Hamstring Stretch | Pro Tip from Elizabeth Marlin

Our current School of Ballet 5:8 Featured Guest, Elizabeth Marlin, is a Company Artist with Ballet 5:8. We asked her to share some of her favorite pro tips with us, and we've been loving her helpful advice! Today, we invite you to join in on a much-needed stretch.

Elizabeth says:

My hamstrings used to be so tight that when I stretched them, all I would feel is pain, so I usually didn’t. But then I stumbled upon this different method of stretching, and it totally changed my perspective, and my flexibility!

This stretching method uses the same concept as when you push your arm against a wall and it naturally floats up away from you when you release it. Here is how you can apply this to a hamstring stretch:

Instead of pulling your leg towards you at the start of the stretch, use your hamstring to push your leg away from you into your hands as hard as you can and hold for about 10 seconds. As you release and relax your hamstring, your leg will naturally fall towards you a little bit as a reaction to how hard you were just pushing in the opposite direction. Then you can gently pull your leg to increase the stretch. Repeat this two or three times to get a much deeper and more effective stretch than you would get without any resistance.