Hamstring Stretching and Lifting

The hamstring muscles attach below the knee on the tibia and fibula and then up on the "sit bone" or the ischial tuberosity. If they are tight, as you bend over they are going to pulling on your pelvis, and subsequently put a traction force on your lower back . A study published in the 2013 January issue of the Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation found that hamstring stretching exercises improved the ability to bend forward and pick something up with straight knees, also called stoop lifting. Most of us have been told to bend the knees to pick something up. Sometimes that's not possible, for example when picking something up out of a deep bin, so one still needs to be able to stoop lift. This is a good reason to keep those hamstrings flexible.