YE15 Lumbar pain
Hamstring stretching

1. Legs Up the Wall
Legs-up-the-wall is a much gentler - but just as effective - hamstring stretch as your “traditional” forward fold. It allows you to more easily modify the level of stretch, and has the added benefit of not dumping all of your body weight into your hamstrings like in a forward fold (which then translates into a lot of weight into your low back if your hamstrings are tight).
Lie on your back with your butt a foot or so away from the wall, and feet resting on the wall about hip width apart. Try to keep your legs “neutral” (not internally rotating your legs so your toes come to touch, or externally rotating so your toes splay out to the sides).
Keeping your low back flat on the floor, and not letting your tailbone tuck up towards the ceiling at all, try and straighten your legs. If you can’t straighten them all the way, straighten them as much as you can until you feel a nice stretch in the back of your hamstrings (blue shading in photo). It’s absolutely fine if your legs don’t straighten. If you can straighten your legs all the way, but don’t feel a stretch in the back of your legs, scoot your butt a couple of inches closer to the wall (and repeat until you find a leg angle where you do feel the stretch).
Hold this stretch for 20-30 seconds.
Variation: Straddle Legs Up the Wall - You can also do this same exercise with your feet and legs open wide in a comfortable straddle.
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