Pulling knee to chest exercise: do you feel anything?

[madeinmanc]

I had to do this recently and was reminded why I hardly ever bother: it does absolutely nothing for me. As in, I pull my leg right to my chest so it's touching my boobs and my knee touches my chin but I don't feel any stretch. I've always wondered why people bother. I mean, what is meant to be pulling? What is it meant to stretch? Where are you supposed to be feeling it? I'm not particularly flexible or inflexible before anyone says that.

Do you feel anything doing this (so-called) stretch? Could I possibly be performing it incorrectly? 😕

Lower back softens & releases. I guess it's subtle if you don't have lower back issues. I really notice it, it feels so nice.

Well, I just tried it again, admittedly lying on the bed, and I'm not feeling anything in my lower back at all. It doesn't even feel connected if you see what I mean. I could just as well be cracking my knuckles or rotating my ankle and it would have the same relation to my lower back. 😀

Well, you could pull your knee to your chest lying down, then extend the bent leg to stretch the hamstrings. Or you could do the move standing up, and you'd be working on your balance. I suppose we are all built differently, and if you are already quite flexible then you might not feel the work as much as someone else. Or you could do a lunge and add a twist to get more stretch through the hips and back.

Try it standing up and if that's still too easy grab your big toe with your hand on the same side as your raised leg and straighten your leg out. Don't lock your weight bearing leg.

If you are very flexible, you have to be extra careful to use your muscles and not your joints when stretching or you can do yourself a mischief.

Or you could do a lunge and add a twist to get more stretch through the hips and back.
Yes, I usually do a forward lunge then go right down into the lunge, then turn to face forward into more of a forward-facing split position but with one leg bent from the lunge. I feel this in the hamstrings rather than the back or hips, though.

Try it standing up and if that's still too easy grab your big toe with your hand on the same side as your raised leg and straighten your leg out

Thanks, I've tried this and I cannot straighten my leg so it looks pretty hilarious. I still don't feel anything in my back, instead I feel the tightness in the back of my leg where it is inflexible and won't straighten.

Thanks for the insights, I would love to go through these exercises in person with a physio or trainer some day.

If you don’t already do yoga, give that a go - maybe with Adriene on YouTube. I say this because if you work through some varied yoga routines, there are lots of ways of doing knee to chest and you will find some affect you more than others. It’s the best way to find what works for your body.
As pp have said if your lower back is generally ok then you won’t get that much from it. I do yoga most days but if I have had a day or so off, or spent a lot of time sitting or driving, then I find when I get down into child’s pose the next day, I can definitely feel my lower back needs some loosening, and child’s pose with big breathing is excellent for it. Otherwise I don’t notice anything as much.