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I pulled my right hamstring so badly once that it bled under my skin.

Let me tell you the story so you learn what NOT to do.

I used to be so stiff, I literally could not bend forward, my back would curl up like a cat and my hands would touch just below my knees.

Glad those days are gone.

I also didn't know anything about stretching. I'd done lots of running, swimming, and even some weights, but I had no idea how stretching worked.

Ok, enough beating around the bush. Here's what happened:

This girl talked me into going to yoga, and she was pretty good. I was like this big white whale dripping with sweat and grunting like a wrestler attempting these super-basic poses.

Not quite the image I was going for.

And worse yet, I got so sore after my first classes I couldn't walk straight. No exaggeration here, I was limping down New York City's streets just trying to walk the half-mile from my apartment to work.

So what did I do? I took 2 Advil.

When that didn't help, I took 4 more. Before class that next evening, I took 6 more. Stupid, I know, but I didn't want to admit that I was too sore for a little stretching.

So I kept popping Advil, kept flopping through class like a beached whale, and each day, I tugged on my hamstrings with every ounce of strength I could muster.

LESSON #1: Never underestimate the power of painkillers.

I went on for weeks like this until one day, standing in line for the shower, my teacher said, "What's that?"http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd72/tish1939/lucas2-1.jpg

I was still spinning from class and only half-conscious so when I saw the pool of blood gathered behind my right knee, I figured it was just bruise or something.

"I think you should get that checked out," he said. And that's when I started to wonder... could I be bleeding Inside?

Yup, I was. I'd torn my hamstring up so badly I had internal bleeding, massive swelling, and constant pain for about 6 months, and then on-and-off for about a year.

The doctor told me to quit yoga. He told me my hamstring was so damaged it'd never be strong again. I fired my doctor.

A sports therapist was next. He did these ultra-sound sessions that made it worse, so I fired my sports therapist.

My chiropractor gave me some wimpy exercises designed for couch potatoes with 80% body fat. So I fired him too.

LESSON #2: Degree or no degree, stiff people know nothing about flexibility.

Sometimes, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. I read tons of stuff about hamstrings and talked to dancers and martial arts people to see how they healed their hamstrings, and I figured it out.

I'll show you how I did it in the next article.

Stay bendy (and say NO to Advil),

Lucas

YOGABODY NATURALS