Holiday Fitness - Learn to Stretch Your "Ham-Strings"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome back to the Tactile Training Newsletter. It is officially the season of Holiday Hams and spending time with family. This past week, my life forever changed for the better as my wife and I had our first child — a beautiful baby girl. In no time at all, I noticed how flexible my daughter was and how stiff my newly christened dad-body felt in comparison. This week we are learning how to stretch our hamstrings using tactile verbal descriptions. In addition, we will continue adding to the Tactile Training Functional Workout Plan, where we put the exercises and stretches we learn together into a workout program you can use.

Tactile Training: Supine Hamstring Stretch

• Sitting for extended periods of time can actually shorten and weaken your hamstring muscles while also inhibiting gluteal muscle activation. Your hamstring muscles are comprised of a group of three individual muscles that run along the back of the thigh, starting just underneath the butt cheeks and running downwards to the back of the knees. These three muscles are the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus.

• Together, they are colloquially referred to as your hamstrings and each play a crucial role in knee bending, hip extension, and so much more. To feel them, run your hands from the crease underneath your knee caps towards your butt.

• My mission is to make exercise accessible. Today, we are going to use tactile cues to stretch your holiday hams.

  1. Step One: Lie down on your back (supine) with a towel or stretch band

     • To start, you will need a towel, stretch strap, blanket, or long resistance band. Any of these items will work as long as they will not tear and are roughly four to five feet in length or roughly twice the length of your leg, measured from hip to floor.

     • Next, you will need space to safely lie flat on the floor with your back and bottom in contact with the ground. This is also called a supine position. Make sure the floor and surrounding area is clear of debris.

  2. Step Two: Proper alignment of your feet

     • Once you are lying on your back, extend your legs long and straight on the floor. Your knees should not be bent. Bring your feet together to touch and flex your toes upward towards your nose. You should feel your calf muscles stretch and the muscles in your ankles work to flex your toes upwards.

  3. Step Three: Hold your towel or stretch band

     • Next, we will use the towel, stretch strap, blanket, or long resistance band. Using whatever object you have, grab one end with your left hand and the other end with your right hand. This should leave you with a lot of slack between either hand. That slack between your hands is what we will be placing in the crux of one foot to perform the stretch.

  4. Step Four: Place your foot in the towel or stretch band

     • Starting with your right foot, lift it from the ground and place the bottom of it it in the middle of the slack you are holding between hands. Again, the bottom middle arch of your foot should be in contact with the towel or strap. Try your best to place your foot in the middle of the slack by applying pressure to the towel or stretch band and adjusting accordingly.

     • You can feel if you need to move your foot to the left or right by pulling with your arms. If the tension you feel is not even between hands, slide your foot left or right until the tension feels even.

  5. Step Five: Straighten your leg and stretch

     • You are ready to stretch your hamstring. While keeping your foot in the towel or stretch band, straighten your right leg. Neither knee should be bent during this stretch. Lift and raise your right leg towards your face using your arms to assist by pulling. Keep your left leg flat on the ground in starting position described in step two.

     • As you lift your right leg higher, use the band to pull the leg higher up and off the floor, continuing to make sure the knee does not bend. You should immediately feel a deep stretch in your hamstring muscles as you continue to lift your leg.

     • Your feet should remain flexed towards your face. Once you feel a deep stretch, hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds and then relax.

     Step Six: Repeat

     • Repeat this stretch 3 times before switching to your left leg. Every repetition you will notice that you can stretch a little deeper.

     • Do not force this stretch to a point of discomfort. Be patient with yourself as you improve your flexibility.

Tactile cues and descriptive movements such as this can be used to help make fitness more accessible. If you are interested in learning other exercises and ways to describe movements, let me know!

Weekly Challenge: Tactile Training Workout

Now its time to include today’s stretch into the Tactile Training Functional Workout Plan. In previous newsletters we learned how to perform the squat, plank, glute bridge, and bird dog. With every newsletter, we will continue building a progressive and functional workout challenge you can use at home or in the classroom. If you are an educator or parent of an individual who is blind or visually impaired, try this routine out for yourself!

If you’d like to revisit tactile cueing instructions covered in previous newsletters, you can find them at the following link: https://tactiletraining.beehiiv.com/

As always, please consult a physician’s approval before beginning any new exercise program.

• The workout is the following:

  • Perform 10 bodyweight squats

  • Perform a fifteen to thirty second plank hold based on your ability. (Option to perform a kneeling plank regression if needed).

  • Perform 10 Glute Bridges (Option to perform single-leg progression if desired).

  • Perform 10 Bird Dogs (Option to perform knee to elbow progression if desired).

  • Rest 30 seconds and repeat for three rounds total.  

• The cooldown stretching routine is the following:

  • Perform a supine hamstring stretch for thirty to sixty seconds and repeat on the other side.

  • (Option to repeat for up to three rounds)

If you enjoy this content or want a specific exercise described in a future post, respond to this email and let me know!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter and workout program! If you have questions or suggestions for future newsletters; contact me at [email protected]. Until next time! Gobble Gobble!

- Coach Brandon