# Standing Hamstring Stretch: how to do it

- Main muscles: hamstrings
- Also works: calves
- Equipment: bodyweight
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/standing_hamstring_stretch/81afbed8a4/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Stand tall and step one foot forward, heel on the floor and toes pointing up.
2. Bend your back knee slightly and rest both hands on that thigh.
3. Keep your back flat and lean forward from your hips, pushing your bottom back.
4. Stop when you feel a stretch down the back of your front leg.
5. Hold for 15–30 seconds, breathing slowly, then switch legs.

## Cues

- Bottom back, chest long.
- Flat back, no rounding.
- Toes up on the front foot.

## Common mistakes

- Rounding the back to reach lower: hinge from the hips and stop where your back stays flat.
- Locking the front knee: keep it straight but soft.
- Bouncing into the stretch: hold still and breathe.

## The version in our demo

Staggered stance, right heel on the floor in front with toes lifted, left knee bent, hinging forward from the hips with a flat back and both hands resting on the left thigh. This is the standard hospital (Healthwise) and Hinge Health version; it needs no step or bench, and the lifted toes add the calf stretch.

## Starting position

Stand tall, feet hip width. Step the right foot forward so the right heel lands 30–40 cm ahead of the left toes, heel on the floor, toes pulled up. Right knee straight but not locked (0–5° flexion). Left foot flat, left knee bent about 20–30°, carrying most of the weight. Hands on the left thigh just above the knee. Brace the stomach and tilt the pelvis slightly back to set the spine.

## The movement

Keeping the back flat from head to tailbone, hinge forward at the hips as if pushing the buttocks back, sliding the hands a little down the left thigh. Stop when a stretch is felt along the back of the right thigh (and calf). Hold. The hinge is a straight-line tilt of a rigid torso; the knees and feet do not move once set.

## Breathing

Slow, relaxed breaths; hinge a touch deeper on each exhale.

## Tempo

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

## Form in numbers

- Right knee 0–5° flexion; right ankle dorsiflexed about 10–15°, toes up.
- Left knee 20–30° flexion; left foot flat.
- Spine neutral, head in line with the spine (eyes on the floor 1 m ahead).

## Sources

1. [Columbia Doctors Health Library (Healthwise content), "Hamstring stretch (standing)"](https://www.columbiadoctors.org/health-library/multimedia/hamstring-stretch-standing/)
2. [Hinge Health (clinical review by a physical therapist), "How to do a hamstring stretch: a Hinge Health guide"](https://www.hingehealth.com/gb/en/resources/articles/hamstring-stretch/)

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