This paleo chili recipe is one of my absolute FAVORITE meals.  You can tell from the amounts that I make plenty to have the day after

If you love bacon, meat, and spices, I’m sure you’ll be a fan of Viking Chili too

(With the Super Bowl coming up, this is a great main course for your football party…)

Here’s the ingredient list:

• 1.5 pounds uncured bacon
• 2 onions
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 5 pounds ground beef (grass-fed is best)
• 6 tablespoons chili powder
• 1.5 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1.5 teaspoon paprika
• 2 14.5 ounce cans chopped tomatoes with liquid
• 1.5 tablespoons pure cocoa powder
• 1.5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Optional:

• Dashes of tabasco sauce
• Cayenne pepper
• Sea Salt
• Turmeric

Now, step-by-step instructions:

Set a large pot (I use an 8 quart stainless steel or le creuset) on the stove and start at medium-low heat.  Use scissors to snip the bacon right into the pot.

Uncured bacon is by far the best choice (reasons why here: Sodium Nitrites Are Bad).  Trader Joes has uncured bacon “ends and pieces” for $2.99 a pound.

Why you’re waiting for some fat to render out of the bacon, chop your onions.  Pictured are one white and one purple onion, but the choice is up to you

When the chopped bacon has started to brown, and there is some delicious bacon fat in the pot, add onions and stir

While that is going, coarsely chop some garlic (Or, if you’re lazy, get minced garlic at the grocery store)

When the onions have turned translucent cooking in the bacon grease, add the chopped garlic

Cook a few minutes longer.  Now, add the ground meat to the pot and stir until no pink remains

Your best choice for beef is to use grass-fed.  Other options include beefalo, bison, elk, venison, and ground turkey.  (I wasn’t a fan of the ground turkey, but some of my friends are)

With lower fat meats (venison, bison) you might need to add a little beef or chicken broth.  But with higher fat meats (beef, turkey) you might want to drain some of the fat out with a ladle:

Once all the meat is cooked through, add the spices (EXCEPT for the cocoa and vinegar) and tomatoes and stir well to combine

Cover the pan and simmer on low heat for an hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes.  Adjust the temperature up or down if necessary.

An hour later, add the vinegar and cocoa powder and stir well.  Then let it simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes.

Now try a little taste and add some sea salt, to taste.

I garnished this chili with some European grass-fed sour cream and sharp goat cheddar with some chopped green onions and cilantro.  To go more fully paleo, forgo the dairy and use some diced avocado instead.

Serve and enjoy!

Servings: Twelve

Did you know…

• In 1850 sugar consumption was just 20 lbs per person per year; in 2007 the average person ate 160 lbs per person per year
• The average person in the USA eats 6 oz or 1/3 lb of sugar per day
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the #1 source of calories in the American diet
• Increases in chronic disease, including cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease directly correlate with HFCS hitting the market in the 1970′s
• The average American eats 4,000 lbs of sugar in a lifetime (imagine a dump truck full!)
• Ninety cents of every grocery dollar is spent on processed food full of HFCS
• High Fructose Corn Syrup is metabolized into fat faster than other sugars
• HFCS has significant traces of the neurotoxin mercury

Here is some more info from Wold Fitness about sugar:

99 Ways Sugar Is Poisoning You

The Sweetest Scam Of All Time

Sugar Cravings Taking Over Your Brain!

Soda makes people fat.  I thought everyone already knew that, but a Dutch study published less than 2 weeks ago (abstract) found that drinking soda leads to enhanced risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

But besides making people fat, soda can really tear you up inside.  To illustrate, here are 34 ways you can use soda around the house.  Read them and then decide if something that melts rust off of chrome is really something you want going into your body…

CLEANING

1. Clean Car Battery Terminals. There’s acid in almost all carbonated drinks. And that helps strip corrosion from car battery terminals. Pour some soda over the battery terminals and let it sit for a while. Wipe off the residue with a wet cloth.

2. Clean Your Dirty Toilet Bowl. Got bad stains, a date coming over in an hour and no toilet cleaner? Pour a can of soda into the bowl. Let it sit for an hour to let the phosphoric acid work on the stains, then brush to loosen the dirt and flush clean.

3. Remove Rust Spots From Chrome. If you have an older car that has real chrome trim, chances are there are some small, and some not so small, rust spots developing on the chrome. Take some crumpled aluminum foil, dip it in some cola and rub the rust off the affected area.

4. Remove Rust Stains in Your Tub. Remember how the phosphoric acid worked to clean the toilet bowl? The same acid will remove rust stains in your tub. Soak a sponge (preferably one with an abrasive side), in some cola and go to work on the stain.

5. Clean Grout. Got some mold and mildew ruining the look of your shower? Soak a sponge with Coke and work it into the grout. Rinse with water.

6. Remove Grease From Clothes. Been working on the car all weekend and greased up more than just the engine? Pouring a can of cola into your washer, along with your regular detergent, is said to help loosen and wash away those grease stains.

7. Remove Milk Stains From Clothes. Got milk? Soak the stain with Coke for about five minutes, then wash normally. It should get the stain out.

8. Remove Blood Stains From Clothes. Ruin your favorite shirt when you nicked yourself shaving? If you soak the stain with cola for five minutes then wash in your machine, the blood should come out. Even dried blood that’s been there for a while.

9. Clean Coins. Got a thing for shiny pennies? Collecting state quarters and want them to sparkle? Place your coins in a small dish and soak in Coke for a few hours. Rinse and wipe to a bright shine.

10. Clean Grease From Glass. Even Eyeglasses. That same handy phosphoric acid removes grease and grime from glass. Even dried hairspray from mirrors. Just rinse thoroughly with water after.

11. Clean Oil Stains From Garage Floor or Driveway. Pour soda over the stain, let it soak in for a while, then scrub and rinse off with a hose.

12. Clean Burnt Pans. Forget a pot on the stove and now whatever was in it is seared to the bottom? If scrubbing won’t get it off, try this: boil some Coke in the pot and the burnt-on mess should lift right out.

AROUND THE HOUSE

13. Loosen Clogged Drains. If your sink is draining slowly and you don’t have any drain cleaner in the house, pour a 2-liter bottle of cola down the drain and let the acids go to work on the clog.

14. Loosen Rusted Nuts and Bolts. Soak a rag in cola and wrap it around the rusted-on bolt for a few minutes. The acids and carbonation will help loosen it.

15. Make Flowers Last Longer. Got your girl some flowers and you want them to survive through the week? Pour about 1/4 cup of clear soda, like Sprite or 7-Up into a vase full of water. Sugar helps them last longer.

16. Strip Paint From Metal Patio Furniture. Want to refinish some outdoor furniture? Do it the right way and strip off the old paint first. To make it easier, soak a towel in Coke. Let it sit on the furniture for about a week, adding more Coke whenever the towel starts to dry out. The paint should strip off easily.

17. Kill Slugs and Snails. If these pests are invading your lawn and garden, pour a little Coke into shallow dishes or jar lids and spread them throughout your yard. The sugar attracts them, and, just like you remember from when you were a kid, the acid kills them.

18. Greener Lawn. It’s rumored that spraying Coke on your grass will keep your lawn greener into the fall months.

FIRST AID AND EMERGENCIES

19. Relieve Nausea or an Upset Stomach. According to The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies, the syrup in Coca-Cola can be used to cure upset stomachs. Just let leave the can or bottle open for about 30 minutes first, until the soda goes flat. The carbonation could have an adverse effect on your stomach.

20. Prevent Diarrhea. Also found in The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies, if you’re traveling through a country with a questionable water and/or food supply, drinking coke could keep you from making constant “runs for the border”. The acids in the soda help reduce the amount of E. Coli bacteria in your intestines. This inhibits the production of toxins that can cause diarrhea.

21. Relieve Constipation. If you are, as the Germans say, Farfrompoopin, the caffeine from a can of coke can have a laxative effect. Much like that morning latte.

22. Stop an Asthma Attack. Just as an asthma attack comes on, down a couple of cans of coke. Some sources say the caffeine can help prevent an asthma attack.

23. Ease a Sore Throat. By gargling with soda you can loosen the phlegm causing the irritation.

24. Stop a Jellyfish Sting From Stinging. The acids in cola seem to neutralize the venom in the sting. And pouring Coke over the wound is better than having your buddy pee on it.

25. Get Gum Out of a Kid’s Hair.  Come to the rescue with your can of Coke. Soak the kid’s hair for a few minutes, then rinse. The gum should come right out.

26. Strip Dye From Hair. If your girl comes over crying that her new dye job turned her hair green, wash her hair with Diet Coke. Apparently Diet Coke has the ability to strip and/or fade bad dye jobs.

27. Get Rid of Skunk Odor. Pissed off Pepè Le Pew and now you aren’t allowed in the house? Sponge down with some cola and hose yourself off. Again, those handy acids work to neutralize the stink.

28. Use As a Moisturizer. Mixing a capful of cola with unscented lotion is said to enhance the moisturizing effects.

29. Keep People From Slipping on Slick Floors. If you’re having an outdoor get together and you’re worried about guests slipping on your back patio, try this old stagehand trick: use a mop to spread a thin layer of Coke on the slippery surface. It’ll dry slightly sticky and tacky.

DUBIOUS USES

30. Give Your Hair Shine. Pour a can of coke over your head, work it into your hair, then rinse. It’s said your hair will be incredibly shiny. And impervious to slugs and snails.

31. Mousse Alternative. Mix equal parts coke and water in a spray bottle and mix well. After you shower, spray a light coat of the mixture into your hair, then style. (I’m sure having sugar in your hair all day won’t attract flies or be uncomfortable at all.)

32. Prevent Flatulence. Adding a can of coke to a pot of pinto beans when cooking is supposed to neutralize the gas-causing compounds.

33. Get a Darker Tan. There are those who say rubbing plain coke all over your body gives you a deeper tan. (There’s caramel coloring in there, but I question the evenness of the result, and how long it will last.)

34. Shell Hard Boiled Eggs. Apparently, if you soak hard boiled eggs in Coke the shells will dissolve, eliminating the need to actually have to peel them.

Since I don’t like to clutter people’s email inboxes up, I post blog updates and special announcements on the Wold Fitness Facebook page.  (I asked in bootcamp, and most people check their facebook more than their email!)

So… here’s the link to Wold Fitness: http://www.facebook.com/woldfitness

And here are some of the cool pictures from our wall:

Carson City Bootcamp

This post is for those of you out there who have heard about the paleo diet and want to give it a shot.

It can seem like a huge huge HUGE deal to switch over to paleolithic foods from a modern diet, but I’m willing to bet you’ve already eaten paleo and just didn’t realize it.

Ever have a veggie stuffed omelet for breakfast?

Ever had a salad with sliced chicken and nuts for lunch?

Ever had steak and a salad for dinner?

Yeah?

Now just do all three of those on the same day and you’re eating paleo.

Coooool

And here are 5 little tips to help you make the transition even easier:

1) Remember why you’re doing it.

Switching to paleo will eliminate most modern health problems (diabetes, obesity, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, etc) and make losing weight a snap.

Reminding yourself of the terrific improvements you’re going to make in your health and well-being will make switching to the paleo diet… exciting!

Whenever you need a reminder, look at all the success stories posted on Mark Sisson’s website (author of the Primal Blueprint): Paleo Success Stories

2) Don’t worry about getting your carbs.

With years and years of a high-carb diet being pounded into our brains, beginning paleo eaters freak out about not having enough carbs to fuel their bodies.  Don’t worry – we actually aren’t designed to eat grains or legumes, and they’re making us sick.

If you feel weak or light-headed and worry your brain isn’t getting enough fuel though, you’re probably right.  Most people drastically under-eat when they go paleo.  Just think, if you’re used to getting 100 grams of carbs from grains at each meal and then just drop the grains, you’re going to come in 1200 Calories low at the end of the day.

The trick to avoid light-headedness during the switch is to eat wayyy more protein and fat then you’re used to on a modern diet.  That way you get enough calories from good sources and never get the dreaded “low-carb flu.”

3) Learn how to cook.

I had a 43 year old mother of three join my boot camp a while back.  Here’s the thing… she had never learned to cook!

She raised her kids on microwaved meals and fast food.  Period.

I had to help her find youtube videos of how to scramble eggs, and guided her on cooking chicken.

The more you cook, the better you look.

Cooking is an adventure.  Learning how to prepare delicious paleo meals feels great!

I used to HATE cooking.  I mean, food is just fuel, right?  Who cares as long as it’s edible.

Well, I’m glad to say that since embracing paleo eating I now LOOOOOVE to cook.  It makes you feel awesome when you make a delicious meal from scratch and can say, “wow, that was freakin’ delicious!”

You don’t have to go all Julia Childs, either.  A cast iron skillet is about all the tools you need.  Start small if you’ve never cooked before.  Scramble some eggs.  Barbeque some chicken.  Do more as you grow more confident.

Always remember this rule: The more you cook, the better you look.

4) Clean out your pantry.

If it’s in your house, you’re going to eat it sooner or later.  (Probably sooner)

Get rid of snacks and treats first.  Then do a deeper cleaning and get rid of anything made with grains, sugar, dairy, soy, or legumes (beans).

Give it to your friend’s kid in college, students will eat anything.

And now…

5) Stock up on the good stuff!

Have plenty of choices.  Don’t try going paleo with an empty fridge.

Make it a rule to try one new vegetable a week.  (Smaller markets are great for this)

Try meats you’ve never had, like elk or duck.

Experiment with new (old) fats, like macadamia nut oil, avocado oil, or duck fat.

Get lots of meat and always have some cooked for when you’re hungry, so you’re not tempted to go out and find a bad-for-you snack.  Here’s a list of sample paleo snacks that you can use for ideas: Primal Snacking Rocks

Transitioning to paleolithic eating from modern eating isn’t that hard, all it takes from you is the decision to do it!

Ok, the study I’m going to share with you here is pretty cool…

The researchers fed their subjects a control diet for four weeks and measured body fat mass and metabolism.

Then, they took 6 grams of fat out of the diet and replaced it with 6 grams of fish oil.

So, exactly the same calories, exactly the same fat.  Only change was swapping out other fats for fish oil – and only 6 grams of it at that.

What do you think happened?  Even though metabolism remained unchanged, the subjects LOST FAT!

The control group who kept on the original diet lost 0.7 pounds over the next 3 weeks.

The fish oil group lost 2.2 pounds (over 3x as much) in the same amount of time.

Diet was the same.  Calories were the same.  Exercise was the same.  The only difference was the switching in of fish oil, and they lost 3x as much fat.

What does this mean for you?

Start taking some freaking fish oil!!

I take 12-15 grams a day.  I recommend at least 6 grams a day.  Start with 2 grams, one capsule with breakfast, the other with dinner.  If you stomach still feels ok, add another capsule every few days until you reach six.

SPOILER ALERT:  This next paragraph is gross.

You’ll know when you’ve reached your temporary maximum dosage because your poop will turn grey and runny.  Back down a gram or two if this happens.  As your system adjusts over a few weeks, you can start adding again.

To keep fish burps to a minimum, take your capsules with food, get enteric coated capsules, take lemon-flavored fish oil, or keep your capsules in the fridge (good idea anyway).

If you’re interested in the study, here’s the citation:

Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1997 Aug;21(8):637-43.
Effect of dietary fish oil on body fat mass and basal fat oxidation in healthy adults.
Couet C, Delarue J, Ritz P, Antoine JM, Lamisse F.
Laboratoire de Nutrition et Clinique Médicale A, J.E. 313, Université François Rabelais, 37000 Tours, France.

And here’s a link to the abstract: Fish Oil Is Awesome

This is pretty cool: When Calorie information for sugar sweetened beverages (soda) is displayed in convenience stores, kids aged 12-18 years buy less of them.

A study in the American Journal of Public Health tracked buying behaviors of adolescents in low-income areas.  They put up one of three different posters in corner stores.  The posters were randomly chosen out of these three options:

(1) Absolute caloric count. Ex: This soda has 300 Calories

(2) Percentage of total recommended daily intake.  Ex: This drink has 12% of your daily Calorie need

(3) Physical activity equivalent.  Ex: This one said they’d need to run for 50 minutes to burn off the Calories in the drink

The researchers found that sales of sugar-sweetened beverages dropped by 40% with any of the three posters.

The best-performing poster was the physical activity equivalent poster – it reduced drink purchases by 50%.

Food and Drug Administration officials are publishing regulations for restaurants to put Calorie information next to food items on the menu.  This study shows that providing ANY information is better than providing none, when it comes to making healthier choices.

Here’s my reference (do I get bonus points that it was released 2 days ago?):

Sara N. Bleich, Bradley J. Herring, Desmond D. Flagg, and Tiffany L. Gary-Webb (2011). Reduction in Purchases of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Among Low-Income Black Adolescents After Exposure to Caloric Information. American Journal of Public Health. e-View Ahead of Print.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300350

And, as usual, here’s a link to the abstract: Posters Reduce Pop Sales

Special guest article by triathlon champion Ben Greenfield

Compared to their running and cycling brethren, triathletes certainly tend to have slightly more muscular shoulders. But when you actually look at a triathlon junkie from the side view, you’ll see a rather unsightly phenomenon: a hunched back, slouched shoulders, and ugly curvature in the upper spine.

These slumping triathlon shoulders (which can turn into a permanent fixture on your body) come from a combination of spending long hours hunched over the saddle of a bike, working the internal shoulder rotators during swimming, while neglecting the external rotators in the weight room, and often a job spent sitting at a desk or computer.

So how can you get nice shoulders and still be fast at triathlon? Here’s what to do:

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #1: Stretch Your Chest

Tight chest muscles can come from sitting a desk for several hours with your hands on a keyboard, from riding a bike in the aero position, and from swimming. Once tight, and especially in the presence of weak external rotators, these muscles pull your forward into a slouch.

To stretch tight chest muscles, try a doorframe stretch, in which you reach for the top of a door frame, place your hands on it and lean forward as far as you can. If you can’t reach the top of a door frame, just place one hand over the other hand, and lean into a wall.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #2: Strengthen Your External Rotators

Although the most popular exercise for “strengthening” the external rotators is to grab an elastic band and do dozens of repetitions of rotation for the shoulders, most of us don’t have time to stand around doing that. Bigger, multi-joint exercises like pull-ups and rows work far better, and have the added advantage of burning more calories and working your arm muscles.

I’ve personally installed a pull-up bar in the door of my office (it cost me about $25), and I try to do at least 25 pull-ups each day (usually one set of 5 whenever I walk under the bar). You can also include regular or assisted pull-ups as a weekly part of your gym routine. Also include lat pull-downs, seated rows, cable rows, and single arm dumbbell rows – focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades back and maintaining a tall, proud posture as you do each exercise.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #3: Train Your Core

Blah, blah, blah, work the core. Sure, you’ve heard this before. But think about it this way: when you’re riding a bike, swimming, or sitting at your desk, there is one thing that has to happen before you begin to slouch: your core has to get tired first.

But if your core is strong, it takes a massive load off your shoulders, and allows you to maintain much better posture. I personally recommend planks as the best way to strengthen your core and shoulders at the same time.

Try this: get into a front plank position, hold for 3 deep breaths, then switch to a side plank position left side, hold for 3 more breaths, then side plank right side for 3 breaths, and finish by holding a full push-up position for 3 breaths. Do that entire sequence without your knees touching the ground. See how many rounds you can do before you core collapses. If you can get to 10 round (about 7-9 minutes of planking), you’ve got a solid core. Otherwise, do this routine once or twice per week until you can get to 10 rounds.

Now that you’ve learned the 3 easy steps to get nice shoulders, you can be one of those triathletes who swims fast, but also cuts an impressive figure, and doesn’t have that notorious slouch, especially when people look at you from the side.

If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to Tri-Ripped Training System for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

One of the best and fastest ways to lose weight is to totally cut wheat and grains out from your diet.  But cutting out grains has lots of very surprising health benefits.

So if someone joins bootcamp with high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high inflammation, low HDL, high triglycerides, high LDL, and a lower belly bulge. Eliminate all grains and in 90 days they have lost 20 pounds of fat, blood sugars normalize, triglycerides drop dramatically, HDL goes up, LDL goes down, and c-reactive proteins (inflammation markers) drop.

If that’s not enough benefits for you… here’s some more!

- Improve Rheumatiod Arthritis Symptoms: This is a big one for me personally. Get rid of grains and painful thumbs, fingers, wrists, and ankles clear up remarkably fast (getting rid of dairy and sugar will help too). Lots of people have found that once the conditions are gone, one serving of wheat will give them a painful throbbing in their joints that lasts for hours. No grains, no pains

- Reduction or Elimination of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

- Reduction or Elimination of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

- Improved Mood: Getting rid of grains will make you happier and will stabilize your moods. Did you know that wheat is a cause of a type of schizophrenia and bipolar illness?

Cut out wheat and you’ll cut out mood swings.

(More info on nutrition and mental well being: End Emotional Eating, Sugar Cravings Taking Over Your Brain, and Natural Nutrition To Fight Depression And Anxiety)

Fix Ulcerative Colitis: The stomach pain, gut cramping, and diarrhea from ulcerative colitis can be eliminated by cutting out wheat. Ulcerative colitis sufferers are negative for the antibodies for celiac disease and almost all their symptoms come from eating grains.

Higher Libido For Both Men And Women: Cutting out grains will improve sex hormones and endothelial response. (Endothelial cells are what line the inside of blood vessels. Improving endothelial response will result in increased bloodflow to genitals)

Clearer Skin: Eliminating wheat helps clear up eczema, acne, rashes, itching, and bags under your eyes. Sounds good to me!

People with celiac disease can DIE from eating wheat. What else do you eat regularly that can make you so sick and do so much damage to your body?

Cut out grains today and stick with it for at least two weeks. You’ll be so amazed at how much better you feel that you’ll never want to go back.

Lots of people come in to my Carson City Bootcamp with super-tight hamstrings.

Even if you’re dedicated about stretching at home (you are stretching in your spare time, right?) you might still be bothered by tight hammies.

It might even seem like flexibility is something some people have, and other people don’t – especially if you’re one of the inflexible ones.

What’s up with that?  Is it true that some people are just born more flexible?  Well, yeah :p

But you can get a LOT more flexible if you really do want to…

A couple of things might be making your hamstrings tight:

- Injuries

- Lack of hip mobility

- Overtraining

- Poor training

- Tight hamstrings!

Now, some strategies that I use in my bootcamp to loosen up those hamstrings.

The first thing you need to look at is if your hamstrings are really the problem.  If you have to sit a lot during the day (in a desk or car).  Your calves cross your knee like your hamstrings and so tight calves can make it hard to keep your knees straight when you stretch.  And sitting a lot can affect your pelvic tilt which affects how you bend when you stretch.

Or you might have scar tissue on your fascia (the “skin” of your muscles) that is pulling tight.

Or maybe you have problems with your lower back.  When this is the case you might notice that stretching exercises really hit your back and hips, but don’t seem to touch your legs at all.

So tight hamstrings may just be the symptom of some other problem, far beyond just a lack of flexibility.

Since so much can be going on, today’s post will be a few tips to get you started in the right direction (If you want a more in-depth assessment, my friend Dr. Brian Russell is phenomenal at treating any joint or muscle problem you might have.  Here’s his website: Carson City Chiropractor)

Hamstring Tip #1: No Forcing

Stretching too forcefully can invoke your muscles’ “stretch reflex”, where the muscle actually tightens during a stretch.  This is a protective mechanism to prevent injury.

Another problem with forcing a stretch is that you may not be aligned correctly due to injuries, poor posture, or improper training.  Forcing a stretch from a bad position is a recipe for making things worse.

Stretch slowly and focus on deep even breathing.  After about 30 seconds, you should feel yourself relax into the stretch – this is where flexibility will improve.

Hamstring Tip #2: Stretch Hamstrings Last

As I mentioned above, other muscles may be holding your hamstrings back.

Stretch your hips, calves, shins, and quads.  Then GENTLY stretch your back.  After this, go on to stretch your hamstrings.

You will be surprised at how much more flexible your hamstrings become with this method!

Hamstring Tip #3: Self Massage

Self massage is a way of breaking down the scar tissue in your fascia.  When this scar tissue is relaxed, your muscles will be able to move much more smoothly.

Your hamstrings are part of what we movement therapists call the Posterior Chain.  Here’s a pic:

Massaging any of the areas in this posterior chain should help relax your hamstrings and improve flexibility.  Perhaps the most important area to massage for hamstring flexibility is…. your feet!

Seriously, I’ve seen range of motion in the hamstring stretch DOUBLE from two minutes of tennis ball rolling on the bottom of your feet.  Here’s how:

And here’s vids of basic self massage for other areas that may be holding your hamstrings back:

Don’t forget to massage your hamstrings too!  Turn your feet inside and out to hit the whole muscle group:

Hamstring Tip #4: Knee Bend

Some knee bend is actually ok if you’re trying to stretch your hamstrings.

The reason for this is that a bit of flexion will take most of the calf out of the hamstring stretch, allowing you to hit the hammies better.

Use the knee bend tip if you feel hamstring stretches in the backs of your knees instead of the backs of your thighs.

Hamstring Tip #5: Use A Full Range Of Motion

After all this stretching and foam rolling, you want to make sure you keep whatever new flexibility and mobility you build.

The secret to this is to use full range of motion exercises in your workouts.  Short range of motion activities like cycling or running will keep your hamstring shortening back up, since they don’t require a full range of motion.

Basically, you need to teach your body to incorporate this new flexibility into how it moves.  This is the key to maintaining your flexibility progress.

Now, if you have tight hamstrings, these five tips will definitely start you off on the path to flexibility!