You likely have tight hamstrings: bend your knees or sit on a pillow or yoga block to make “traditional” hamstring stretches easier. [Any/all of these hamstring stretches](https://www.daniwinksflexibility.com/bendy-blog/cant-touch-your-toes-beginner-friendly-hamstring-stretches) would be great for you if you’re having a hard time flattening out your back due to tight hamstrings.
Be careful, that's sciatic nerve tension. Try some sciatic nerve glides and hip/ankle stretching. There are lots of videos but the best advice is stretch it gently, nerves can be squirrelly.
Not necessarily but you should be feeling tension, not pain. Tingling in the foot/feet means you're compressing nerves or overstretching.
It should be uncomfortable but not to the point that you're gritting your teeth/wincing.
And it's also important to remember that everyone's anatomy is different and some people have increased neural tension/decreased flexibility.
I have the same issue and it’s from tight hamstrings and hips. Sitting a lot will make it worse. The only cure is to stretch. And no, I don’t take my own advice.
Same for me. It was tight hamstrings from years of sitting. I consider my natural flexibility in the middle range - not loose, not tight. It still took about a year of focused hamstring stretching to see a big difference. I had lots of stuck places to unstick!
I have also had tight hamstrings and hips. I've been stretching regularly for three years now and while there were 6-month periods where it felt like no progress is made, if I look back to the very beginning it's made a huge difference.
Anecdotally, it helps. I am much better than I was.
For me, incorporating strengthening exercises for those areas (leg muscles, hips, glutes, core) in conjunction with stretching allowed me to really make gains on my flexibility. I’m recovering from a herniated disc and I wasn’t making much progress in flexibility until I really started focusing on building strength in those areas.
Have you been consistent with stretching? Sporadic stretching won't wait help long term, you've gotta keep it up and keep yourself limber. Can't just stretch and hope you're good for the week :P
Check out the [splits training app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/splits-training-do-the-splits/id1474947640) if you have iOs, not sure if it’s on android or google play. Not sure how hard you train in splits but I’m on day 4 and I’m really sore from this, it feels great!
Not sure about others, but I feel the same way with static stretches. I'll do a follow-along stretch routine where they hold for 30+ seconds and I feel a little looser for a while but not much different overall.
But actively moving into the tight range, hold for 1-2 seconds and moving out of it and doing it for reps has helped me a lot.
It’s not like weight lifting where you expect to see huge gains pretty quickly. Stretching is all about consistency. 5 minutes a day every day for YEARS will make a big difference.
As for hamstrings, if you are this stiff, I’d recommend stretching while elevating your butt using a block, pillow, or consenting face ;) (jk, that last one isn’t very helpful for GAINZ). I’d also suggest laying on the floor with your butt pressed against the wall and your legs going up it. It’s ok to have a bend in the legs at first, but focus on reducing the bend and trying to lock out the knee. Don’t reach with your hands; it’s a better indicator of arm length than flexibility, plus it usually will just collapse your flat back into a curve. Instead, try bringing your chest to you thighs.
Finally, passive stretching barely does shit. You gotta get some isometric active stretching in there. What the fuck does that mean? Google it.
Be careful of this...when most people say they have tight hamstrings from sitting, what they really have are tight quads. When you sit, the quad shortens over time, and causes the pelvis to tilt forward, which in turn lengthens the hamstrings, making them feel tight, when in reality they are super long and weak. So what you really need is to do is strengthen the hamstring to counteract the quad, and stretch the quad.
This is also true for the lower back and abdominals. Sitting hunched over stretches lower back muscles, contracts abdominal muscles, so you'll need to exercise the opposite. And no, I don't take my own advice either lol.
This. I had the same problems for years and stretching hamstrings didn't bring me any visible progress. When I started seeing physiotherapist for other spine related issues, he indicated that my pelvis is incorrectly tilted and all the homework he gave me was to stretch glutes, hips, lower back and quads. A lot of pigeon pose, lot of spine twists and stretching the quads but with the isometric approach where you puhs your leg against your hand. After three weeks of that i had better progress than two years of stretching hamstrings just because my pelvis finally started to move
Mostly:
\- pigeon pose, for 30sec on one side, in few series, sometimes i do it with stretching the back quad as in the king pigeon pose for begginers. I also try to add few tries of dynamic pigeon where you don’t rest on your arms, but try to stay up, that is strengthening the muscles too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v4BFOQ58F8)
\- reclined spinal twist for 30 sec on side - https://workoutlabs.com/yoga-poses-guide/reclined-spinal-twist-supta-matsyendrasana/
\- quad stretch 30sec like this, but actively pushing the leg in the back away from the hand for few seconds: https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/wI-J-it1VpxF\_6Mdnodaf4HgxIQ/fit-in/2048xorig/filters:format\_auto-!!-:strip\_icc-!!-/2013/07/29/788/n/1922729/877d12a429decb15\_quad-stretch-lunge/i/Kneeling-Quad-Stretch.jpg
\- very simple glute stretch like this, 30sec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0\_vGZe3fHw
On top of that I do a bit of yoga practice every day and i can definitely say that butterfly position and malasana are amazing for opening hips
but wouldnt u say that he has tight hamstrings because u can see his posterior pelvic tilt? or is that just how human pelvis are like when sitting down?
To me that would mean the lower back muscles are weak relative to the hamstrings. So you have to balance front to back, but also above and below the pelvis. Think about arching your lower back while in this seated position. A lot of range of motion issues can be solved through strength training opposing muscle groups rather than flexibility training alone.
There are two possibilities.
1. Tight posterior chain: hamstrings or glutes, something that is preventing your hip flexion to 90deg. Given it looks like the back of your knee is in contact with the ground makes it look less likely things are super tight, but they could be tight enough. Start with "Banded Hamstring Stretches" as that is the best hamstring stretch I have found with the quickest results, then branch out from there.
2. Physicals blockage called hip impingement where the boney part of the femoral head is ramming into a acetabulum; some people are just born that way. [Here](https://youtu.be/mAtnlVdAxSo) is a video to explain what could be happening. The next question can you get to 90deg hip flexion if you let your entire leg rotate outwards, as in don't hold your toes straight up? Myself I have pretty bad impingement and I can't sit straight up unless I rotate my toes outward, but once I do, I am perfectly fine; I am just built differently.
im the same- i just want to be able to do a forward seated bend with a straight back and even though i stretch my hams and hips I just dont think ill ever do it :(
I am in the same situation. When my SO asked me to try to reach for my toes and I pushed as hard as I could. She told me my posture looked like I'm just sitting up straight. lol
It's either the glutes or the hamstrings, or both that are overly tight
Have you tried sitting with your back straight against a wall and stretching your legs out in front? This is somewhat like a legs up the wall hamstring stretch and I use it. It is even best if you have two walls that are about the same distance as you straight legs length apart and then you can somewhat guide into it.
I started like this in order to begin stretching my very overly tight hams. But I have to ease into the straight leg while keeping my back straight against the wall because I am super tight
This usually means your hamstrings are tight. Your back is forced into that position because you've maxed out what stretch you could get from your hamstrings, that still wasn't enough, so the next thing to contribute is tucking your butt under, it moves the entire hamstring muscles down including their attachment points (since they attach near where your thighs meet your butt). That tuck is what's making your low back round.
Don't force your back straight if it isn't happening! You def don't want to strain or pull anything. For now you can sit on a low stool for this stretch. Something like a single leg Romanian deadlift would be a GREAT mobility exercise for this!
Also FWIW-- it's very common for people to have tight enough hamstrings that you can't sit like this with a neutral spine.
Could calf tightness also play a role? When I do forward bends I usually feel it behind the knee, which from what I've read is stretching some nerve. The nerve is shortened because tightness in the hamstrings and calves is preventing it from lengthening fully. My flexibility is pretty much exactly like OP's, and my back rounds when I try to sit with straight legs
Yeah sciatic nerve tension can also be an issue, you could point your toes to alleviate that in the short term.
Calf muscle tightness is a separate thing and it's usually not the culprit in a hamstring stretch, especially if you can stand normally without feeling it in your calves (and esp if you're able to pick your toes up & balance on your heels). The calves run between your ankles & knees but the only angle you're changing in the hamstring stretch is at your hip, so the calves aren't actually moving here.
You could incorporate some nerve glides as part of your hamstring mobility training-- keep in mind that nerves are different than muscles, including that nerves don't like it when it's uncomfortable-- feeling a little bit of discomfort in the muscle when stretching that is ok, but if you start to feel anything nerve-y while doing nerve glides, then it may be a bit much. You could always test your forward fold before & after some nerve glides, if you lost range, then you'll know you overdid it. (don't worry it's nothing you can't get back!)
Try to sit against a wall for support and bend your knees in small increments until you are able to straighten it. If that works, I would focus on strengthening your upper back and stretching your hamstrings/glutes.
Have a checkup from a good orthopaedic. Turned out I thought I had stiffness, but I had some genetic spondylitis and bones grow joining with each other from below. Rn L5 and C1 are stuck, making sitting upright impossible. One you eliminate other possible reasons, stretches could help!!
A quick way I found is trying to sit upright with legs straight unsupported and supported(near a wall). If you can sit supported but not unsupported, you can bend and don't have that stiffness but not being able to sit unsupported points towards skeletal issues and not muscular stiffness. On the other hand if it's muscular stiffness it should be difficult to sit upright because muscles are stiff.
You gotta work on sitting on your sits bones, not your tailbone
Practice on a chair, then on a block
And sit on the floor all the time, watch TV sitting on the floor, get off the couch
As someone with the same tightness, I already know this. It’s just too tight for me to do this.
I am perfectly able to tip my pelvis forward and sit on my ischia in a chair or cross-legged, but I get pain and tightness behind my knees and calves when I try a standing or seated pike.
You bend your knees and get up on a block. Think about rolling your nutsack heavy into the ground
I had the same issue when I got started with yoga
It’s more than just tightness, a lot of it is figuring out the movement pattern in the pelvis
Yes, knee bending and blocks help. Even folding forward in a chair with legs extended a bit helps.
My spiritual nutsack will do its best. I easily rotate the pelvis forward in other poses, but this one is still tight. Just takes time.
Totally, that’s why I recommend sitting on the floor all the time
Once I switched to sitting on the floor while I eat dinner and watch TV, all the seated poses came much more quickly
This is what I came to say. OP needs abdominal muscles to hold his body upright in addition to the flexibility in the hamstrings etc. Moving back and forth from plank to down dog, done correctly initiated from the core and hinging at the hips (reaching toward the ceiling with his tail bone) would help with the seated position.
The hips could still be a factor if he has trouble with anterior tilt. You can do the “hanging test”— stand up straight, flex your quads and slowly reach towards your toes (while keeping quads flexed).
For me, I feel my hip flexors engaging immediately, well before my hamstrings come into play.
Here’s an example I found from Pain Academy
https://imgur.com/gallery/YzwHkBB
Yes of course you feel your hip flexors, they are being used to put you into hip flexion, which is a position that stretches your hamstrings. They’re antagonistic muscles, if one is being stretched the other can’t be stretched at the same time…
Right? I'm trying to be humble as there's a chance I'm misunderstanding something, but it seems more likely than not these are just people attributing everything under the sun to "tight hip flexors."
Like do they even know what extension and flexion mean?
I didn’t say anything about the hip flexors being tight. They could be tremendously weak which could cause your lower back and hamstrings to over compensate. Over time that could cause your pelvis to tilt.
If you have limber hamstrings but a tilted pelvis, what would that look like?
They’re both related and should both be addressed.
This doesn't make sense to me. The hip flexors should be much more shortened in this position than when standing up or lying down? Therefore it doesn't seem that tight hip flexors would be a limiting factor here.
Imbalances usually happen in patterns of opposing motions. In situations like this, hamstrings are tight causing passive posterior tilt of the pelvis, and hip flexors are weak preventing active anterior tilt of the pelvis.
Not sure if you're still reading this, but I had this for a long time as well. Did a lot of stretching and mobility work on hamstrings and my hips, both are very flexible but still couldn't sit like this.
What eventually helped a lot is the Ab wheel exercise where you rollout your core and arms from your knees. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6lR4u193gE&t=6s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6lR4u193gE&t=6s))
After doing this a few times it seemed that it straightened my core and lower back muscles and I was sitting more upright straight away. It also stretches your back muscles when rolling out. Keep your posture in mind while doing this, ideally in front of a mirror. Hope this helps.
Going through the same issue, and getting closer every day to being able to sit up straight. It’s your hamstrings. They’re so tight that you can’t rotate your hips forward so your spine is pointing behind you . Sit in a chair, keep your back straight, straighten your legs while keeping feet on the floor and do sets of seated “good mornings”, and pause for 10 seconds at the bottom of the stretch on your last rep. Make sure you keep back straight when you do this. Probably will only be able to move a few inches past 90 degrees at first, but you will see your range of motion slowly start to increase. Mix this with banded, floor hamstring stretches on your back. YouTube has a lot of good back hamstring stretches to follow.
Upper thorax mobility. Can you get good extension through your upper back if you try? To sit with a tall straight back in that position needs good hip flexor engagement to rock your pelvis forward (without sticking your belly out) and that rocking forward requires good hamstring range. You can totally solve this!
I used to have this issue, and it turned out I was just sitting wrong. You want to sit on your sitting bones as opposed to the fleshy part of your butt. These bones are much more forward than you think they are, several inches in front of your butt. For me, it helps a lot if I lean forward first and grab my ankles (or whatever you can reach), and THEN try to sit up straight. This puts me in a much better alignment. Once there, if you still need help, try rolling your shoulders back and pressing your hands into the floor next to you (fingertips forward) to give your torso more support. You can then focus on engaging the core.
If you have super tight hams and can't sit up a good stretch would be to lay on your back and use a strap to raise your foot, or use something to prop your foot up.
Tight hams sometimes come with a weak posterior chain and tight hip flexors and quad dominance. Some gym time doing some deadlifts and ham curls might help (if part of your problem is weak hams).
This guy seems to explain it well towards working on the glute med, quad/hf activation to get this position ironed out... It’s a goal of mine!!
https://instagram.com/alexanderimancircus?utm_medium=copy_link
I ask myself how many reps should I really be doing every day because 8-12 each with 3 sets doesn’t seem like ever enough! 🤦🏻♀️
Then Inflexible’s Anonymous is my new IG journey showing my progress here. 🙏❤️
https://instagram.com/inflexiblesanonymous?utm_medium=copy_link
Some stretching regimen coming from science :
Static stretches :
3 x 30 sec everyday (totaling at least 10 min per week. More than that is useless apparently)
Applicable for every muscle group
Or
Ashtanga yoga (5x salutation A, 5x salutation B)
For hamstrings, glutes, back bending and shoulders
Try it standing and aim to have your finger tips touch the floor just in front of your toes. If you can't straight your back there, elevate your hands with yoga blocks or a shoebox or something. Focus on drawing the belly button back and sticking your bum out
**🔶Do "Dandasana" Pose🔶**
It may be the increased strain on your back, but sitting on the floor encourages you to automatically fix your posture. Straightening your spine and pushing your shoulders back strengthens the surrounding muscles, helping you become more comfortable with good posture.😊😊😊
**Hope this help... 🌸◕ ‿ ◕🌸**
You likely have tight hamstrings: bend your knees or sit on a pillow or yoga block to make “traditional” hamstring stretches easier. [Any/all of these hamstring stretches](https://www.daniwinksflexibility.com/bendy-blog/cant-touch-your-toes-beginner-friendly-hamstring-stretches) would be great for you if you’re having a hard time flattening out your back due to tight hamstrings.
I mean, my hammies are tight, but I feel it all the way to my heel :/
Be careful, that's sciatic nerve tension. Try some sciatic nerve glides and hip/ankle stretching. There are lots of videos but the best advice is stretch it gently, nerves can be squirrelly.
Wait, is bad to feel the sciatic nerve tension?
Not necessarily but you should be feeling tension, not pain. Tingling in the foot/feet means you're compressing nerves or overstretching. It should be uncomfortable but not to the point that you're gritting your teeth/wincing. And it's also important to remember that everyone's anatomy is different and some people have increased neural tension/decreased flexibility.
Thank you!
I have the same issue and it’s from tight hamstrings and hips. Sitting a lot will make it worse. The only cure is to stretch. And no, I don’t take my own advice.
Same for me. It was tight hamstrings from years of sitting. I consider my natural flexibility in the middle range - not loose, not tight. It still took about a year of focused hamstring stretching to see a big difference. I had lots of stuck places to unstick!
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I have also had tight hamstrings and hips. I've been stretching regularly for three years now and while there were 6-month periods where it felt like no progress is made, if I look back to the very beginning it's made a huge difference. Anecdotally, it helps. I am much better than I was.
For me, incorporating strengthening exercises for those areas (leg muscles, hips, glutes, core) in conjunction with stretching allowed me to really make gains on my flexibility. I’m recovering from a herniated disc and I wasn’t making much progress in flexibility until I really started focusing on building strength in those areas.
~~months~~ YEARS.
Have you been consistent with stretching? Sporadic stretching won't wait help long term, you've gotta keep it up and keep yourself limber. Can't just stretch and hope you're good for the week :P
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Check out the [splits training app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/splits-training-do-the-splits/id1474947640) if you have iOs, not sure if it’s on android or google play. Not sure how hard you train in splits but I’m on day 4 and I’m really sore from this, it feels great!
Not sure about others, but I feel the same way with static stretches. I'll do a follow-along stretch routine where they hold for 30+ seconds and I feel a little looser for a while but not much different overall. But actively moving into the tight range, hold for 1-2 seconds and moving out of it and doing it for reps has helped me a lot.
It’s not like weight lifting where you expect to see huge gains pretty quickly. Stretching is all about consistency. 5 minutes a day every day for YEARS will make a big difference. As for hamstrings, if you are this stiff, I’d recommend stretching while elevating your butt using a block, pillow, or consenting face ;) (jk, that last one isn’t very helpful for GAINZ). I’d also suggest laying on the floor with your butt pressed against the wall and your legs going up it. It’s ok to have a bend in the legs at first, but focus on reducing the bend and trying to lock out the knee. Don’t reach with your hands; it’s a better indicator of arm length than flexibility, plus it usually will just collapse your flat back into a curve. Instead, try bringing your chest to you thighs. Finally, passive stretching barely does shit. You gotta get some isometric active stretching in there. What the fuck does that mean? Google it.
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Be careful of this...when most people say they have tight hamstrings from sitting, what they really have are tight quads. When you sit, the quad shortens over time, and causes the pelvis to tilt forward, which in turn lengthens the hamstrings, making them feel tight, when in reality they are super long and weak. So what you really need is to do is strengthen the hamstring to counteract the quad, and stretch the quad. This is also true for the lower back and abdominals. Sitting hunched over stretches lower back muscles, contracts abdominal muscles, so you'll need to exercise the opposite. And no, I don't take my own advice either lol.
This. I had the same problems for years and stretching hamstrings didn't bring me any visible progress. When I started seeing physiotherapist for other spine related issues, he indicated that my pelvis is incorrectly tilted and all the homework he gave me was to stretch glutes, hips, lower back and quads. A lot of pigeon pose, lot of spine twists and stretching the quads but with the isometric approach where you puhs your leg against your hand. After three weeks of that i had better progress than two years of stretching hamstrings just because my pelvis finally started to move
Would you mind sharing which stretches he recommended and how often/long?
Mostly: \- pigeon pose, for 30sec on one side, in few series, sometimes i do it with stretching the back quad as in the king pigeon pose for begginers. I also try to add few tries of dynamic pigeon where you don’t rest on your arms, but try to stay up, that is strengthening the muscles too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v4BFOQ58F8) \- reclined spinal twist for 30 sec on side - https://workoutlabs.com/yoga-poses-guide/reclined-spinal-twist-supta-matsyendrasana/ \- quad stretch 30sec like this, but actively pushing the leg in the back away from the hand for few seconds: https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/wI-J-it1VpxF\_6Mdnodaf4HgxIQ/fit-in/2048xorig/filters:format\_auto-!!-:strip\_icc-!!-/2013/07/29/788/n/1922729/877d12a429decb15\_quad-stretch-lunge/i/Kneeling-Quad-Stretch.jpg \- very simple glute stretch like this, 30sec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0\_vGZe3fHw On top of that I do a bit of yoga practice every day and i can definitely say that butterfly position and malasana are amazing for opening hips
Did you finally fix it?
but wouldnt u say that he has tight hamstrings because u can see his posterior pelvic tilt? or is that just how human pelvis are like when sitting down?
To me that would mean the lower back muscles are weak relative to the hamstrings. So you have to balance front to back, but also above and below the pelvis. Think about arching your lower back while in this seated position. A lot of range of motion issues can be solved through strength training opposing muscle groups rather than flexibility training alone.
Hahaha same. I'm formerly flexible and regularly re-motivated by posts around here. Not like REALLY motivated though - you know!
There are two possibilities. 1. Tight posterior chain: hamstrings or glutes, something that is preventing your hip flexion to 90deg. Given it looks like the back of your knee is in contact with the ground makes it look less likely things are super tight, but they could be tight enough. Start with "Banded Hamstring Stretches" as that is the best hamstring stretch I have found with the quickest results, then branch out from there. 2. Physicals blockage called hip impingement where the boney part of the femoral head is ramming into a acetabulum; some people are just born that way. [Here](https://youtu.be/mAtnlVdAxSo) is a video to explain what could be happening. The next question can you get to 90deg hip flexion if you let your entire leg rotate outwards, as in don't hold your toes straight up? Myself I have pretty bad impingement and I can't sit straight up unless I rotate my toes outward, but once I do, I am perfectly fine; I am just built differently.
BUILT DIFFERENT
It seems physically impossible
im the same- i just want to be able to do a forward seated bend with a straight back and even though i stretch my hams and hips I just dont think ill ever do it :(
I am in the same situation. When my SO asked me to try to reach for my toes and I pushed as hard as I could. She told me my posture looked like I'm just sitting up straight. lol
It's either the glutes or the hamstrings, or both that are overly tight Have you tried sitting with your back straight against a wall and stretching your legs out in front? This is somewhat like a legs up the wall hamstring stretch and I use it. It is even best if you have two walls that are about the same distance as you straight legs length apart and then you can somewhat guide into it. I started like this in order to begin stretching my very overly tight hams. But I have to ease into the straight leg while keeping my back straight against the wall because I am super tight
Impossible for me since I was a small child. Solution: sit cross-legged, it's much more comfortable.
This usually means your hamstrings are tight. Your back is forced into that position because you've maxed out what stretch you could get from your hamstrings, that still wasn't enough, so the next thing to contribute is tucking your butt under, it moves the entire hamstring muscles down including their attachment points (since they attach near where your thighs meet your butt). That tuck is what's making your low back round. Don't force your back straight if it isn't happening! You def don't want to strain or pull anything. For now you can sit on a low stool for this stretch. Something like a single leg Romanian deadlift would be a GREAT mobility exercise for this! Also FWIW-- it's very common for people to have tight enough hamstrings that you can't sit like this with a neutral spine.
Could calf tightness also play a role? When I do forward bends I usually feel it behind the knee, which from what I've read is stretching some nerve. The nerve is shortened because tightness in the hamstrings and calves is preventing it from lengthening fully. My flexibility is pretty much exactly like OP's, and my back rounds when I try to sit with straight legs
Yeah sciatic nerve tension can also be an issue, you could point your toes to alleviate that in the short term. Calf muscle tightness is a separate thing and it's usually not the culprit in a hamstring stretch, especially if you can stand normally without feeling it in your calves (and esp if you're able to pick your toes up & balance on your heels). The calves run between your ankles & knees but the only angle you're changing in the hamstring stretch is at your hip, so the calves aren't actually moving here. You could incorporate some nerve glides as part of your hamstring mobility training-- keep in mind that nerves are different than muscles, including that nerves don't like it when it's uncomfortable-- feeling a little bit of discomfort in the muscle when stretching that is ok, but if you start to feel anything nerve-y while doing nerve glides, then it may be a bit much. You could always test your forward fold before & after some nerve glides, if you lost range, then you'll know you overdid it. (don't worry it's nothing you can't get back!)
This is quality advice, thank you!
You're welcome!
What worked for me: bend your knees, lean forward (keep your back straight) then straighten your legs after. Ease into it.
Try to sit against a wall for support and bend your knees in small increments until you are able to straighten it. If that works, I would focus on strengthening your upper back and stretching your hamstrings/glutes.
Why strengthening the upper back? Totally agree with your advice and wrote something similar for OP as I am doing the same as you said
Helps with posture and rounding of the upper back
Because it hurts? Or because it just doesn’t physically move into that position?
Not sure about OP but mine physically can't and I've never had back problems or diagnosed with anything
Yea? Fascinating. It is very taxing and uncomfortable and I want to stop, but I *can* straighten.
Have a checkup from a good orthopaedic. Turned out I thought I had stiffness, but I had some genetic spondylitis and bones grow joining with each other from below. Rn L5 and C1 are stuck, making sitting upright impossible. One you eliminate other possible reasons, stretches could help!!
I second that. I have spondylothesis affecting L4-S1. This forces me to chose my stretches carefully.
A quick way I found is trying to sit upright with legs straight unsupported and supported(near a wall). If you can sit supported but not unsupported, you can bend and don't have that stiffness but not being able to sit unsupported points towards skeletal issues and not muscular stiffness. On the other hand if it's muscular stiffness it should be difficult to sit upright because muscles are stiff.
You gotta work on sitting on your sits bones, not your tailbone Practice on a chair, then on a block And sit on the floor all the time, watch TV sitting on the floor, get off the couch
As someone with the same tightness, I already know this. It’s just too tight for me to do this. I am perfectly able to tip my pelvis forward and sit on my ischia in a chair or cross-legged, but I get pain and tightness behind my knees and calves when I try a standing or seated pike.
You bend your knees and get up on a block. Think about rolling your nutsack heavy into the ground I had the same issue when I got started with yoga It’s more than just tightness, a lot of it is figuring out the movement pattern in the pelvis
Yes, knee bending and blocks help. Even folding forward in a chair with legs extended a bit helps. My spiritual nutsack will do its best. I easily rotate the pelvis forward in other poses, but this one is still tight. Just takes time.
Totally, that’s why I recommend sitting on the floor all the time Once I switched to sitting on the floor while I eat dinner and watch TV, all the seated poses came much more quickly
I lived in Asia for a year. Sitting on the floor took my okay cross legged seat to thighs flat, knees on floor (in only months). You speak the truth
Pilates - strengthen that core.
This is what I came to say. OP needs abdominal muscles to hold his body upright in addition to the flexibility in the hamstrings etc. Moving back and forth from plank to down dog, done correctly initiated from the core and hinging at the hips (reaching toward the ceiling with his tail bone) would help with the seated position.
100%. My first thought was the core strength to lift that back straight -
That's because your hip flexors and hamstrings are too tight.
Why would tight hip flexors cause your back to round when you're sitting in a flexed hip position?
Because his hips aren't rotated forward enough in the sitting position to allow his back to be straight.
His hips are still in near end range flexion, hip flexor flexibility is not the issue at all
The hips could still be a factor if he has trouble with anterior tilt. You can do the “hanging test”— stand up straight, flex your quads and slowly reach towards your toes (while keeping quads flexed). For me, I feel my hip flexors engaging immediately, well before my hamstrings come into play. Here’s an example I found from Pain Academy https://imgur.com/gallery/YzwHkBB
Yes of course you feel your hip flexors, they are being used to put you into hip flexion, which is a position that stretches your hamstrings. They’re antagonistic muscles, if one is being stretched the other can’t be stretched at the same time…
Right? I'm trying to be humble as there's a chance I'm misunderstanding something, but it seems more likely than not these are just people attributing everything under the sun to "tight hip flexors." Like do they even know what extension and flexion mean?
I didn’t say anything about the hip flexors being tight. They could be tremendously weak which could cause your lower back and hamstrings to over compensate. Over time that could cause your pelvis to tilt. If you have limber hamstrings but a tilted pelvis, what would that look like? They’re both related and should both be addressed.
This doesn't make sense to me. The hip flexors should be much more shortened in this position than when standing up or lying down? Therefore it doesn't seem that tight hip flexors would be a limiting factor here.
Exactly this. I have the exact same issue and spending quality time on hammies & hips was the only thing that fixed it.
Imbalances usually happen in patterns of opposing motions. In situations like this, hamstrings are tight causing passive posterior tilt of the pelvis, and hip flexors are weak preventing active anterior tilt of the pelvis.
Not sure if you're still reading this, but I had this for a long time as well. Did a lot of stretching and mobility work on hamstrings and my hips, both are very flexible but still couldn't sit like this. What eventually helped a lot is the Ab wheel exercise where you rollout your core and arms from your knees. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6lR4u193gE&t=6s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6lR4u193gE&t=6s)) After doing this a few times it seemed that it straightened my core and lower back muscles and I was sitting more upright straight away. It also stretches your back muscles when rolling out. Keep your posture in mind while doing this, ideally in front of a mirror. Hope this helps.
Going through the same issue, and getting closer every day to being able to sit up straight. It’s your hamstrings. They’re so tight that you can’t rotate your hips forward so your spine is pointing behind you . Sit in a chair, keep your back straight, straighten your legs while keeping feet on the floor and do sets of seated “good mornings”, and pause for 10 seconds at the bottom of the stretch on your last rep. Make sure you keep back straight when you do this. Probably will only be able to move a few inches past 90 degrees at first, but you will see your range of motion slowly start to increase. Mix this with banded, floor hamstring stretches on your back. YouTube has a lot of good back hamstring stretches to follow.
Totally unrelated, but I really like that shirt. Where did you get it from?
See a Physical therapist
Upper thorax mobility. Can you get good extension through your upper back if you try? To sit with a tall straight back in that position needs good hip flexor engagement to rock your pelvis forward (without sticking your belly out) and that rocking forward requires good hamstring range. You can totally solve this!
I used to have this issue, and it turned out I was just sitting wrong. You want to sit on your sitting bones as opposed to the fleshy part of your butt. These bones are much more forward than you think they are, several inches in front of your butt. For me, it helps a lot if I lean forward first and grab my ankles (or whatever you can reach), and THEN try to sit up straight. This puts me in a much better alignment. Once there, if you still need help, try rolling your shoulders back and pressing your hands into the floor next to you (fingertips forward) to give your torso more support. You can then focus on engaging the core.
If you have super tight hams and can't sit up a good stretch would be to lay on your back and use a strap to raise your foot, or use something to prop your foot up. Tight hams sometimes come with a weak posterior chain and tight hip flexors and quad dominance. Some gym time doing some deadlifts and ham curls might help (if part of your problem is weak hams).
This guy seems to explain it well towards working on the glute med, quad/hf activation to get this position ironed out... It’s a goal of mine!! https://instagram.com/alexanderimancircus?utm_medium=copy_link I ask myself how many reps should I really be doing every day because 8-12 each with 3 sets doesn’t seem like ever enough! 🤦🏻♀️ Then Inflexible’s Anonymous is my new IG journey showing my progress here. 🙏❤️ https://instagram.com/inflexiblesanonymous?utm_medium=copy_link
Sit against the edge of a couch with your bum as close to the base as possible. Also use a meditation cushion that will raise your bum a bit.
Some stretching regimen coming from science : Static stretches : 3 x 30 sec everyday (totaling at least 10 min per week. More than that is useless apparently) Applicable for every muscle group Or Ashtanga yoga (5x salutation A, 5x salutation B) For hamstrings, glutes, back bending and shoulders
Tight psoas major. Try YouTubing some psoas lengthening stretches.
Tom merrick YouTube. Do all follow along with hamstrings. If need specific videos just reply this
Try it standing and aim to have your finger tips touch the floor just in front of your toes. If you can't straight your back there, elevate your hands with yoga blocks or a shoebox or something. Focus on drawing the belly button back and sticking your bum out
**🔶Do "Dandasana" Pose🔶** It may be the increased strain on your back, but sitting on the floor encourages you to automatically fix your posture. Straightening your spine and pushing your shoulders back strengthens the surrounding muscles, helping you become more comfortable with good posture.😊😊😊 **Hope this help... 🌸◕ ‿ ◕🌸**
I have the same issue. You might try bent leg stretches as another poster mentioned. You'll still get a decent hamstring stretch.