Effect of feet on hamstrings

[Jim Pickles]

An issue you will all be familar with - tightness of fascia and/or sciatic nerve limiting forward bending. I tried on me, and made a photo to show my students, to inform them of the issues. Then I thought I'd share it here (either in case anyone wanted to use it, or make any - I hope helpful - comments). The lowest part of the lumbar region has very little forward flexibility, so can be used as a reasonably accurate indicator of the forward tilt of the pelvis (I think). Holding the feet flexed up takes 11 degrees off the forward bend (for those who do not know the issue, there are no muscles running between the pelvis and the feet - so the effect must occur through other structures - probably, in my case, due to the chain of fascia that runs from the forehead, down the back of the head, back of spine, legs, to the soles of the feet).

Jim.

[Kit_L]

Not just fascia Jim but the critical sciatic nerve is maximally involved too.

When the balls of the foot are pulled towards the face in the flexed position you demonstrate above, the sciatic nerve is in its maximally stretched position (the sciatic nerve ends in the tips of the toes). So, in the case of restrictions to this movement, we might be talking about the posterior fascial chain itself (as in Olivia's case, say, the lumbra fascia specifically) or all we might be talking about the capacity of the sciatic nerve to move within its sheath.

No matter which of those mechanisms is operating, there is no doubt that doing the forward bending position that you're demonstrating in the second photo is very much harder than when the toes are pointed. And this is the reason (not coincidentally I suspect) that dancers and gymnasts almost always point their toes when they're doing forward bands (unless their style is contemporary).

I have found that by making the exercise maximally difficult (by pulling the toes back) actually makes doing the toes-pointed version significantly easier on a second run through.

[Craig]

I have found going to maximal toe point rather than toes just relaxed forward also increases the difficulty as the nerve on the front/top of the foot gets stretched

[CraigR]

Thanks for posting Jim. I've always felt this difference myself but I've never taken a photo to actually see the difference.

Kit, I'm probably stating the obvious here... but I feel the main reason that gymnasts train the forward bend with toes pointed is because that's the exact position they need to achieve during competition. Small details like pointing your toes needs to be automatic and shouldn't take up valuable conscious thought during a complex routine.

An argument could definitely be made for training the forward bend with toes pulled back from a flexibility point of view, but this probably isn't seen as worth the trade off for most gymnastics coaches.

[Jim Pickles]

Certainly in ballet, gymnastics and so on, aesthetics is a major factor. Also in ballet, training to rapidly move the foot to a pointed position whenever possible helps with the automatic response needed for a good push-off in jumps (this is trained specifically, and is not easy to achieve without training). I also find however with Craig that strongly pointing the feet can make the hamstring stretch more difficult - that is why in my "pointed" photo the feet were just allowed to go to whatever angle they thought best. However, it is interesting that in hamstring stretches in yoga the foot is often held at right angles - is there something they know?

Yes of course the sciatic nerve can be a major factor, and this is one I emphasise, asking students to identify any "nervy" feeling, if that can be said to be a reliable indicator. In me, the nerve release happened early in my stretching life and led to an early and rapid improvement in forward bending (as a result of using the downward dog). So I encourage people to use the downward dog a lot in the hope that it will also lead to a rapid and hence endorsing increase in flexibility. So that is why I was so interested to see Cherie's latest video because I do think that it is one of the most useful stretches for the body - it works important parts, is very safe, and uses a relaxation under gravity to drive the stretch.

Jim.

PS - some time ago, being an untight scientist, I thought I'd try the effects of fascial massage (which is intended to release fascial adhesions) on forward bending - after having been told about its role in a stretch class taught by a physiotherapist (Selina Tannenberg, Brisbane). Massage was progressively undertaken of the fascia in the plantar area, buttocks ("Butt" - her word), thoracic spine, iliac crest, and occiput. Also, shown are the effect of different warm-ups in the sessions (always at the start). The measure was how far the fingers go beyond the feet when the feet are supported at right angles. The biggest effect on forward stretching as might be expected comes from the initial warm up, and then further warmup with squats and forward bends. After the body has been prepared in this way, massage of the different areas of the fascial chain gave small but clear improvements in forward bending (each of the order of 1 cm or less, with a total massage effect of about 3 cm; blue bars). Though it is not clear from this graph, the biggest single massage effects came from the plantar fascia, and after that the occiput, and after that the buttocks. The control (no massage) sessions showed only a very small increase in forward bending throughout the session (0.3 cm) showing that repeating the stretches was not in itself responsible for the improvement.

Cumulative effect of different fascial massages on forward bend; Blue - sessions with massage; Red - control stretching sessions.