hamstring flexibility

Danny the Runner said:

I am wondering if there are any current or ex ballerinas or martial artists
here who know how long those disciplines prescibe leg-ups on the bar?

I'm both. You do it for 6 hours per day on each leg.

"Danny the Runner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm really interested in increasing the flexibility of my hamstrings.

I am wondering if there are any current or ex ballerinas or martial artists
here who know how long those disciplines prescibe leg-ups on the bar? That is
how many minutes per session or per day. 2 minutes? 10 minutes? 60 minutes?

Not a ballerina, but I'm flexible from martial arts and yoga.

The "secret" is getting to know your hamstrings (and other muscles). Many
"normal"
people (and many runners :-) ) have hamstring like violin strings. They need to
be
re-educated to respond to tension a bit more subtly, AND need to lengthen a bit
as
well. The term "a bit" means, "more than currently, but a long way from
ballerina
stretch".

Forget 2 minutes on the barre (bar). That's too long. It would teach a novice
muscle to
tighten. 10 minutes = even worse.

Learning yoga triangle poses (trikonasana), or at least the basic one, and the
basic twisting
one would be a good learning experience. Add the basic warrior (aka hero) pose
for a bit
of strength in the thighs and a bit of quad stretch.

Do these lightly, and 15 seconds each, IN THE MORNING, and lighten your day,
every day. Try hard and you won't achieve anything.

You don't need to become a yoga junkie. You just need to know the feel.

These stretches AFTER running (not immediately after, maybe after 5 to 10 min of
recovery) are also great.

The objective to have a comfortable, effective range of free movement, NOT to
become a pretzel. If you want to be a highly effective pretzel, you need a good
set of strenghtening exercises as well.

T.

Tom Osborn said:

Forget 2 minutes on the barre (bar). That's too long. It would teach a novice
muscle to
tighten. 10 minutes = even worse.

He's right, anything less than 6 hours is a waste, and
counterproductive.

I read somewhere,
2 minutes.