Hamstring Stretch (heel on the ground) 

The Hamstrings are made up of 3 muscles (femoral biceps, semitendinosus, semimenbranous)

Technique of the exercise “Hamstring Stretch”:

You are kneeling on a mat (buttocks up) and stretch one leg to stretch it to the maximum. In this configuration (with your heel on the ground), make sure to bring your toes into dorsal flexion (the toes are pointing in your direction).

This makes your back straight and straight (vertical), shoulder blades slightly tightened and looking forward (to prevent you from rounding your back). Bend the bust forward gradually at your own pace, so that you can feel the stretch of your hamstrings and stop when you feel you reach your limits. Remember to keep your back straight throughout the exercise. A quick note: depending on how stiff your muscles are, you may experience fairly severe pain. In this case, don’t hesitate to bend your knee very slightly.

In order to do a good stretch, you will have to respect these rules:

Remember to breathe well continuously (deep breathing cycle of inspiration and expiration).
Never block your breathing when stretching.
Stretch for a minimum of 30 seconds
Stretching will always be done gradually. So that your muscles can get used to this type of work.
Stretched muscles :

Main muscles: Hamstrings

Secondary Muscles: Calf (Twins)

Roles of the Hamstrings: 

The main function of the hamstring muscles is to flex the knee and extend the femur with the hip bone as a fixed point.

The biceps femoral muscle allows the leg to flex and the lateral rotation of the flexed leg. Its longest part participates in the extension of the thigh.

The semitendinosus muscle allows the flexion of the leg, and when the leg is flexed, it is the medial rotator of the leg and extensor of the thigh.

The functions of the semitendinosus muscle are identical, but it also has the ability to tension the joint capsule through the oblique popliteal ligament. Finally, it allows internal rotation of the knee and drives the pelvis in retroversion if the lower limb is fixed.

The hamstring muscles allow walking, running and jumping. Coordination of all the muscles, tendons and joints of the lower limbs is necessary to perform this movement.

Variant of this exercise: 

Always in the same postillon, this time instead of keeping your back absolutely straight, round it off so that you can even catch your tiptoe and pull on it.

Other variations of exercises: Stretching exercise

Possible pathology: 

Hamstring muscle damage (elongation or tearing, i.e. hamstring strain) is the most common muscular injury in sportsmen and women. Contact, running and jumping sports, but also football and rugby are the main causes.

Often promoted by insufficient warm-up, the injury occurs when the knee extends and the muscle is contracted.

Rupture of the tendon in its upper part is possible, but exceptional.