Once you can reach your shins, it’s tempting to curl down a little further to get closer to the floor. Most of us do it without thinking. The trouble is that rounding your back can make it look like you’re reaching further while the backs of your legs barely stretch at all.

Where your hamstrings start

Your hamstrings attach to your sitting bones, the two bony points you can feel when you sit on a hard chair. When you tilt your hips forward, those points lift up and back, and the hamstrings lengthen. That’s why folding from the hips gets the stretch to the right place.

If your hips stay still and your back does the bending, the stretch tends to stay in your lower back instead.

Finding the hinge

A few cues many people find useful:

• Let your bottom move back as your chest comes forward.
• Keep your chest long, as if you’re very proud of yourself.
• Stop when you feel the pull in the backs of your legs, even if that’s higher than you’d like.

In the seated version, the same idea applies. Sit tall on your sitting bones and lean forward from your hips, rather than slumping down.

Less reach, more stretch

When you hinge properly, you may find you reach a little less than when you curled. That can feel like a step back, but it isn’t. You’re stretching the part that most often holds you back. Over the coming weeks, the reach you get this way tends to be more useful in everyday life too.

Letting your back join in

None of this means your back has to stay rigid. A gentle curve at the end of the movement is natural. The idea is simply to lead with your hips, and let your back follow.

What to take away

• Your hamstrings start at your sitting bones, so tilting your hips gets the stretch to the right place.
• Lead with your hips and keep your chest long.
• Reaching a little less with a good hinge is a good trade.
• Your back can curve gently at the end, once your hips have done the work.

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