August 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Fitness coach Liezel van der Westhuizen reveals why the elephant walk is the #1 hamstring stretch for mobility, performance, and pain relief.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because some journeys are better taken together.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Let's walk the talk seven two.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, do you know what an elephant walk is? Conny?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Have you ever included this in any of your stretch routine?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You haven't been to the gym?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hey, but you you physically exercise, You go for walks
and all of that, but you don't actually physically go
to the gym and then include a stretching and a
warm up or cooling down session.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Rowan, have you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Included the elephant walk in your years of going to
the gym and building those muscles the outside is?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Do you even know what it is? No? Little fund
of essays and does.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Though literate what the elephant walk is.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Rowan is in studio with a camera because you are
going to demonstrate what this elephant walk is, and we're
gonna share it on social matre.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Are we are? I just want to point out every
single morning for the last how many years we've been
doing this show together. I wear fitness gear because I
go straight to the gym.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Before I start with God.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But today I mean combat boots, denim a jumper because
I've got a meeting at Caught a past six. I
don't have the lipstick on just yet, which would have
been great for the elephant walk. But I will demo it,
especially especially for everyone, so you can see it. But
let's explain at first, because I think maybe my explanation
would be good enough. But this is let me tell
(01:27):
you how I got around this. I was presenting a
show with Ebingless, a colleague at KFM, and the next
minute he's bent over touching his toes and then just
walking his legs as if he's doing a little bit
of a walk, so walking on the same spot spot,
but he's bent over touching his toes. So I'm like,
(01:48):
what are you doing? He goes the elephant walk? I said,
you are pulling my leg. I assume because I do
fitness and wellness and I research a lot, I know
exactly what that is. Never heard of that before, and
I thought, wow, if I haven't heard about it, then
I'm sure none of us in the studio have. So
do you want me to demonstrate the talk? Okay?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So Liesel is dressed, by the way, in a beautiful
is it a jumpost?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's a sweater sweater.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Knitted sweater, beautiful colors and stripes and over a sort
of black undergarment of formal chino esque pants or possibly jeans,
and of course she's also got combat boots on, as
she indicated.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So let's actually explain what the elephant walk is. It's
a dynamic stretch that when you hinge your hips and
you touch your toes and ankles, your alternate straighten straightening
one leg or the other opposite knee bend. Mami can
an elephant slow walk. So I will talk you through it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And now she is bending over.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Knees.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
If you cannot reach your knees, she says, you go
to your shins right, Okay, So the idea is to
bend as far as possible and if you can touch
your toes, fantastic. If not, don't worry. And then as
she's doing that, and in that position, she is literally
stepping left right phrase correct, So left right, left right
(03:19):
on the same spot. So you're not physically moving forward,
but you're mimicking the act of walking, so that you are.
Then because it is your calves and I imagine your
glutes that.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm feeling because I glutes stay heavy heavy leg day,
Yes that should I should have stayed for the stretch,
so it targets your posterior chain, your hamstrings, your calves,
your glutes, and even your lower back. So unlike a
static ham string stretch that is one active and one
loaded stretch. This makes it prep the body for a
full movement, so not just for flexibility, and it improves
(03:49):
muscular performance most effectively pre workouts. So this is a
great one before you're going to go and run. And
I've seen him do it, maybe do it a few
times in the studio, so I practiced it. It really
does work. I can feel from yesterday's because I did
very heavy leg workout. I can feel that that elephant
walk does make a difference.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So is it better suited for before a workout or
after a workout?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So it's more effective for pre workouts and passive static holds.
I think it's a great if you're before And this
was a done by a runner for before a run
as well, so I've seen it before workout. Of course
I'm not the expert. I was just testing this out
for us. Go and see your physio, Go and see
your bio to see if you can do it. I
(04:35):
put my hands onto the floor and then did the stretch.
If you can't touch the floor, touch your shins. If
you can't touch the shins, touch your knees. If they're
still not able to do that, then use something a
little bit lower, maybe a coffee table or a bench
or a couch at home and touch that. So bend over,
touch that, and then do do the leg lift so
(04:55):
or all the little elephant.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Walks as it's called.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
And just to be clear, the objective is to stretch
the muscle, not to cause pain. Nine minute you feel
a sense of distress and pain, stop exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I did a bit quicker because we were talking in between.
But do it really slow and do it at your
speed so you'll start to feel everything. Just start to
get active. But as you said, if you feel any
twinge of pain, especially in your lower back, please stop
the exercise. So as with anything that we taste out
or try out orways, say stop if you feel pain,
and not just if you feel that twinge of pain,
(05:31):
stop immediately and always go and see your your professional
before you go and do this workout.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
And is the stretch I suppose better suited on days
when you are going to be working on legs because obviously,
while I imagine your back would have felt a little
bit of a stretch as well. It is primarily your
legs that are going to be benefiting from a no.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
This is for it. If you're sitting an eight hour
day in the office and your head flexes get tight,
our hamstrings get tight, our glutes get tight. The elephant
walk helps reverse that daily impact of sitting the whole day,
so it boosts our hip hinge mechanics. So it's critical
for everyday things from picking up grocery bags to deadlifting
safety safely, to picking up kids. And it improves functional mobility,
(06:13):
which is very important. So flexibility and balance start to
decline the older we get. And it shows that regular
posterior chain work reduces lower pain risk by up to
thirty percent. So by regularly doing this, you're going to
hopefully improve and it's accessible. What I liked is I
could do it in my combat boots. I could do
it in a pair of genes. I could do it
(06:35):
with a Sweetstar. No equipment needed, just your body and
a little bit space to move. Once you feel comfortable
to movement, you can move back and forth if you
feel like it. I just say stay in that movement
and then just feel how it feels for you.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I can see how it can be more beneficial than
leg car phrases, for example, because what that requires that
you step on something and then you literally just lift your.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And drop your heels. Let's drop you and drop your heel.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
That's also still an effective stretch, by the way, and
the wall don't don't discount that if it works for you.
But this elephant walk seems to activate more muscles than
what just a leg calf phrase might do.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Exactly, So you're working your hamstrings, your calves, your glutes,
and even your lower back. That's your to your posterior chain.
But it's also great for your hip flexes. So you're
getting really a great stretch, a multiple stretch. If you
don't have time to stretch in the day, this is
the one stretch that you should do. So you start
as I said, with your hips, your legs hip distance apart,
(07:40):
hinge forward at the hips, not at the back, keep
your spine long, don't round your back, grab your ankles
or bend one knee while straightening the other slowly and
with control keys breadth through the movement, not to hold
your breath, and avoid pulling with your arms or bouncing.
So very very important to make sure that your form
is correct. This can stretch your luer back and then
(08:00):
don't lock your knees, keep them soft to protect them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Do we have any research that this actually helps?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I mean, knowing you, you probably spend all of the
day after you had your time with EVGS.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Did I did?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
A twenty twenty one Journal of Sports and Medicine found
that the posterior chain FUR focused on dynamic movements would
improve sprint performance as well as range of motions much
better than just static stretches. So elephant walk being one
of those chained posterior chains focused dynamic movements. Regular inclusions
in WARMAP reduced injury rates by up to twenty five
(08:33):
percent in athletes and recreational exercises. But I'm yet to
see it at the start line of a marathon, so
let's see that. But I think this is a great one.
You don't have to stretch as as much. You could
quickly do this at the car before getting ready for
any run, and studies have confirmed that dynamic movements improved
flash fashiir glide, which is key for joint and pain
(08:55):
free movement. So this is a great one if you
just have if you have tense concil city seconds, or
perhaps you want to just take a break from your
desk and just move your hip flexes. This is an
ideal one just to do. You don't have to do
a whole series of stretch movements. And I do notice
I do have to say, how come I'm always the
one that has to do the exercise.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Because you love testing.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
But we could have all easily done that. I mean,
Connie would have put his hand up. He walks and
runs regularly.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
This is great for him, absolutely, and he did acknowledge
that this is a stretch that he will now incorporate
into this.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
We need to see, we need to actually see what
it looks like without me trying to talk through it.
So Connelly needed to demonstrate, but unfortunately he has to
press buttons to make the show work.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Can I be indelicate for a moment. Just make sure
that you've passed any wind that needs to be passed
before because because I imagine it naturally pushes.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
On absolutely, and it's all natural. It's all natural what
I learned from a yogurt in the class, in the
middle of a class or so, just imagine we've got
people today.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It's a public health warning.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, phone calls today from the officers saying that stretch.
We're all doing this, so yes, it could be, but
think about your health benefits, how mobile you're going to be,
how it opens your hips, so very very important and
as we always say, always double check with a medical
professional before you do any movement.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Liesel, thank you very much for being willing to do
that and to demonstrate stop someone has to do it.
Rowan will share their video with you now and then
once you've posted it, we're going to post it as well.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Yeah. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Please find adverse days and talking talking to us about
the elephant walk, which is the ultimate stretch for your hamstrings,
and if you do incorporate it, please tell us how
you have fed Lithel find Avestay isn't joining us again
tomorrow morning.
Because some journeys are better taken together.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Let's walk the talk seven two.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, do you know what an elephant walk is? Conny?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Have you ever included this in any of your stretch routine?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You haven't been to the gym?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hey, but you you physically exercise, You go for walks
and all of that, but you don't actually physically go
to the gym and then include a stretching and a
warm up or cooling down session.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Rowan, have you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Included the elephant walk in your years of going to
the gym and building those muscles the outside is?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Do you even know what it is? No? Little fund
of essays and does.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Though literate what the elephant walk is.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Rowan is in studio with a camera because you are
going to demonstrate what this elephant walk is, and we're
gonna share it on social matre.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Are we are? I just want to point out every
single morning for the last how many years we've been
doing this show together. I wear fitness gear because I
go straight to the gym.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Before I start with God.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But today I mean combat boots, denim a jumper because
I've got a meeting at Caught a past six. I
don't have the lipstick on just yet, which would have
been great for the elephant walk. But I will demo it,
especially especially for everyone, so you can see it. But
let's explain at first, because I think maybe my explanation
would be good enough. But this is let me tell
(01:27):
you how I got around this. I was presenting a
show with Ebingless, a colleague at KFM, and the next
minute he's bent over touching his toes and then just
walking his legs as if he's doing a little bit
of a walk, so walking on the same spot spot,
but he's bent over touching his toes. So I'm like,
(01:48):
what are you doing? He goes the elephant walk? I said,
you are pulling my leg. I assume because I do
fitness and wellness and I research a lot, I know
exactly what that is. Never heard of that before, and
I thought, wow, if I haven't heard about it, then
I'm sure none of us in the studio have. So
do you want me to demonstrate the talk? Okay?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So Liesel is dressed, by the way, in a beautiful
is it a jumpost?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's a sweater sweater.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Knitted sweater, beautiful colors and stripes and over a sort
of black undergarment of formal chino esque pants or possibly jeans,
and of course she's also got combat boots on, as
she indicated.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So let's actually explain what the elephant walk is. It's
a dynamic stretch that when you hinge your hips and
you touch your toes and ankles, your alternate straighten straightening
one leg or the other opposite knee bend. Mami can
an elephant slow walk. So I will talk you through it.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And now she is bending over.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Knees.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
If you cannot reach your knees, she says, you go
to your shins right, Okay, So the idea is to
bend as far as possible and if you can touch
your toes, fantastic. If not, don't worry. And then as
she's doing that, and in that position, she is literally
stepping left right phrase correct, So left right, left right
(03:19):
on the same spot. So you're not physically moving forward,
but you're mimicking the act of walking, so that you are.
Then because it is your calves and I imagine your
glutes that.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm feeling because I glutes stay heavy heavy leg day,
Yes that should I should have stayed for the stretch,
so it targets your posterior chain, your hamstrings, your calves,
your glutes, and even your lower back. So unlike a
static ham string stretch that is one active and one
loaded stretch. This makes it prep the body for a
full movement, so not just for flexibility, and it improves
(03:49):
muscular performance most effectively pre workouts. So this is a
great one before you're going to go and run. And
I've seen him do it, maybe do it a few
times in the studio, so I practiced it. It really
does work. I can feel from yesterday's because I did
very heavy leg workout. I can feel that that elephant
walk does make a difference.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So is it better suited for before a workout or
after a workout?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So it's more effective for pre workouts and passive static holds.
I think it's a great if you're before And this
was a done by a runner for before a run
as well, so I've seen it before workout. Of course
I'm not the expert. I was just testing this out
for us. Go and see your physio, Go and see
your bio to see if you can do it. I
(04:35):
put my hands onto the floor and then did the stretch.
If you can't touch the floor, touch your shins. If
you can't touch the shins, touch your knees. If they're
still not able to do that, then use something a
little bit lower, maybe a coffee table or a bench
or a couch at home and touch that. So bend over,
touch that, and then do do the leg lift so
(04:55):
or all the little elephant.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Walks as it's called.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
And just to be clear, the objective is to stretch
the muscle, not to cause pain. Nine minute you feel
a sense of distress and pain, stop exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I did a bit quicker because we were talking in between.
But do it really slow and do it at your
speed so you'll start to feel everything. Just start to
get active. But as you said, if you feel any
twinge of pain, especially in your lower back, please stop
the exercise. So as with anything that we taste out
or try out orways, say stop if you feel pain,
and not just if you feel that twinge of pain,
(05:31):
stop immediately and always go and see your your professional
before you go and do this workout.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
And is the stretch I suppose better suited on days
when you are going to be working on legs because obviously,
while I imagine your back would have felt a little
bit of a stretch as well. It is primarily your
legs that are going to be benefiting from a no.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
This is for it. If you're sitting an eight hour
day in the office and your head flexes get tight,
our hamstrings get tight, our glutes get tight. The elephant
walk helps reverse that daily impact of sitting the whole day,
so it boosts our hip hinge mechanics. So it's critical
for everyday things from picking up grocery bags to deadlifting
safety safely, to picking up kids. And it improves functional mobility,
(06:13):
which is very important. So flexibility and balance start to
decline the older we get. And it shows that regular
posterior chain work reduces lower pain risk by up to
thirty percent. So by regularly doing this, you're going to
hopefully improve and it's accessible. What I liked is I
could do it in my combat boots. I could do
it in a pair of genes. I could do it
(06:35):
with a Sweetstar. No equipment needed, just your body and
a little bit space to move. Once you feel comfortable
to movement, you can move back and forth if you
feel like it. I just say stay in that movement
and then just feel how it feels for you.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I can see how it can be more beneficial than
leg car phrases, for example, because what that requires that
you step on something and then you literally just lift your.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And drop your heels. Let's drop you and drop your heel.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
That's also still an effective stretch, by the way, and
the wall don't don't discount that if it works for you.
But this elephant walk seems to activate more muscles than
what just a leg calf phrase might do.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Exactly, So you're working your hamstrings, your calves, your glutes,
and even your lower back. That's your to your posterior chain.
But it's also great for your hip flexes. So you're
getting really a great stretch, a multiple stretch. If you
don't have time to stretch in the day, this is
the one stretch that you should do. So you start
as I said, with your hips, your legs hip distance apart,
(07:40):
hinge forward at the hips, not at the back, keep
your spine long, don't round your back, grab your ankles
or bend one knee while straightening the other slowly and
with control keys breadth through the movement, not to hold
your breath, and avoid pulling with your arms or bouncing.
So very very important to make sure that your form
is correct. This can stretch your luer back and then
(08:00):
don't lock your knees, keep them soft to protect them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Do we have any research that this actually helps?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I mean, knowing you, you probably spend all of the
day after you had your time with EVGS.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Did I did?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
A twenty twenty one Journal of Sports and Medicine found
that the posterior chain FUR focused on dynamic movements would
improve sprint performance as well as range of motions much
better than just static stretches. So elephant walk being one
of those chained posterior chains focused dynamic movements. Regular inclusions
in WARMAP reduced injury rates by up to twenty five
(08:33):
percent in athletes and recreational exercises. But I'm yet to
see it at the start line of a marathon, so
let's see that. But I think this is a great one.
You don't have to stretch as as much. You could
quickly do this at the car before getting ready for
any run, and studies have confirmed that dynamic movements improved
flash fashiir glide, which is key for joint and pain
(08:55):
free movement. So this is a great one if you
just have if you have tense concil city seconds, or
perhaps you want to just take a break from your
desk and just move your hip flexes. This is an
ideal one just to do. You don't have to do
a whole series of stretch movements. And I do notice
I do have to say, how come I'm always the
one that has to do the exercise.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Because you love testing.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
But we could have all easily done that. I mean,
Connie would have put his hand up. He walks and
runs regularly.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
This is great for him, absolutely, and he did acknowledge
that this is a stretch that he will now incorporate
into this.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
We need to see, we need to actually see what
it looks like without me trying to talk through it.
So Connelly needed to demonstrate, but unfortunately he has to
press buttons to make the show work.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Can I be indelicate for a moment. Just make sure
that you've passed any wind that needs to be passed
before because because I imagine it naturally pushes.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
On absolutely, and it's all natural. It's all natural what
I learned from a yogurt in the class, in the
middle of a class or so, just imagine we've got
people today.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It's a public health warning.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, phone calls today from the officers saying that stretch.
We're all doing this, so yes, it could be, but
think about your health benefits, how mobile you're going to be,
how it opens your hips, so very very important and
as we always say, always double check with a medical
professional before you do any movement.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Liesel, thank you very much for being willing to do
that and to demonstrate stop someone has to do it.
Rowan will share their video with you now and then
once you've posted it, we're going to post it as well.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Yeah. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Please find adverse days and talking talking to us about
the elephant walk, which is the ultimate stretch for your hamstrings,
and if you do incorporate it, please tell us how
you have fed Lithel find Avestay isn't joining us again
tomorrow morning.
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