The Yoga rules

By Tracy Renning

Hamstring stretches and exercise are the best way for loosening up the tight hamstrings of our body. These tight hamstrings are basically found due to the heavy stress of our workload or any other work in our routine day to day life. Hamstring is a muscle which starts from exactly under the knee above into the buttocks. It is basically a group of three muscles, which are Biceps femora's, Semitendinosis and Semimembranosis.

Hamstring stretches and exercise are effective measures to prevent the hamstring injuries. Hamstring muscles are more prone to tears and strains. Hamstring injuries are basically found in the athletes of the sport, which require a high rate of speed, power and flexibility. Hamstring injuries are found in the sprinters rather in the long running athletes e.g.:- marathon running etc. These injuries are also found in sports such as baseball, basketball and football as these sports need more muscle power.

Here are two simple examples of hamstring stretches and exercises, which would help us in improving our flexibility:

� Simply sit down on the one knee extend the other leg forward with toe up straight to the sky. Keep our back stiff and straight and then afterwards lien forward to try to touch and hold the toe finger of our leg. Hold that finger for about 20 to 30 seconds and repeat it to at least 2 to 3 times.

� Simply stand along with the chair onto it or on any other similar object of that type. Keep our raised legs in slightly bent position along with our toe pointing down to the ground along the edge of the chair. Keep the back position in straight and in erect manner and push our chest towards the toe. Hold this stretch for about 20 to 30 seconds and repeat it for at least 2 to 3 times.

The most common cause of hamstring injuries is the disturbance of the balance between quadriceps muscles and hamstring muscles. The other cause of these hamstring injuries is lack of body flexibility and muscle strength. Thus for avoiding these injuries we should do the hamstring stretches and exercise and also the warm up stretches prove to be helpful in this situation

The warming up will contribute in reducing the hamstring injury. This stretch should not only be done before our routine exercise but it should be done before and after every exercise or activity. If we are suffering from a hamstring injury then hamstring stretches can be used as first aid exercises. Hamstring stretches and exercises will be useful to for not only athletes or professional sportsman but also common man to improve muscle flexibility.

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