Do you have back pain and struggle to bend over to touch your toes?… then this exercise is for you. Tight hamstrings, hips, and outer thigh muscles are often a culprit in causing and exacerbating lower back pain. For example, if you have tight hamstrings while squatting then you end up putting excessive flexion force on your lower lumbar vertebral segments.
This Hamstring stretch can really increase the range of motion and ability to squat and move freely.
Description
Place a strap, belt or towel under the ball (front) of your right foot then lie back flat on your back while stretching the right leg out towards the ceiling. Make sure that your left leg stays straight with the knee down towards the floor and only bring the right leg up towards your head as far as you can maintain both knees straight. Then work on flexing the hip and ankle towards your face (so that the toes bend towards your face) by pulling gently on the strap. Make sure the toes/foot are facing straight ahead and not flaring to the sides. You can also try to pull the leg inwards cross your midline towards the left to add a stretch to the ITB on the outside of the right thigh.
(DO NOT do this ITB stretch if you have had a hip replacement).
Dosage
Work your way up to holding this stretch for 60 sec and repeat 3 times per day for best result.