Hamstring mobility, expectations, and hard things
Hamstring mobility, expectations, and hard things
Supercharged Sundays #5
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Welcome to Supercharged Sundays, a weekly newsletter sharing three actionable health, fitness, and wellness practices for your week ahead.
Hamstring mobilizations
A few weeks ago, we covered a test for hip range of motion: The Sit-and-Rise Test.
If you couldn’t do it, that’s okay.
By practicing floor sitting (covered here) along with the mobilizations below, you will gradually improve your mobility and eventually be able to pass The Sit-and-Rise Test.
Equipment required:
A belt, rope, or resistance band
A roller or lacrosse/tennis ball
Mobilization #1: Seated Hamstring Mobilization
Sit on a chair or bench with a hard surface that allows you to have one leg in front of you and one leg to the side.
Place a roller or ball just below your butt underneath your front-facing leg then extend the leg.
Alternate between contracting and straightening and relaxing and bending your leg as you shift from side to side on the roller/ball using a sawing motion.
Repeat this motion as you work the roller/ball down your leg from your hip toward your knee for a total duration of 2-5 minutes. Switch sides.
Mobilization #2: Hamstring Lockouts
Grab your belt, rope, or resistance band, and lie on the floor.
Raise one leg so it’s as close to a 90-degree angle as possible and wrap the strap around the arch of your foot.
Tighten (flex) your thigh so your leg is as straight as you can get it and pull your foot toward your head. Don’t force it; you want to feel some tension, not pull your hamstring.
Release and relax your thigh, then tighten it again and pull your foot toward your head.
Alternate between relaxing and tightening for 2-5 minutes. Switch sides.
Mobilization #3: Hip Opener (“Groiner”)
Get into a plank position on your hands.
Bring your left leg forward, replacing your left hand with your left foot. Knee bent, shin vertical, foot flat on the floor. Take a few big breaths in this position.
Move your right knee (straight leg) around as if you’re following the “rays” of the sun’s 360 degrees. Move it forward, back to center, then along the line of the next ray, back to center, and so on until you’ve completed a revolution.
Moving your back leg as described above will help you feel where you’re restricted. When you find a tight area, work it a little more.
Aim for 2-3 minutes of moving around and leaning into tighter areas before switching legs.
Mobilization #4: Elevated Pigeon
Place your right leg across a bench or tabletop, letting your knee drop to the side and your calf lie perpendicular to your body.
Keep your left foot on the floor behind you. Place your left hand on your right foot and your right hand on your right knee for stability.
Keep your arms straight and your shoulders back. Rotate to the left, then to the right.
Continue alternating between the right and left for 2-5 minutes before switching sides.
Note: To make this more comfortable, you can place a pillow under the knee of the working leg or drop your foot off the edge of the table.
Source: Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully by Kelly and Juliet Starrett
Happiness = reality – expectations
Those with high expectations suffer because of them.
In my experience, the most miserable people have unrealistically high expectations.
If the barista puts a nano-milliliter too much milk in their coffee, the world comes crashing down around them and their day is ruined.
Why?
Their expectations were too high.
If you expect too much, you will never be pleased.
Conversely, easy-going, optimistic, and generally happy people expect nothing or actually expect and plan for the worst.
So, any bad outcome they encounter is water off their back while any good outcome they’re lucky enough to stumble across is an added bonus.
If you want to be happy, the formula is simple:
Happiness = reality – expectations
Expect and prepare for the worst. Then anything good that happens will be a bonus!
Note: Lower your expectations, not your standards.
Do hard things
“I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”
— Seneca, Stoic philosopher and statesman of Ancient Rome
There’s a lot of fluff in self-development talk.
If you really want to be a better human, it’s not that complicated.
Here’s the secret:
Do hard things.
By doing hard things you ingrain important traits into your identity.
Discipline, commitment, grit, work ethic, persistence.
And you collect proof that you are capable of facing, enduring, and overcoming adversity.
The traits you ingrain and the proof you collect will directly improve your performance in many other areas of your life.
Nietzsche: “What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
As a bonus, your self-confidence will skyrocket because you know that you are tough and brave, and can survive similar adversity in the future.
As my brother wrote in an essay titled why hike?:
In essence, you can work your way to a strong self-image.
Plus, if you do hard things voluntarily, life’s involuntary hard things will be much easier.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate you!
Much love,
Jack
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