Shadowing Practice: The REAL WAY to UNLOCK YOUR HAMSTRINGS (Follow Along Stretch) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Okay, so you've got tight hamstrings.
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don't worry i'm not gonna judge you i used to have
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really tight hamstrings as well i'm gonna help guide you through some different progressions for stretching the hamstrings
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that are perfect for beginners you know people who are like
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forget about touching my toes i can't even touch my knees wow what does this even feel like
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if you enjoy being guided through workouts then check out our follow along program called Guided, where you get access to all of our exclusive follow along stretching,
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strengthening, and movement routines.
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Let's loosen these guys up.
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Guys, two things I want you to keep in mind while we're doing these hamstring stretches.
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Number one is that It really is so much about the relationship and the coordination
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of you to be able to keep your pelvis and your spine in the right position, to be able to actually access a stretch in these hamstrings,
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And then going forward, you can actually use those hamstring gains that you make.
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in just movement, right?
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Number two is that unless you're a young kid,
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chances are your hamstrings are pretty stiff and we're going to need to find ways to put more weight into
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these guys to give them a reason to open up.
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If we just do stuff like this, this isn't really such of a reason for this to open up,
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but if we're able to find a position that really loads the hamstring and makes you use some strength while stretching it, that's gonna give it the reason to open up.
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So this first stretch that we're gonna do is We're going to be in a seated position, so you can use a chair, you can use a bench at the gym, whatever you have handy.
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And we're going to just slightly spread the knees out, kind of like straddling the legs a bit.
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The knees can stay at about 90 or you could go even a little bit longer there,
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but what we're focusing on is getting this arch through the lower back really tilting my pelvis forward,
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and then we're gonna hinge forward here at the hips, right?
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And this is gonna teach us how we can actually hinge and get into these hamstrings better, right?
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So yes, I have my shirt off to show my muscles, of course, but I also have my shirt off to really emphasize what this spine is doing, okay?
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So let's start here, we're gonna get the chest
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nice and open and proud we're going to arch that lower back and then i want you to hinge forward
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only until you can keep that lower back arch if it starts around you've gone too far right Here,
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I like to even put a hand back there in my lower back to make sure that's staying arched, right?
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Breathe.
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Good and as you're doing this Just pay attention to what sensations are coming up.
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You're probably starting to feel stuff under the butt here in this high hamstring area.
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You're probably feeling your lower back work.
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to stay arched here? and it resists any rounding here this is all about this good arch through the lower back
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to access the hammies, okay?
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And now as you go, as you loosen up a bit, you're going to be able to get a little bit deeper on each rep.
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You know, maybe in the beginning stages, it's not super deep.
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Maybe you're only getting right here that's totally fine, right?
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We just want to work to your
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range of motion and see if we can get the blood flowing there and improve it
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little bit each time we do this.
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Let's do one more rep.
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And we're going to hold on this one as deep as we can.
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Really arch that lower back.
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Let yourself sink in a little bit more with the breath.
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Come on up.
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Shake that out a little bit.
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Now this is gonna be quite demanding, especially the stiffer that your hamstrings are.
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So the more this puts on your body.
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You know, the more stress so This next one we're essentially gonna follow all the same cues,
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but we're gonna do it from a standing position and now I with this lower knee locked out straight, that's gonna put a huge stretch on the hamstrings, right?
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But we need to be able to find this good position Thank you.
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to actually stretch the hamstrings, right?
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So what you see more often is that we do this, and if the back rounds,
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then we're actually skipping some of this hamstring stretching that we could be getting.
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Okay, so let's do it.
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So we're gonna go here.
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You're gonna kinda stick the butt out like you're posing for an Instagram picture here.
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Chest is up and then we're going to hinge forward here.
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Let that chest come really far forward.
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Only go as deep as you can keep you that arch in the lower back, then we come up.
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And I want you to pause for a second before you come up.
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Right?
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here.
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Pausing for a quick moment.
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I'm going to go to the next one.
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three.
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Very good.
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Keep that chest up.
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Think about that chest going diagonally down.
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It's going forward and down.
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Keeping proud posture here.
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I like to kind of try to tuck my head back.
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That really helps.
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keep that whole spine and extension, if we get here, you're gonna have more tendency to round, right?
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Keep that head pulled back a little bit.
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Keep those eyes up.
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and keep those knees locked, right?
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You're gonna have the tendency to want to do this.
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Slightly unbend the knee, unlock.
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That's just gonna be missing some of the flexibility gains that we could be getting, right?
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So, let's keep going here, we're gonna do a few more reps, but I wanna show you maybe your reps just look like this.
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Bye.
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Maybe you're right here and that's completely fine.
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But as we go, See if you can get a little bit deeper.
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Little bit deeper.
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- Shoo.
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Breathe.
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Pause, okay let's go this last one.
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Let's pause for 10 seconds.
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Get to your deepest position.
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Breathe.
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Feel the hamstrings.
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Put your mind in the back of the legs right here and just be there you Excellent, excellent, yes.
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Guys, you can make so many gains with just that stretch right there.
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You really don't need anything super super fancy.
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If you really work with keeping that back arched, you'll have all the hamstring flexibility that you need, right?
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Okay, we got one more to go here.
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So we put a huge emphasis on stretching with the back arched, right?
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And that really helps you access a lengthened hamstring position.
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Now we're going to actually round the spine purposefully, to just really try to get as deep into a forward fold as possible.
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So this is one of my favorite stretches here.
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I use this so much.
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It feels great and you're able to access the hamstrings and also the squat position, which is going to be stretching ankles,
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hips, spine, all this good stuff.
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So what we do is we're going to start by folding forward here, right?
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Put your hands wherever you can get them on your legs.
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Maybe it's like right below the knee.
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Maybe it's the ankle, whatever works.
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a squat like so.
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Maybe your squat is not super deep, maybe it's like this, that's fine.
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We're gonna straighten the knees and I want you to just kind of pull yourself upside down a little bit more, okay?
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So then we're gonna Go back to the squat.
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We pull into this forward fold a bit more, right?
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And don't get discouraged if you look at me and you're like, "Oh, Yeah, no way I can get that.
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That's fine.
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You can be right here.
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Just pulling yourself down.
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Right straightening the knees all the way and pulling.
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This is what I talked about in the beginning, we need a little extra force, right?
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We need to put more load into the hamstrings to get them to respond, right?
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And maybe as you go, your squat position gets deeper as well, and that's quite lovely.
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and maybe you can start to find a really, really deep position for your hamstrings.
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Right?
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Really pool here.
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Oh And because we're standing up, The hamstrings are really, really active and they loaded.
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Now I get nice and deep in that squat, feel it out.
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Pull.
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Let's do two more you squat Pull yourself down wherever it is, wherever you're at.
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- - - Last one.
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Let's pause on the squat here for a second.
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Just feel, Nice deep squat position feel how good it feels to be down here,
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and now let's raise the hips and and straighten the knees and let's pull and hold.
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Breathe.
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and relax.
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Guys, quick, easy, quick and dirty, quick and easy, whatever you wanna call that, but only three sets, but we're really,
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really tapping into those hamstrings.
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If it feels really good, rewind it back, do it another time through.
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You can come back to this two to three times a week and you will see some really, really massive improvements in your hamstrings.
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Don't get discouraged.
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Sometimes the hamstrings can take a while to open up but if you keep at it, I guarantee you'll see some success.
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So if you made a little bit of progress in your hamstring flexibility from where you started
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and where you finished this routine, then I wanna know, comment below, let me know if you were able to open those up at all.
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My best advice when working on flexibility is to stay persistent and stay determined.
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See when you start a strength training routine, a lot of the time we get these newbie gains,
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where your body just loves it and you get a lot stronger in the first few months of training.
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When you're training for flexibility, it can actually be the opposite.
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It can take quite a long time to get your body to calm down and to relax into position.
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But if you keep at it, if you put the months in, then you'll get there no doubt.
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Nobody who stretches consistently stays stiff forever.
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We all see progress.
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It just takes longer than you you might want it to.
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I also want to hear from you guys, what are you having trouble stretching?
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What is another area of the body that you would like to see a stretching follow along routine on?
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If you enjoyed this one, thumbs up, like, like, like, subscribe.
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I know some of you guys watch strength side videos, but you've never hit that subscribe button.
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Just go down there and click it.
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You know, even if you don't know what that even means, right?
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You know, for some of you older folks, it's like subscribing to a newspaper that comes to your house, but it's free, you don't have to pay for it,
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but you get all of these videos to pop into your metaphorical internet mailbox.
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Hope you enjoyed this one uploads every single Friday.
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Be good, y 'all.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 162 sentences and 1876 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:11. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- stretch /stɹɛt͡ʃ/ (verb) — To lengthen by pulling.
- knee /ni/ (noun) — In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.
- arch /ɑɹt͡ʃ/ (noun) — An inverted U shape.
- breathe /bɹiːð/ (verb) — To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
- flexibility /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/ (noun) — The quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.
- pause /pɔːz/ (noun) — A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
- spine /spaɪn/ (noun) — A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and…
- routine /ɹuˈtin/ (noun) — A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
- hip /hɪp/ (noun) — The outward-projecting parts of the pelvis and top of the femur and the overlying tissue.
- wherever /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/ — Regardless of the place in, at or to which.
- fold /ˈfəʊld/ (verb) — To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.
- subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (verb) — To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
- stiff /stɪf/ (adjective) — Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
- rep /ɹɛp/ (noun) — A fabric made of silk or wool, or of silk and wool, and having a transversely corded or ribbed surface.
- relax /ɹɪˈlæks/ (verb) — To make something loose.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- open up (verb) — To open.
- come up (verb) — To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
- follow along (verb) — To continue behind or beside an animal, person, vehicle or other object, especially as a companion.
- going forward (adverb) — In the immediate future and beyond.
- keep at (verb) — To persist in.
- calm down (verb) — To become less excited, intense, or angry.
- check out (verb) — To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
- get into (verb) — To move into (an object), such that one ends up inside it.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 78 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, gonna, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/, thumb /ˈθʌm/, lengthen /ˈlɛŋθən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: extension /ɪkˈstɛnʃən/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, coordination /kəʊˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən/, progression /pɹəˈɡɹɛʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: flexibility /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, consistently /kənˈsɪstəntli/, coordination /kəʊˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən/, diagonally /daɪˈæɡ.nə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like stretch, knee, arch.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've gone · you've never hit |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are · position, which is |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.