Sarah Draht · 5 min · 810 words
Previously titled: Video 6 Hamstrings I don't have time for yoga
Hamstrings today, you need your jiu-jitsu belt. If you don't have a belt, just grab a towel or something to loop around your foot. Start on your back. My left foot is on the ground.
Take the belt, loop it around the ball of the right foot. And with the hands, I like to loop the belt around the hands a couple of times, allow that grip to relax. Bend and extend the right leg a few times. So this is to notice how it feels through the hamstrings, the back of the leg, maybe the calf.
And to let the nervous system know that it's okay to stretch that leg, because the nervous system is one element that holds us back. Holding us back can be tension, physical tension, compression, bone on bone, but another element of that is the nervous system. This is allowing the nervous system to relax. So after you've bent and extend the leg a few times, go ahead and straighten or almost straighten the leg.
And I say almost straighten because some people are so tight, they can't straighten the leg. And I wanna be like, oh, that's okay. It's not okay. You shouldn't be that tight that you can't straighten your leg.
If you're here, your leg bent, we got some work to do and it's really good you're doing these five minute videos to get started. I always joke with my students. I have friends, Sarah and Coach Sarah. And my friend Sarah is like, oh, it's okay that your leg is a bit bent, we'll get you there.
Just keep doing yoga. I'm super glad you're doing this five minute video. And Coach Sarah's a dick. Coach Sarah's like, you know what, that's sad.
You're gonna be facing some heavy injuries in your knees and your hips. Your jiu-jitsu would be so much better if you were more flexible. You know what else? You need some water during your strut?
No. Bad students don't deserve water and good students don't need water. So don't even think about a water break. I won't say that in class.
In the class, it's like, you gotta know your class, that was pretty funny. Okay, other leg, here we go. Through the ball of the left foot. That's where we're putting the belt.
Right foot's on the ground. A few times bend and extend the leg a few times. And the reason why I'm putting it on the ball of the foot is because that allows the calf to join the party and everything's connected. The whole back body's connected through the fascia chains.
So I want the calf to also get a stretch through the ball of the foot. And after you've bent and extended the leg a few times, when you're ready, go ahead and straighten or almost straighten that left leg. Breathing is everything. I was gonna say breathing's so massive in jiu-jitsu, but breathing is everything.
You don't breathe, you're probably dead. So that's something to look into. But here, inhale to notice the tension. Exhale to release.
Allowing yourself to get that much deeper into the stretch. Inhale, notice. Exhale, release. Exhale.
So if you end up doing the stretch on your own, when you settle into it, really make sure to use the breath. That's another way to tap into the nervous system. And with the right foot, the reason I have the right foot on the ground is it's nice for the lower back. Like a lot of the time, jiu-jitsu people have sore lower backs because they're probably tight in the hips or hamstrings or are tight in the spine, muscles around the spine.
That's why it can hurt. But also, jiu-jitsu's just hard on the back. So foot on the ground is nice, but it's also correct to extend that right leg out. If you want the right leg out, absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Just notice the difference. The lower back lifts a little bit. When the right leg, the free leg is extended. Right foot on the ground.
Notice you can push that lower back to the ground. Very small difference, but devils in the details, just like jiu-jitsu, just like jiu-jitsu. Now from here, release. Up to a sit.
Post the hands behind you. Legs straight and move. Shuffle the legs, move them left to right. Wiggle them left and right.
Wiggle them left and right. Notice how nice that feels through the back of the hamstrings. I like to take a moment when we can to notice the difference because that's how we notice the difference that five minutes makes. And that's important to know we didn't waste our time, but we are efficient and this does make a difference.
Okay, thank you for joining me and I'll see you next time.
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