Help with Severe Hamstring Tightness

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hey guys. I started training about 6 months ago, the first two mostly reading up on stuff and learning proper exercise form. I started at about 130lb, fast forward 6 months and I’m at 150 (die hard ecto + not enough food) at about 10% bf. My upper body lifts have been steadily increasing - currently I’m doing a 5x5 strength routine and my working weights for bench/rows/pullups/dips/mp are at 180/200/+60/+75/115, not too shabby for 6 months of training.

My lower body is another story though - both squat and deadlift have stalled. I can squat 265 for reps and deadlift 315 for reps, the former with pretty crap form though. I live a very sedetary lifestyle (sitting 8+ hours a day for 3 years straight) so my glute activation is nonexistant and my hamstrings are very tight and weak. I’ve been static strentching since I started training, and while it had tremendous effect on my hips, my hamstrings are still too tight. I also did a lot of glute bridging, hip thrusts, foam rolling and even got some massages, all to no avail.

What do I need to do to fix my issue so I’m able to do stuff like L-sits and snatch deads in the future?

2

Foam rolling, dynamic and static stretching.

I know you’re already doing it, but it takes time. You can’t expect to go your whole life without stretching and then be able to fix the problem in 6 months. Just keep at it.

3

One thing that helped my glute, hip and general leg tightness has been foam rolling and static stretching. Check this article out:

Take your warmup seriously.

4

Take a leg workout or two off. You already said you sit all day so … Don’t. get up sometimes walk around. Walk a mile at night, not fast at a comfortable pace this is just to get blood in your legs and your heart circulating. Ease up on the stretching two or 3 times a week after leg day is fine. Squat and deadlift full ROM. Sex, beef and water. That’s for hamstring tightness.

Lsit’s is core, work your core hard, it may help with some compensation your hammies are doing too.

5

[quote]Chris87 wrote:
Foam rolling, dynamic and static stretching.

I know you’re already doing it, but it takes time. You can’t expect to go your whole life without stretching and then be able to fix the problem in 6 months. Just keep at it.[/quote]

This. A great start is simply walking. I find this helps keep everything loose. Try for 1 hr a day - 30mins morning and evening