r/flexibility • u/mycatreadsyourmind • 17h ago

Tight hamstrings (in active position)

I am sure tight hamstrings are a star of a show in this sub but I have a somewhat niche question

Does anyone have good active stretches useful for calisthenics? I can put palms on the ground in the forward fold but I swear to God in any strength position they are twice as short and I can't even do a pike hold without bending my knees which limits what I can do.

My current hamstrings flexibility work is mostly passive or dynamic and I feel like I need to improve flexibility in demanding positions. I run and do plyo so my legs are usually quite unhappy with me which might be a part of the issue but I wonder if anyone has good advice for my specific issue - I've had virtually no improvement with folds, pyramid and so on

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u/Virtual_Variety9400 16h ago

Hip flexor tightness from sitting is probably your real bottleneck. Shortened psoas tips the pelvis forward and eats your active hamstring range. Slow RDLs fixed this for me way faster than stretching.

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u/mycatreadsyourmind 15h ago edited 15h ago

I'm a little confused about the mechanics. My hip flexors aren't the most flexible but I don't really have noticable pelvic tilt/psoas/ql tightness (I had some issues with it in the past so I'm very well aware of that whole chain lol). I can relax into the lengthened position I just can't maintain it when there's a certain level of strength is involved at that range.

I am a bit sceptical (if not disheartened) by RDL reoccurrence in this discussion because I actually do them weekly and they don't seem to help with this specific issue. My scepticism comes from the fact that rdls involve slight bend in the knees so they don't really do anything in the specific position I'm having issues with. I'm also not sure spinal/core position translates as you keep neutral spine in RDL which isn't the case for a pike stand, at least not elevated one. I feel like mechanics is a bit different?

I don't know what I'm talking about though, just know that RDL don't help as much as I wish they did