Doing a Hamstring Stretch for Gymnastics

"Hi, I'm Mandy Butler on behalf of Expert Village. I'm going to take you through a gymnastics class stretch and warm-up. Now I'm going to stretch my hamstrings. It's very common for hamstrings to get pulled, especially in running tumbling because you're putting a lot of stress on that muscle. So, you really want to make sure you stretch it out. I'm going to grab this leg, put my hands on my shin, pull this leg toward me, and hug my leg. That's what I tell my little ones. So, make sure that you're not down like this or that your knee is not down like this, but up facing the ceiling. I'm going to grab my leg, pull it toward me and I should feel the stretch right here in my hamstring. Again, I'm going to hold that for at least 20 seconds. Ideally, you want to hold it longer. I like to do it for at least 30 seconds. But, you have to do it for at least 20 seconds or it's not like you stretched at all. I'm going to put that leg back down, grab the other one and do the exact same thing. I'm going to hug my leg to my body with my knee facing up so I can feel that stretch in my hamstring. I really want to make sure that I do this, again, for at least 20 seconds because it's a common injury to pull a hamstring. Then I'm going to place my leg back into a pike stretch and my hamstrings are nice and ready to get started."