Dog on Down Dog. Ok, so that doesn’t exactly sound appropriate for all audiences but there’s no better way to sum it up.

To start, you’ll need at least two adventurous souls. Have one person come into their downward facing dog. The second person then comes to a standing forward fold in front of the first person’s hands (your heels should be a couple inches in front of their fingertips). Person two then presses their palms into the mat and lifts their right leg placing the foot on the top right side of their partner’s pelvic bone (your heal should be close to their sacrum, your toes pointing out and gripping their love handles – for lack of a better term). Next, person two presses into their hands and right foot strongly so that they can steadily float the left leg up, placing the foot on the top left side of their partner’s pelvic bone – your toes should essentially be gripping the sides of their lower back.

Once in position, make sure your feet are centered on their back, distributing your weight evenly. The more you press into their lower back with your feet, the more lightness they will feel in their arms and the deeper you’ll help them take the stretch into their hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendon. If you push hard enough, you can even make their hands float off the ground (levitation!). The top dog will also get a good stretch in the back of their legs, as well as some serious core and shoulder work – a.k.a. handstand prep.

Go outside, find a soft surface (just in case you tumble a time or two) and give it a try. Good times guaranteed!

December 13, 2012

MoYoga on Supported Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana)

Salamba Sirsasana, or supported headstand, like all yoga inversion postures is a great way to find both energy and calm. By flipping your world upside-down, you’re allowing for increased blood drainage from your lower extremities, as well as your lymph nodes. When you come out of the posture and into child’s pose, you’re flushing your entire body with fresh, oxygenated blood. This is an incredibly active pose and works everything from the forearms and shoulders to the abs and back muscles to your thighs and even feet.

The key to this asana is to approach it without ego and with a sense of adventure. Inversions are often scary for people, but the only way you’ll get injured is if you don’t listen to your body. In the beginning, take it slow and use a wall. Having both the support and peace-of-mind that something is there to catch you if you fall is a great way to get comfortable and kickstart this element of your practice.

Now, let’s break it down step by step…

STEP 1: Set up your yoga mat, kneeling somewhere in the bottom half. In order to find the proper spot to place your head, take your wrist joint and place it on the tip of your nose, fingertips reaching up to the sky. Wherever your middle finger lands–somewhere between your hairline and the crown of your head–is where you’ll want to set your head down. Keep in mind that from an anatomical standpoint the closer to the crown of your head you base this asana, the more neutral your spine will remain.

STEP 2: Place your head down on the mat in front of you, using the spot you found in step 1. Lace your fingers together and cup your head. Your forearms will frame your head and neck on the floor, elbows at shoulder width. Press your inner wrists firmly into the floor.

STEP 3: Send your booty up and back, coming into down dog legs. From the side you should look like an inverted “V.” Fire up your thighs, actively lifting your kneecaps to engage your quadriceps. Walk your feet in towards your elbows, keeping your heels elevated. The closer your feet come to your elbows, the more your hips come over your shoulders; this will bring you into better alignment from the get-go, making it easier to stay solid once your legs rise up and overhead. Draw your shoulder blades in and down, flattening them against your upper back to keep your front torso lengthened.

STEP 4: Root down through your forearms, exhale and lift your feet away from the ground. There are two ways to do this: (1) by lifting one straightened leg to the sky, then powering your other leg up to meet with the first using core and glute strength, or (2) taking both feet up at the same time by bending your knees and hopping lightly off the floor (see above). I am demonstrating the second option because I find it to be a slightly easier place to start. If you chose the second option, engage your abs–drawing belly button into spine–and lift your legs straight up and overhead with control.

Either way you choose to go, avoid using momentum. If you aren’t quite ready to rise up using muscle strength (core power!), you can use a wall and add a little more kick into the process. Please heed my warning above and check your ego at the door before trying this asana.

STEP 5: Finally with your legs perpendicular to the floor, tuck your tailbone in and down. Lift up and out of your shoulders and neck by rotating your upper thighs inward, engaging your adductors and abductors. Your feet should be directly over your hips, which should be aligned over the crown of your head. Try to keep your weight evenly balanced on both forearms by continually tucking your tailbone, engaging your abs, and firing up every single muscle in your legs. It helps me to demi/Barbie-point my feet, sending energy through the balls of my big toes.

If you’re just getting started, aim to stay inverted for 10 seconds (2-3 deep breaths). You can gradually tack time onto this until you can comfortably hold the pose for 5 min. To come out of it, slowly bring your legs down the same way they went up with an exhalation. Be sure not to lose the lift in your shoulder blades.

When both feet touch the floor, sit back onto your knees, bring your chest forward onto your thighs, and rest in child’s pose. You deserve it!

December 5, 2012

MoYoga on Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana)

Wheel is one of my absolute favorite yoga postures. It’s at the same time playful and powerful. It also transports me back to when I used to take gymnastics–ah, the good old days of effortless flexibility! Wheel is both a back bend and chest opener, great for relieving tension in the upper back, shoulders, and hip flexors. It also strengthens all of the body’s major muscles groups, firing up you quads, hamstrings, glutes, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and the list goes on!

To get into wheel, lay flat on your back, feet planted on your mat hip-width apart. You should be able to graze your heels with your fingertips. This is the same set up you would use if you were pushing up into bridge.

Reach your hands up and overhead, planting palms flat next to your ears, fingertips facing toward your shoulders. Pull your elbows in toward your center line, tuck your tailbone, and on an inhalation press up through your hands and feet. If you’re just starting out, you can come to an intermediary position by resting on the crown of your head before pressing all the way up into full wheel. When taking this variation, be sure to support your weight with your palms and arms rather than your head and neck.

In full wheel, your arms will be straight, head heavy, and legs fully engaged. Keep your knees drawing together, thighs spiraling inwards, no splaying of the knees. As your shoulders, chest, and hip flexors open up, work to press your chest through your arms. You can also begin to play with coming up on the balls of your feet and lifting one leg at a time for some added intensity.

Once you’ve taken 5 to 8 deep breaths, tuck your chin and gently come down, one vertebrae at a time. Once down, resist the temptation to draw your knees into your chest. Repeat this another 2 or 3 times, then lay on the mat in reclining butterfly.

Enjoy this asana, letting yourself be free, open and strong!