As a dancer who is trying to become more flexible, this has been really helpful! For a long time I've thought that i had tight hamstrings, but it was actually the nerves
Isso é uma informação valiosa! eu reconhecia que o fator limitante da minha flexibilidade em certos alongamentos não era muscular, mas não achava nenhum conteúdo falando sobre o nervo ciático afetando a flexibilidade (não na minha língua)... Muito obrigado!
Hey, great video. Watched it and read your post too. What would be a good daily hamstring stretch routine for tight hamstrings incorporating these two exercises?
I wouldn't suggest stretching the same muscle group daily (usually that's overkill / too much volume). But this would be a good routine to try a couple of times a week: www.daniwinksflexibility.com/bendy-blog/30-day-toe-touch-flexibility-challenge
hi Dani I just want to say thanks for the great info you posted on your blog about the sciatic nerve tension and how it can sometimes be the limiting factor in hamstring flexibility. Just making sure I understand correctly, it's possible to stretch the hams and work on the nerve tension at the same time. And with time this tension should decrease. This is so relieving, I thought I wouldn't be able to achieve any sort of meaningful flexibility gains in my forward folds; it feels like pricks and needles on the back of my knee (tell tale sign of nerve tension) Seeing your videos performing front splits is very inspiring, since you also experience nerve tension yet with practice you were able to achieve those poses and that is very motivational.
I'm going to be following this routine and updating it in a month. any input would be appreciated. warmup tissue work using the stick drill from Kit Laughlin's video 10 - 15 sciatic nerve glide short term fix 10 sciatic nerve tensioner long term fix 30s active hamstring flexibility long term fix 12 min total stretching the hamstrings using bent leg stretch, supine variation and heron pose. In all the poses I'm making sure I point the toes like a ballerina, keep a straight back and bend the knee so I can feel the stretch in the actual muscle bellies.
You're correct! You can keep safely working on hamstring flexibility *and* nerve tension at the same time - you just want to make sure you're not stressing the nerve during your hamstring work. Since you mentioned you get pins and needles in your back ("thankfully" that's a very obvious cue!), that means you'll never want to go so deep during your hamstring work that you reach that sensation. All your notes about modifying your active hamstring work (flat back, pointed toes, possible knee bend) are right on point with minimizing the nerve tension while maximizing the hamstring stretch, so that's all great. I think it sounds like you're on the perfect track! (And I'd love for you to comment back in a month or two and let me know if you've noticed improvement!)
@@DaniWinksFlexibility update 1: 8/6/2020 I'm glad to say that yes I have seen quite significant improvements. I was a bit discouraged when I still felt strong tension just posterior to the knee and an inch above (proximally) After careful inspection during the practice, I started to realize this was actually the hamstring tendons that were really tight. They were so tight to the point where they would snap or shift when I extend my leg. It was really painful when it shifted but thankfully with time it started to loosen up and now I sometimes even barely notice if it shifts. The tendons snapping are on the medial side so that tells me it's either the semitendinosus or semimembranosus muscle. I think it also connected to the adductors. I looked up and learned about this pes anserine (I don't see the resemblance) and that's exactly where I was feeling the tension. As of now there's still tension in that spot. When I attempt to stretch the adductors I feel the same kind of tendon tension like in the hamstring. I'm confident they are related because now that same tension during side splits is less intense. Also the nerve tension has decreased. Maybe if I do this same routine twice more I should have no more tension. I think I should strengthen the hams because I believe I'm developing the dreaded yoga butt syndrome. Never knew active flexibility could be so amazing. I'm setting a goal for myself to convert all my passive flexibility to mobility. Turns out this tendon snapping is called "snapping knee syndrome of the medial hamstrings". It feels just like this ua-cam.com/video/y8opc8IRBU4/v-deo.html but with less intensity and on the inner side. reference drrobertlaprademd.com/snapping-hamstrings-pain/
i've always had terrible flexibility with the whole touching your feet stretch. but decent flexibility everywhere else. I just didnt know why it never got better despite times when i tried to stretch and work on it, it never improved. Its always felt like a stretching sensation all the way down my legs, around my buttocks., with a tingling sensation in my feet. Its so bad at this point i get the nerve stretch feeling just from trying to sit up straight with my legs straight out and my feet up. If i bend my feet away then i can sit up straight. i've got no chance of being able to lean forward at all right now. hopefully this will help.
Thanks so much, I'm going to work on this with my flexibility stuff. Are there other nerves that could hold tension? I had/have a back injury and I think some of the other issues I'm having with my back and hips may be related to things like this.
Yes - *technically* virtually any nerve could have tension in it, and there are many of them! In my experience teaching flexibility, the sciatic nerve is one of the most common ones for folks to have tension in. But others that I test students for that do occasionally test positive are the femoral nerve, the median nerve, radial, and/or ulnar nerve
how about a damaged groin nerve or shoulder nerve? i’ve been stretching vigorously with no improvement and knew i had nerve damage but didn’t know this could fix it
Nerve glides probably aren't a great choice for a DAMAGED nerve because they could injure it further. For any pre-existing nerve issues (ex. sciatica, other nerve pain, or chronic tingles in the extremities), that's something you should see a physical therapist about.
Not necessarily - nerve glides are meant to be a temporary solution to sciatic nerve tension. Long-term you still want to work on strengthening your muscles to support the end range positions needed for your goals (whether that be a forward fold, split, etc).
That just means you've got tight hamstrings (which is a lot of folks!). As I mentioned in the video that you can sit in a chair (or on a couple of yoga blocks) if sitting on the floor with a flat back is a challenge - that's a great modification for folks with tight hips.
As a dancer who is trying to become more flexible, this has been really helpful! For a long time I've thought that i had tight hamstrings, but it was actually the nerves
This has been crazy helpful, the difference in how my stretches feel now is really noticeable, thanks 👍
so glad to hear it! For some people it can make a HUGE difference
Isso é uma informação valiosa! eu reconhecia que o fator limitante da minha flexibilidade em certos alongamentos não era muscular, mas não achava nenhum conteúdo falando sobre o nervo ciático afetando a flexibilidade (não na minha língua)... Muito obrigado!
Obrigada!
great video. really clear instructions and demonstrations, and to the point too.
Ok I'm freaking out thank you so much for this video!!!
Hey, great video. Watched it and read your post too. What would be a good daily hamstring stretch routine for tight hamstrings incorporating these two exercises?
I wouldn't suggest stretching the same muscle group daily (usually that's overkill / too much volume). But this would be a good routine to try a couple of times a week: www.daniwinksflexibility.com/bendy-blog/30-day-toe-touch-flexibility-challenge
hi Dani
I just want to say thanks for the great info you posted on your blog about the sciatic nerve tension and how it can sometimes be the limiting factor in hamstring flexibility.
Just making sure I understand correctly, it's possible to stretch the hams and work on the nerve tension at the same time.
And with time this tension should decrease.
This is so relieving, I thought I wouldn't be able to achieve any sort of meaningful flexibility gains in my forward folds; it feels like pricks and needles on the back of my knee (tell tale sign of nerve tension)
Seeing your videos performing front splits is very inspiring, since you also experience nerve tension yet with practice you were able to achieve those poses and that is very motivational.
I'm going to be following this routine and updating it in a month. any input would be appreciated.
warmup
tissue work using the stick drill from Kit Laughlin's video
10 - 15 sciatic nerve glide short term fix
10 sciatic nerve tensioner long term fix
30s active hamstring flexibility long term fix
12 min total stretching the hamstrings using bent leg stretch, supine variation and heron pose. In all the poses I'm making sure I point the toes like a ballerina, keep a straight back and bend the knee so I can feel the stretch in the actual muscle bellies.
You're correct! You can keep safely working on hamstring flexibility *and* nerve tension at the same time - you just want to make sure you're not stressing the nerve during your hamstring work. Since you mentioned you get pins and needles in your back ("thankfully" that's a very obvious cue!), that means you'll never want to go so deep during your hamstring work that you reach that sensation. All your notes about modifying your active hamstring work (flat back, pointed toes, possible knee bend) are right on point with minimizing the nerve tension while maximizing the hamstring stretch, so that's all great. I think it sounds like you're on the perfect track!
(And I'd love for you to comment back in a month or two and let me know if you've noticed improvement!)
@@DaniWinksFlexibility update 1: 8/6/2020
I'm glad to say that yes I have seen quite significant improvements.
I was a bit discouraged when I still felt strong tension just posterior to the knee and an inch above (proximally)
After careful inspection during the practice, I started to realize this was actually the hamstring tendons that were really tight. They were so tight to the point where they would snap or shift when I extend my leg.
It was really painful when it shifted but thankfully with time it started to loosen up and now I sometimes even barely notice if it shifts. The tendons snapping are on the medial side so that tells me it's either the semitendinosus or semimembranosus muscle. I think it also connected
to the adductors. I looked up and learned about this pes anserine (I don't see the resemblance) and that's exactly where I was feeling the tension. As of now there's still tension in that spot.
When I attempt to stretch the adductors I feel the same kind of tendon tension like in the hamstring. I'm confident they are related because now that same tension during side splits is less intense.
Also the nerve tension has decreased.
Maybe if I do this same routine twice more I should have no more tension.
I think I should strengthen the hams because I believe I'm developing the dreaded yoga butt syndrome.
Never knew active flexibility could be so amazing. I'm setting a goal for myself to convert all my passive flexibility to mobility.
Turns out this tendon snapping is called "snapping knee syndrome of the medial hamstrings". It feels just like this ua-cam.com/video/y8opc8IRBU4/v-deo.html but with less intensity and on the inner side.
reference drrobertlaprademd.com/snapping-hamstrings-pain/
i've always had terrible flexibility with the whole touching your feet stretch. but decent flexibility everywhere else.
I just didnt know why it never got better despite times when i tried to stretch and work on it, it never improved. Its always felt like a stretching sensation all the way down my legs, around my buttocks., with a tingling sensation in my feet.
Its so bad at this point i get the nerve stretch feeling just from trying to sit up straight with my legs straight out and my feet up. If i bend my feet away then i can sit up straight. i've got no chance of being able to lean forward at all right now. hopefully this will help.
so what’s the solution
Thanks so much, I'm going to work on this with my flexibility stuff. Are there other nerves that could hold tension? I had/have a back injury and I think some of the other issues I'm having with my back and hips may be related to things like this.
Yes - *technically* virtually any nerve could have tension in it, and there are many of them! In my experience teaching flexibility, the sciatic nerve is one of the most common ones for folks to have tension in. But others that I test students for that do occasionally test positive are the femoral nerve, the median nerve, radial, and/or ulnar nerve
how about a damaged groin nerve or shoulder nerve? i’ve been stretching vigorously with no improvement and knew i had nerve damage but didn’t know this could fix it
Nerve glides probably aren't a great choice for a DAMAGED nerve because they could injure it further. For any pre-existing nerve issues (ex. sciatica, other nerve pain, or chronic tingles in the extremities), that's something you should see a physical therapist about.
Is this improve tightness and that knot feeling overtime?
I toucged my toes after a minute of doing it thabj you btw found you on reddit
Not necessarily - nerve glides are meant to be a temporary solution to sciatic nerve tension. Long-term you still want to work on strengthening your muscles to support the end range positions needed for your goals (whether that be a forward fold, split, etc).
What if u can’t even do step one. I cant even sit with my back straight… am I just doomed
That just means you've got tight hamstrings (which is a lot of folks!). As I mentioned in the video that you can sit in a chair (or on a couple of yoga blocks) if sitting on the floor with a flat back is a challenge - that's a great modification for folks with tight hips.