Hamstring Stretches for Women

Here is what changes about your hamstrings after 40. Collagen. Specifically, the type III collagen in your tendons and muscle fascia that gives them elasticity. Estrogen regulates its production. When estrogen drops, your connective tissue gets stiffer but also weaker. It is an ugly combination.

A 2021 systematic review found that resistance training in postmenopausal women improved not just muscle mass but tendon stiffness, meaning better force transfer and lower injury risk. That is exactly what hamstring exercises do.

But there is a caveat most fitness content ignores. Hamstring tendinopathy is more common in perimenopausal women than in any other demographic. The tendon insertion at the sit bone becomes irritated. Deep stretching makes it worse, not better. If you feel a sharp pinch where your butt meets the back of your thigh, you need to strengthen, not stretch.

The exercises on this page include both options. Each one has trainer cues explaining when to push and when to back off. That distinction matters more at 40 than it did at 25.