You’re about to go out for a run; as you head out of the door, you notice your hamstrings are a little stiff, so what do you do?
Prop your foot up on a bus bench and hold for 30 seconds on each side? Some magical dynamic stretches like a kang squat, bootstrappers, or toy soldiers? There are tons of methods for loosening up a tight hamstring, but what is the best way to mobilize a tight hamstring?
Well, it turns out that using one of our favorite tools, The Voodoo Floss, is the best answer.
In several legit studies (1, 2, 3) voodoo flossing a muscle group is better than static stretches or dynamic warm-ups to increase the range of motion and eccentric muscle contraction before a workout.
Yep, that is right, wrapping a giant rubber band around a muscle and then moving through a range of motion works better than all forms of stretching to get rid of stiffness, increase the range of motion, and make the muscle able to contract entirely better than any other tool on the plant.
Why? Right now, the precise physiological mechanism(s) underlying flossing has not yet been determined. (oddly enough, we still don’t know what Ibproufen’s mechanism of action is either) however we do know that it works better than anything else that has been tested.
So if you have tight hamstring muscles and are about to run, squat, jump, swim, etc., VOODOO BAND IT for 2:00 (no longer). You will feel better and perform better!
Que the more you know music.
Important Links
- Buy a voodoo band (no affiliate links here, we just like these ones best)
- How to use a voodoo band
- How to voodoo floss your hamstring pre-workout
