# Seated Hamstring Stretch: how to do it

- Main muscles: hamstrings
- Also works: lower back
- Equipment: bodyweight
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/seated_hamstring_stretch/bce724a0de/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit on the floor with your legs straight and together, toes pointing up.
2. Sit up tall with your hands on your thighs.
3. Breathe out and lean forward from your hips, sliding your hands towards your ankles.
4. Stop when you feel a stretch in the backs of your thighs and hold for 15–30 seconds.

## Cues

- Lead with your chest, not your head.
- Hinge from the hips, back flat.
- Toes point to the ceiling.

## Common mistakes

- Rounding your back to reach your toes: stop where your back stays flat.
- Bouncing: hold a steady stretch instead.
- Bent knees: keep your legs straight and your hands where they reach.

## The version in our demo

Sitting on the floor with both legs straight and together, toes pointing up, hinging forward from the hips with a flat back, hands sliding down the legs. This is ACE's version and reads clearly from the side; the one-leg chair version (South Tees NHS) is the option for people who cannot sit on the floor, and uses the same hip hinge.

## Starting position

Sitting tall on a mat, legs straight out in front, together, knees straight, toes pointing to the ceiling. Torso upright, head in line with the spine, hands resting on the thighs.

## The movement

Brace the stomach, breathe out and tip the pelvis forward to hinge from the hips, sliding the hands down towards the ankles. Keep the back flat and the chest leading; stop at the first firm stretch in the backs of the thighs. Hold, then return upright. The legs stay straight and still; the spine does not round to reach further.

## Breathing

Slow, steady breaths; hinge a little further on each out-breath.

## Tempo

Real sets: hold 15–30 s, repeat 2–4 times.

## Form in numbers

- Back flat from the tailbone to the head; at most a slight upper-back curve.
- Knees straight (0–5° flexion), backs of the knees on or within 2–3 cm of the floor.
- Ankles at about 90°, toes pointing up.
- Hands end around mid-shin to the ankles, depending on flexibility; shoulders relaxed.

## Sources

1. [ACE, "Seated Toe Touches"](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/213/seated-toe-touches/)
2. [South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, "Hamstring stretch (2)"](https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/resources/hamstring-stretch-2/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/seated-hamstring-stretch