I’m no yogi, but I’ve always felt lucky to have a decent baseline of flexibility. That said, I know it won’t last forever. If I want to stay mobile and move well as I get older, I need to start putting in the work now.
So, to kick things off, I picked the elephant walk exercise and committed to doing it for three minutes every day.
The elephant walk is an exercise that targets the muscles in your posterior chain, including your back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. It’s not particularly strenuous as it’s a low-intensity, low-impact movement. However, if you’ve got tight hamstrings, you’ll really feel it. This move works to loosen them up and improve flexibility.
You don’t need any equipment to do this exercise, but I personally preferred placing one of the best yoga mats underneath me as I practiced each day.
How do you do the elephant walk exercise?
It doesn't look much like an elephant walking but you may disagree once you try it out. Here's how you do the walk:
- Start by standing tall with your feet about shoulder-width apart and toes pointing forward.
- Hinge at the hips to fold your upper body forward, keeping a soft bend in your knees as you reach your hands toward the floor.
- Place your hands on the ground or lower them as far as your flexibility allows.
- Engage your core slightly, then slowly straighten one leg while keeping the other bent. You should feel a stretch through the back of the extended leg.
- Bring that leg back to the starting position and repeat on the other side, moving in a slow, controlled rhythm.
Whether you're just curious about the elephant walk exercise, dealing with tight hamstrings, or looking to improve your mobility as you age, I got a first-hand taste of why this simple move is worth trying. Here's what happened when I did the elephant walk for three minutes every day for a week.
You don't need to spend lots of time on this exercise
As someone who runs regularly, I’m guilty of only giving my hamstrings the briefest of attention. I’ll throw in a few quick hamstring sweeps (also known as 'shoo the chickens') as part of my warm-up, but once the run is done, so is the stretching. It’s not until I attempt a yoga flow or mobility session that I really notice how tight they’ve become.
During this week of doing the elephant walk every day, it became clear just how much tension I’ve been storing in the backs of my legs. It’s not a complicated move, but it hits that stretch sweet spot straight away.
If, like me, you often overlook post-run mobility or you sit a lot during the day, this could be a great little stretch to introduce daily. It’s low effort, but it made a real difference to how my hamstrings felt by the end of the week.
I realized I don't stretch my hamstrings enough
Whether I’m training for another marathon, planning hikes over the holidays, or lifting weights at the gym, I’ve realised how important a good range of motion is, especially in the hamstrings. When these muscles are tight, it can affect how you move, how deeply you can squat or hinge, and ultimately increase your risk of getting injured.
A study in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine found that dynamic stretching of the hamstrings reduced muscle stiffness and improved knee range of motion, both of which are key for staying injury-free during sports or training.
The elephant walk is a simple yet effective way to tap into that benefit. After just a few days, I noticed it became easier to move through the stretch, and by the end of the week I felt more mobile in general.
If you can't touch your toes, I think you should try this move
Touching my toes has always been something I could do without thinking, but lately it hasn’t felt quite as effortless. Enter the elephant walk. After a week, I noticed a real difference in how easily I could fold forward again.
If you’re not quite a toe-toucher yet, don’t worry. You can use a yoga block or even a stack of books to bring the floor to you and make the move more comfortable.
What I liked most is how this stretch meets you where you are. It’s not about pushing yourself into a pretzel. It’s just a gentle daily reminder to give your hamstrings a little TLC and a great way to feel more flexible with minimal effort.
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