Lately becoming a member of a learners class in Olympic Weightlifting, I used to be keen to enhance my posture and kind after years of feeling like my lifts have been torpid and something however textbook. At 6’ 4”, I typically wrestle with sustaining correct kind and attaining environment friendly weightlifting actions. I’m not alone. Tall people typically face these challenges as a result of longer limb size and the related limitations of their hip flexors and hamstring mobility. Thankfully, the banded supine hamstring stretch is a good way to enhance our capacity to squat all the way down to the barbell, regardless of our top.

Being vertically gifted is often fairly candy. You by no means get misplaced in a crowd and you’ll attain merchandise on these hard-to-reach cabinets, however relating to getting down low, like actually low, being tall could be a little bit of a burden. Lengthy femurs (thigh bones) imply that some severe mobility is required to attain an acceptable quantity of squat depth wanted to satisfy the barbell after which elevate it skywards. Practising this Banded Supine Hamstring Stretch variation will provide help to to make progress on this space nonetheless, and also will let you keep on this place for longer durations of time. For these questioning; ‘supine’ means to lie on the again with face upwards. Right here’s how the stretch works.

The way to do the Supine Hamstring Stretch with a Band

1. Lie on the ground, in your again with face upwards
2. Connect a resistance band across the arch of 1 foot
3. Preserve your leg straight and use your arms to elevate the banded leg upwards
4. Pull the band till you’re feeling a delicate stretch your hamstring (behind the thigh and in the back of the knee). Maintain this place for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a stage of pressure that’s snug for you
5. Repeat with the opposite leg

Executing this train 2-3 instances per week will enhance hamstring flexibility. You’ll want to carry out every stretch constantly with out jerking or bouncing, as this might result in pulls and accidents. Professional tip: attempt to hold your stretched leg straight by squeezing in your quadriceps. You can even carry out this stretch as a part of your weightlifting warmup, with analysis displaying that 10 minutes of stretching and warming up earlier than weightlifting improved stability and steadiness in periods.

On the lowest a part of an Olympic elevate such because the clear and jerk, squatting down to succeed in the barbell typically causes some discomfort because the hamstrings begin to shake and hip flexors start to buckle. Working with this explicit stretch will assist to situation these areas to turn into extra cellular and versatile that means which you could squat decrease, for longer — making for a extra first rate elevate. Whereas it will extremely profit tall folks, the banded supine hamstring stretch may be practiced by anybody who needs to enhance their lifting posture.