"My athletes always complain about tight hamstrings. We stretch them every day and nothing changes. What are we missing?"

Here's the thing — you're probably not missing a stretch. You're missing the real problem entirely.

It's Not a Flexibility Problem

Tight hamstrings are almost never about the hamstring being too short. They're tight because they're doing a job that isn't theirs. When the glutes aren't firing first during hip extension, the hamstring picks up the slack. It becomes the primary driver of a movement it was designed to assist.

And then you stretch it. You're literally loosening the one muscle that's holding the whole pattern together.

The Firing Order That Changes Everything

In the TP2 book, we lay out the correct hip extension sequence based on years of EMG testing:

• Glute max fires first
• Same-side hamstring fires second
• Opposite-side QL fires last

When this order is reversed — hamstring first, then QL, then glute — you get chronic tightness, slower times, and a hamstring injury waiting to happen.

Cal's data from World and Olympic champions all showed the same thing: "The best athletes I've ever seen had a great hip extension pattern with minimal compensations."

Here's the part that really got me though — to quote the legendary coach Henk Kraaijenhof: "Your hamstrings are made for running, not walking."

Think about that. If the hamstring is doing the glute's job during every single walking step — that's 20,000 bad reps a day before your athlete even sets foot in your gym.

The Fix Isn't a Stretch

Use RPR to reset the pattern. Get the glute firing first. Then reinforce it through your training with exercises that demand the correct sequence. Cal found that when he corrected the pattern in his track athletes, "their quads got smaller, but they ran faster and jumped higher."

And if you're training yourself — same deal. Test your own firing order before you blame your hamstrings for being "tight."

Stop stretching the muscle that's covering for the one that's asleep.

The complete breakdown of all three compensation patterns, how to spot them in seconds, and the RPR drills that fix them is in TP2 — starting on page 22.

​https://triphasic2.com << order here

All the best,
Mike and Cal

PS - Here is what Steve had to say:

"I picked up the book and began using drills and cues with my athletes immediately. Great information and looking forward to implementing more."​
-- Steve Casey

​https://triphasic2.com << order here

Coach Cal Dietz, U of MN
Dr Mike T Nelson
Triphasic Training II: 14 High-Performance Methods to Unlock Elite Athletic Development - out NOW

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