Pilates guide
Tight hamstrings are mostly about how much stretch you tolerate: in programmes of a few weeks, range grows because the stretch gets easier to bear, while the muscle itself barely changes. Pilates helps a little to moderately, about as much as stretching or yoga, in small trials of healthy people. No trial has tested it in adults chosen because their hamstrings are tight.
It works best when you make the backs of your legs work, in bridges, kicks and leg pulls, and then add a few stretches held for 30 to 60 seconds, because Pilates' own stretches are short.
This guide covers what tight means, the Pilates moves that strengthen and stretch the hamstrings, how long to hold and how long it takes, the hips and lower back, the reformer, and who should change what, with a 25-minute class. If you felt a pop or a sudden pain at the back of your thigh, that's an injury, not tightness: our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide covers it.
This guide is for hamstrings that feel tight but aren't injured. A sudden sharp pain or a pop at the back of the thigh is a strain, which our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide covers. A deep ache at the sitting bone that's worse when you sit, or burning, tingling or numbness down the leg, is something else: see the warning signs below.
In stretching programmes of a few weeks, range grows mainly because the stretch gets easier to bear. The muscle and tendon barely change, and across 65 studies the length of the muscle fibres didn't change at all. The nerves at the back of the leg and your lower back share the fold too.
In small trials, mostly in healthy women and measured with the sit-and-reach test, Pilates improved flexibility compared with no exercise, and about as much as stretching, yoga or other exercise. No trial has picked adults with tight hamstrings and measured the hamstrings directly.
Strength training improved range as much as stretching across 11 trials, and slow-lowering hamstring work as much as static stretching in a trial of 69 teenagers. Bridges, kicks and leg pulls make the hamstrings work in a Pilates class. Training with body weight alone was the weakest kind in a review, and one Pilates programme improved flexibility only with its stretches, so add a few held stretches and slow hinges.
Hold stretches for 30 to 60 seconds (60 if you're over about 65), on most days, to a clear pull rather than pain: how hard people stretched made no difference to their gains. Trials found clearer range within 4 to 8 weeks of 2 or 3 sessions a week. Range fades within weeks of stopping, and 2 or 3 days a week kept it.
Tight hamstrings are only weakly linked with back pain, and stretching didn't prevent sports injuries across 25 trials. With thin bones or very flexible joints, a few moves change (below).
The hamstrings are the three muscles at the back of your thigh. They run from the sitting bone to just below the knee, so they cross both the hip and the knee, and a forward fold with straight knees or lifting a straight leg lengthens them. "Tight" is the point where the stretch feels too strong to go further. Our hamstrings guide has the anatomy.
In a lab study of 7 adults, 3 weeks of stretching didn't change how stiff the muscle was at the same angle; people tolerated a stronger stretch. The authors concluded that the extra range was "a consequence of increased stretch tolerance on the part of the subject rather than a change in the mechanical or viscoelastic properties of the muscle." A tiny study, and it has a correction we couldn't open, but a review of 26 studies of 3 to 8 weeks agreed: "Adaptations to chronic stretching protocols shorter than 8 weeks seem to mostly occur at a sensory level."
Across 65 studies of mostly young men (read in full), regular static stretching raised the stretch people tolerated by a moderate amount and lowered muscle stiffness a little: "Neither acute nor chronic SS altered fascicle length" (SS means static stretching; fascicles are bundles of muscle fibres). Stiffness fell moderately across 10 studies of 3 to 12 weeks, and muscle fibre length rose only trivially across 19, with large amounts of hard stretching. A panel of stretching researchers agreed that stretching lowers stiffness but doesn't substantively build muscle or improve posture.
The sciatic nerve runs down the back of the thigh. Slumping the spine and neck forward cut hamstring range by 8 degrees in a lab study of 8 people, with no change in muscle activity: "passive extensibility of neural tissues can limit hamstring flexibility." In a 12-week trial of 60 adults, stretches aimed at the nerve changed the nerve's stiffness, and stretches aimed at the muscle changed the muscle.
In 41 adults, a full forward bend averaged about 42 degrees from the lower back and 69 from the hips, and men with shorter hamstrings bent less at the pelvis and lower back and more in the upper back. That's why folding from the hips with a long back targets the hamstrings.
Most Pilates trials use the sit-and-reach test. Across 34 studies it was moderately good at estimating hamstring flexibility and poor at estimating lower back flexibility. A straight-leg raise measures the hamstrings more directly; a Spanish review notes that body proportions and back flexibility also affect how far you reach.
A sudden pain or a pop is a strain (our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide), a deep ache at the sitting bone that's worse when you sit is often high hamstring tendinopathy, and burning, tingling or numbness down the leg is a nerve, which can come from the back. The warning signs below say what to do.
A Spanish review of 21 studies (read in full) found Pilates increased hamstring flexibility, with the largest changes after at least 3 sessions a week for 6 weeks and contradictory results in athletes; 14 of its studies used reach tests and only 2 measured an angle. A 2026 review of 12 studies in adult women (read in full) found a moderate gain in sit-and-reach against no exercise, across 7 studies and 279 women, though its abstract and its certainty table give different sizes for it (effect sizes of 0.69 and 0.86 on a standardised scale) and the studies varied a lot.
A review of 9 trials in healthy adults found the gain wasn't statistically clear, and an older review called the evidence strong, though its studies averaged 4.1 out of 10 for quality. No trial has tested Pilates in adults chosen for tight hamstrings with a direct hamstring measure.
Pooled against other exercise, Pilates made no difference to sit-and-reach (169 people, very low certainty). In 32 women over 60, Pilates and static stretching both improved trunk and hip bending, in a trial from a research group whose several small reports may share participants. In 23 adults with stress, Pilates and yoga matched for effort improved sit-and-reach about equally, though the yoga group started about 10 cm more flexible. In 80 girls aged 10 to 13, Pilates, eutony and holistic gymnastics improved hamstring flexibility equally.
In 236 teenagers, 15 minutes of Pilates twice a week at school for 9 months raised the straight-leg raise by about 14 degrees, against 3.5 in the control group. That's teenagers, not adults with tight hamstrings.
Source 37
In 32 inactive young women, 8 weeks of equipment Pilates with its stretching block raised sit-and-reach from 23.1 to 27.3 cm; without the stretches it went from 26.7 to 27.5 cm, with the same strength gains. The groups started with different flexibility, so treat it as a hint, but it fits the stretching evidence: held stretches add range that Pilates' short holds may not.
Source 14
Across 11 trials (452 people), strength training and stretching improved range by the same amount, and across 55 studies resistance training improved range, "with the exception of no significant range of motion improvement with resistance training using only body mass". Slow-lowering (eccentric) exercise improved flexibility across 32 trials and lower-limb range across 17 studies. In 69 teenage boys with tight hamstrings, 6 weeks of slow-lowering hamstring training gained 12.8 degrees, against 12.1 with static stretching and 1.7 with neither, and in 27 amateur athletes, 6 weeks of field exercises raised the straight-leg raise by 11.4 degrees. One trial of 45 adults found neither stretching nor strength work in a lengthened position changed flexibility on its test.
Pilates' bridges, kicks and leg pulls use body weight only, so on their own they may add little range. That's our reading of the resistance training review, not a Pilates trial: no trial has compared Pilates' strength moves with a slow-lowering hamstring programme.
In 57 young adults with tight hamstrings, 30- and 60-second holds 5 days a week beat 15 seconds and no stretching, and equalled each other; in 93 adults, once a day did as well as three times. In 62 people aged 65 to 97, 60-second holds gained 2.4 degrees a week against 1.3 for 30-second holds. Across 189 studies, gains peaked at about 4 minutes a session and 10 minutes a week, though a review of 77 studies found no clear effect of how much or how often people stretched.
How hard people stretched didn't change their gains across 189 studies, and static and contract-relax stretching beat bouncing or fast stretches across 77. In 39 dance students, gentle stretching or strengthening at the end of the range improved the range they could lift through more than hard stretching. A panel of researchers recommends no technique over another: "The panel does not recommend any specific technique in particular, since all show similar effects."
Across 13 studies, range stayed above the start after stopping but slipped from its peak, and only active people kept it. In 18 students, the range gained in 6 weeks had gone 4 weeks after stopping, while in 32 adults, stretching 2 or 3 days a week kept the gain and stopping lost about 7 degrees. After Pilates, lower-body flexibility held through 3 weeks off in 20 women and 12 weeks off in 441 teenagers, but the Spanish review found losses from the second week.
No Pilates study has measured hamstring muscle length, muscle fibre length or stiffness. With stretching, the fibres lengthened only trivially, so the idea that Pilates lengthens your muscles is untested.
Across 25 trials and 26,610 people, stretching didn't prevent sports injuries, while strength training did, and the researchers' panel "does not recommend stretching for injury prevention in general". This page sells range and comfort in movement, not injury prevention.
A Turkish trial of a Pilates programme in 60 students with tight hamstrings has posted no results, and nor has a second of 26 women that measured the knee angle.
Starting points, not prescriptions. If you have a health problem or a recent injury, check with a physiotherapist first.
Our editorial starting point: a session with the hamstring work below 2 or 3 times a week, the frequency most trials used. The class further down puts it together.
Hold each stretch for 30 to 60 seconds on most days; once a day is enough. If you're over about 65, hold for 60 seconds. The position stand from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) gives "a total of 60 s per exercise" on 2 or more days a week.
Treat about 10 minutes of stretching a week for each leg as a rough target from one review, as our flexibility guides do; another review found no clear dose effect. Stretch to a clear pull you can breathe through.
In 40 adults, twice-weekly 45-minute classes raised sit-and-reach from 27.7 to 31.8 cm at 4 weeks and 34.9 at 8, though the groups started about 5 cm apart. In 47 female students the gain beat a control group by week 6, and in 50 active adults, 12 weeks of twice-weekly mat classes improved hamstring flexibility. Even once a week helped a little, in a study without a control group.
Once you have the range you want, 2 or 3 days a week keeps it.
Lateral breathing: "5 to 8 breaths at the start of every session", from the move page's dose. Cat-cow: "8 waves, slower than feels natural", the move page's dose. Hip hinge fold: "5 slow folds, 3 breaths at the bottom", the move page's dose; folding from the hips with a long back stretches the hamstrings rather than the back, and it's how to bend with osteoporosis.
Strength through the range first. Shoulder bridge: "3 to 5 kicks each leg (the classical sequence uses 3)", from the move page's dose; if the hamstring cramps, bend the standing knee more and walk the foot closer. Wall bridge, the easier start: "8 to 10 reps; one-leg version, 5 each side", from the move page's dose. Single-leg kick: "6 to 8 each leg (the classical sequence uses 6)", from the move page's dose. Swimming: "2 to 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds", from the move page's dose. Leg pull front: "3 to 5 each side (the classical sequence uses 3)", and leg pull back: "3 each side (the classical sequence uses 3)", each from the move page's dose; bend the knees if the hamstrings cramp. 90/90 hamstring: "3 sets of 12 slow straightenings each leg, stopping just before pain", from the move page's dose. Single-leg Romanian deadlift: 2 sets of 8 each leg, no weight, fingertips on a wall, stopping where your hamstrings stop you (our hip hinge workout). Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: 2 sets of 8, lowering for 3 seconds, light weights or none, twice a week (our touch your toes routine), if you want hamstring strength as well as range.
3D demoShoulder bridge (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWall bridge (feet-on-wall bridge)Beginner · A wall
3D demoSingle-leg kick (Pilates one leg kick)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSwimming (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoLeg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoLeg pull back (Pilates leg pull up)Advanced · No equipment
3D demo90/90 hamstring stretch (active knee extension)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg Romanian deadliftAdvanced · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell Romanian deadliftIntermediate · A dumbbellMoving stretches with short holds, to a clear pull you can breathe through. Single-leg circle: "5 circles each direction, each leg (the classical sequence uses 5)", from the move page's dose, with the bottom knee bent and the circle small. Single straight-leg stretch (scissors): "8 to 10 each side", from the move page's dose, head down and hands behind the thigh at first, with no pulses until it's comfortable (our suggestion). Spine stretch forward: "3 to 5 reps (the classical sequence uses 3)", from the move page's dose, sitting on a cushion with your knees bent if your back slumps. Saw: "3 to 4 each side", and side kick: "8 to 10 each side", each from the move page's dose; kick forward only as far as your pelvis stays still. Roll-up: "3 to 5 slow reps (the classical sequence uses 3)", from the move page's dose; bend your knees if your feet fly up. Wall roll-down, the gentlest roll-down: "3 to 5 slow reps", from the move page's dose.
3D demoSingle-leg circle (Pilates one leg circle)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle straight-leg stretch (Pilates scissors)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSpine stretch forward (Pilates spine stretch)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSaw (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSide kick (Pilates side kick series)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoRoll-up (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWall roll-down (wall Pilates)Beginner · A wallLying hamstring and calf stretch with a strap: "Hold 30 seconds, 1 to 3 times each leg, at least 5 days a week", from the move page's dose; over about 65, hold for 60 seconds. Contract-relax: 3 rounds each leg, pushing into the strap at about a quarter of your effort for 6 seconds, relaxing, taking up the slack and holding for 20 seconds (our strap stretching routine); not for a hamstring that is currently strained. Supine hamstring stretch with a strap: 45 seconds each side (our hamstring flexibility routine), as an alternative to the lying stretch.
If lifting your head eases the pull behind your knee, nerve tension is part of your limit. Seated sciatic nerve slider: "10 slow repetitions, 2 to 3 times a day", from the move page's dose. Lying sciatic nerve slider: "10 repetitions with a 1-second pause, 2 to 3 times a day", from the move page's dose. Skip them if they bring on tingling.
The steps of our Pilates for flexibility guide, from Pilates Anytime's description of the classical spine stretch forward; the cushion and bent knees are our suggestion, and 3 to 5 is from the move page's dose. With osteoporosis, sit tall and hinge forward a little instead of rounding, as the move page advises.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Spine stretch forward (Pilates spine stretch)
Modify or avoid exercises that round your back deeply or repeatedly, especially with a weight: sit-ups, toe touches, Pilates roll-downs and curl-ups, and extreme yoga forward folds. Bend from the hips instead. You do not need to avoid bending, twisting or lifting altogether: move smoothly and keep your upper back straight.
So swap the roll-up, the spine stretch forward and the rounding part of the saw for the hip hinge fold and a tall, twisting saw, as their move pages advise, and leave toe touches out. Our Pilates for osteoporosis guide has the swaps.
Source 54
Keep stretches mild and in the middle of your range, and favour the strengthening moves: the NHS says not to overextend your joints just because you can.
Stop each reach before the end of your range, and spend more of the session on the strength moves.
Source 55
Leave out the folds, the spine stretch forward, the strap stretches and the 90/90 stretch for now, as our yoga for tight hamstrings guide advises, and follow our high hamstring tendinopathy guide.
Follow our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide instead, and leave out the contract-relax stretch: its page says "Not for a hamstring that is currently strained."
Keep head-down positions such as the hip hinge fold and the wall roll-down brief. Their pages say: "With glaucoma, keep head-down positions brief or use a head-up version".
The straight-leg and folding moves bend the hip past a right angle. Their pages say to "follow your surgical team's precautions; ask them before bending the hip past a right angle, as this move does."
The bridges and lying stretches carry the move pages' line: "In pregnancy, after the first trimester, keep time flat on your back to a few minutes: prop your upper body up, or use a side-lying or all-fours version."
The jack knife, the roll-over, the open-leg rocker and the teaser load the back of the leg at the end of its range with the legs overhead or balanced. Nothing on this page needs them, and their pages rule them out with neck problems, osteoporosis and glaucoma (our suggestion).
Nobody should push or lean on your leg to take you further. Our strap stretching routine says to "never lean body weight on the leg: forced stretches have caused injuries."
On the reformer, footwork on the heels and the feet-in-straps series (leg circles and frogs) take the hamstrings through their range against a spring, which the teacher sets.
In 24 women after the menopause, mat Pilates with small props and equipment Pilates improved sit-and-reach equally over 8 weeks. One reformer session raised sit-and-reach slightly more than one on the Cadillac or the chair in 15 women, and in 30 footballers neither mat nor reformer Pilates beat the control group for flexibility. No reformer trial has looked at tight hamstrings; the mat moves above do the same job.
Across 12 cohort studies of 5,459 people, less hamstring range went with only a slightly higher chance of later low back pain. A review of 17 studies couldn't say whether people with back pain have tighter hamstrings, because the evidence was of very low quality, and people with and without past back pain bent forward the same total amount, in a different pattern.
So don't expect looser hamstrings to fix a sore back. Our Pilates for back pain guide covers what helps, and our Pilates for sciatica guide covers pain down the leg.
If lifting your head eases the pull behind your knee, the nerve is part of the limit. Across 30 trials of 1,379 adults with reduced hamstring flexibility, nerve sliders gained about 3.5 degrees more straight-leg raise than static stretching, at low certainty and with a high risk of bias.
Our 25-minute class warms up, makes the hamstrings work, takes them through their range with Pilates moves, then holds a few stretches; its structure is our editorial choice. Do it 2 or 3 times a week, with the hamstring flexibility routine's held stretches on other days if you want more range. The Pilates for flexibility class covers the whole body, the touch your toes and strap stretching routines add held and contract-relax stretches, and the leg, glute and hamstring workouts build strength.
A 25-minute Pilates class for tight hamstrings: a warm-up, bridges and kicks that make them work, Pilates' moving stretches, then a few held stretches.
25 minBeginner17 movesDumbbell, other / check instructionsA 25-minute Pilates class for flexibility: roll-downs, spine stretches and twists, hip circles and held stretches for the hamstrings, hips and back.
25 minBeginner14 movesNo equipmentA 12-minute routine to loosen tight hamstrings with strap stretches, PNF, folds and hinges.
12 minBeginner7 movesNo equipmentA 12-minute routine to bring your fingertips to your toes: test, nerve glide, hamstring and calf stretches, a slow hinge for strength at length, then retest.
12 minBeginner7 movesBench or box, wallA 20-minute strap routine for the hips and legs: long holds and contract-relax stretches, the do-it-yourself version of assisted stretching.
20 minBeginner9 movesOther / check instructionsA 25-minute Pilates class for your legs: reformer footwork without the machine, leg circles, the side kick series, inner-thigh squeezes and stretches.
25 minBeginner15 movesWall, other / check instructionsA 25-minute Pilates class for your glutes: bridges, the side kick series, face-down kicks and standing work at a wall, with a band to make it harder.
25 minBeginner16 movesWall, bandA 35-minute gym hamstring workout: Romanian deadlifts for the hip, seated leg curls for the knee, single-leg Romanian deadlifts, then Nordic curls when ready.
35 minIntermediate7 movesDumbbell, strength machineMost tight hamstrings are just tight. These are the signs that it's something else, in the words of our hamstring, sciatica and flexibility guides. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999, and use your doctor's urgent line or urgent care for NHS 111.
Stop straight away if you feel a sudden sharp pain at the back of your thigh, or a snapping sensation or a "pop". In the US, use your doctor's urgent line or urgent care for NHS 111.
Same day: a pop near the sitting bone, a large bruise high on the back of the thigh, or you cannot put weight on the leg. The tendon may have pulled away from the bone, which needs assessing before you start these exercises.
Get help from NHS 111 if you think you've injured your hamstring and it's very painful, or the pain is getting worse; there's a large amount of swelling or bruising, or the swelling or bruising is getting worse; it hurts to walk or stand using the injured leg; your leg feels very stiff or is difficult to move; it's not feeling any better after treating it yourself; or you have a very high temperature or you feel very hot, but also cold and shivery, which could be signs of an infection.
Our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide covers what comes next.
Source 1
The NHS says to go to A&E or call 999 (911 in the US) if you:
These can be signs of a serious back problem, cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital as soon as possible. "Do not drive to A&E. Ask someone to drive you or call 999 and ask for an ambulance."
Source 2
Burning, tingling, numbness or pins and needles down a leg usually means a nerve is under tension, so ease off to a position without it. Come up slowly from forward folds and head-down positions, and keep them brief if you have glaucoma or high blood pressure that isn't under control.
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
Source 65
You feel any pain or become unwell, as the NHS advises for its Pilates videos, and especially for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. If you have a health problem, an injury or any symptoms, get advice from a healthcare professional, such as a GP, before you start.
Source 66
In programmes of a few weeks, range grows mainly because people tolerate more stretch; muscle and tendon barely change, and muscle fibre length didn't change across 65 studies. Nerves and the lower back also limit a forward bend.
No Pilates trial has measured muscle or fibre length, and with stretching, fibres lengthened only trivially. Pilates improves how far you can reach, mostly through tolerance, like stretching.
How hard people stretched made no difference to their gains across 189 studies, a second review found no clear link with how much or how often, and once a day did as well as three times.
Static stretching improved flexibility by a large amount across 189 studies, and Pilates matched stretching in a head-to-head trial and other exercise when pooled.
Strength training improved range as much as stretching across 11 trials, and slow-lowering hamstring work matched static stretching.
People who start stiff gained the most from stretching, every move has an easier version (bent knees, a cushion, a strap), and the NHS calls Pilates suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels.
The link is weak: a slightly higher chance of later back pain across cohort studies, and very low certainty that people with back pain have tighter hamstrings.
Stretching didn't prevent sports injuries across 25 trials, and a panel of stretching researchers doesn't recommend it for injury prevention in general.
Range slipped back within weeks of stopping; stretching 2 or 3 days a week kept it.
Yes, a little to moderately. In small trials, mostly in healthy women, Pilates improved the sit-and-reach test compared with no exercise, about as much as stretching or other exercise. It works best when you make the hamstrings work in bridges, kicks and leg pulls and add a few held stretches.
Mostly it's how much stretch you tolerate: in programmes of a few weeks, range grows because the stretch gets easier to bear, not because the muscle gets longer. The nerves at the back of the leg and your lower back play a part too.
The shoulder bridge, single-leg kick, swimming and leg pulls make the hamstrings work. The single-leg circle, scissors, spine stretch forward, saw and side kick take them through their range. Add a strap stretch held for 30 to 60 seconds.
Weeks rather than days: trials found clearer range within 4 to 8 weeks of 2 or 3 sessions a week. Keep going 2 or 3 days a week to keep it, because range slips back within weeks of stopping.
About 30 to 60 seconds. In young adults, 30 seconds worked as well as 60, and once a day as well as three times. If you're over about 65, hold for 60 seconds, which gained range about twice as fast in people aged 65 to 97.
Neither clearly: in a trial matched for effort, both improved sit-and-reach about equally, and pooled against other exercise, Pilates was no better. Pick the one you'll keep doing; our yoga for tight hamstrings guide has the poses.
Not that anyone has measured. No Pilates trial has measured muscle length, and with stretching, muscle fibres lengthened only trivially; the extra reach comes mostly from tolerating more stretch.
We found no evidence that it does. Bridges and kicks can bring on a cramp at the back of the thigh, which the move pages say to ease by walking the foot closer or bending the knee. A sudden sharp pain or a pop is different: stop, and see our Pilates for a hamstring injury guide.
It can be, but you don't need one: mat Pilates with small props improved sit-and-reach as much as equipment Pilates in one trial, and a single reformer session beat other equipment only slightly. On the reformer, footwork and the feet-in-straps series take the hamstrings through their range against a spring.
Not clearly: less hamstring range went with only a slightly higher chance of later back pain, and it isn't clear that people with back pain have tighter hamstrings. Our Pilates for back pain guide covers what helps.
If lifting your head eases it, nerve tension is part of your limit: bend your knees or try a nerve slider. Burning, tingling or numbness down the leg is a nerve, not a tight muscle, so ease off, and see the warning signs if it keeps happening.
Yes, for working them: bridges, single-leg kicks, swimming and the leg pulls use the hamstrings and glutes together. To build real strength, add load over the weeks, such as Romanian deadlifts; our Pilates glute workout and hamstring workout go further.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
