Toe Touch Guide: Improve Hamstring Flexibility
Master the toe touch with our expert guide. Learn proper form to safely stretch your hamstrings and improve lower body mobility without equipment.
How to Perform
- Stand upright with your feet positioned together or hip-width apart and your arms resting at your sides.
- Engage your core and maintain a very slight, soft bend in your knees to prevent joint locking.
- Hinge at your hips and begin to slowly lower your torso toward the floor while reaching your hands toward your feet.
- Allow your head and neck to relax as you descend to the point where you feel a stretch in the back of your legs.
- Hold the bottom position for the prescribed duration while maintaining deep, rhythmic breathing.
- Slowly roll your spine back up to the starting position, engaging your glutes to stabilize the ascent.
Common Mistakes
- Locking the knees completely, which can strain the joint and lower back.
- Bouncing at the bottom of the movement rather than holding a steady stretch.
- Holding the breath, which increases tension in the muscles you are trying to lengthen.
- Rounding the shoulders excessively before the hips have finished hinging.
Muscles Worked
Primary movers
- Hamstrings
Stabilizers
- Lower Back
- Calves
- Glutes
Related Guides
- 1 Leg Box Squat — Legs
- Abductor Machine — Legs
- Adductor Machine — Legs
Hamstrings · Legs