How to stretch a sore hamstring?

Can't stretch my hamstring without feeling pain in my lower leg?

• I really want to get into gymnastics so I've started doing stretches, but I have problems when stretching my hamstring. Whenever I start to stretch (eg. bend over at the hips and reach for my toes) I get a pain down my leg from behind my knee down my calves and I begin to lose feeling in my feet and calves. It's annoying because this happens way before I can even begin to feel any stretch in my hamstring. The only stretch I've found that works is lying down, pulling one knee to my chest and then trying to straighten it, but I want to know why I can't do any others and remedy it so I can do things like front splits in the future.

• Answer:

  You might be locking your knees? When this happens to me I make sure my back is straight and bend my knees a little, then pull my stomach to my thighs. I hope this helps!