Tight Hamstring
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1159 days
dr_rios_ec posted 1 year ago.
Hello Star:
A tight mucle is something you better take care of.
Remember that since it is tight per se, its elastic properties are dimished, so make sure, as you do, to stretch really well, but very very gentle, to avoid over extending the already shortened fibers.
A good massage is also a good option, with the aid of some sport oitment, that delivers heat might help to ease the fibers. Warm compresses can complete the therapy. But on top of all, do gentle, and full range of motion of streching, that will do the job.
Also, work on the reason why this is happening, it is the footwear, some stride alteration, some wrong movement?? Think it through...
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
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kona_expat posted 1 year ago.
It's probably not your hamstring. My guess is that you have some tight low back muscles, which have then caused your piriformis muscle to tighten up, putting pressure on the sciatic nerve, which will cause you to feel like your hamstring is tight (been there, done that numerous times).
If you plan to be in this sport for a long time, I highly recommend you educate yourself about trigger points and learn to treat yourself and then work with your massage therapist as well.
PM me and I'll email you my recommendations and also a series of stretches that will help you begin to address all the muscles that are leading to your hamstring issue.
The thing I've discovered is that depending on your natural flexibility level, certain stretches may not work on you. Also, I need to change my stretching routine regularly (I never do it the same way and have a vast collection of stretches that I can do, including yoga poses), since you can get used to stretches just as you can get used to a certain level of training.
835
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1369 days
glbrum posted 1 year ago.
I value Kona's opinion greatly, but I am going to have to disagree with her on this one based on the fact that I'm dealing with the same problem right now.
I have a tight/painful piriformis and it has been helped greatly by extensive hamstring stretching as well as stretching the piriformis. I've also used several exercises that have helped a lot too.
I've spent 2 months at PT as well as 2 doctors visits confirming the fact that I have a terribly tight hamstring causes the piriformis / upper butt pain.
PM me if you want some of the exercises that I've used.
2936
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1358 days
Anton posted 1 year ago.
I have to go with glbrum too... I have had chronicly tight hamstrings for years. 20 years ago I was dealing with this. Have been to PT and had a number of very good massage therapists say the same thing....terribly tight hamstrings cause piriformis and lower back pain...sort of like rubber bands pulling too tight for too long. But ( no pun intended) as Kona says...educate yourself about trigger points and stretching for the hams.
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Star posted 1 year ago.
Check out Wikipedia for some pix and info (I love that site!). Does this have any affect at all with the IT band?
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kona_expat posted 1 year ago.
The thing with hamstrings is this: show me any stretch for hamstrings, and odds are it is also stretching your low back muscles. People who have tight hamstrings generally also have tight low back muscles, so the 2 go hand in hand. Running exacerbates both. It's possible that the hamstring tightness causes the low back tightness or vice versa, which is why it's important to have good ROM in both sets of muscles.
Pain in a hamstring, however, can only be due to one of 2 things: actual damage to the muscle or referred pain (i.e., nerve pain). In the first situation, you want to avoid stretching the hamstring until it's sufficiently healed; in the second situation, stretching the hamstring may or may not alleviate the pain--more likely is that you end up stretching the causative area as a by-product.
What Star described is probably not actual hamstring damage, which is why I suggested a comprehensive stretching program to address all possible causative factors, including the piriformis and low back muscles. Piriformis stretches also indirectly stretch the low back muscles.
The muscles I've found key in stretching for running health are:
- erector spinae
- quadratus lumborum
- iliopsoas
- hamstring
- calves (gastrocnemius AND soleus)
- TFL (tensor fasciae latae)
- adductors (longus, magnus, brevis and their friends)
- quadriceps
Tightness, weakness and/or poor mechanics in any of these muscles can propagate problems in any of the other muscles. Stretches to specifically address one muscle may, in fact, stretch another muscle, so you can develop a "quickie" stretching routine that gets most of them that takes under 10 minutes. But I like to spend more time than that every day and hit all of them (plus my upper body) with targeted stretches since I've experienced most of the garden-variety running issues.
835
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1369 days
glbrum posted 1 year ago.
kona_expat;59837 wrote:
The thing with hamstrings is this: show me any stretch for hamstrings, and odds are it is also stretching your low back muscles. People who have tight hamstrings generally also have tight low back muscles, so the 2 go hand in hand. Running exacerbates both. It's possible that the hamstring tightness causes the low back tightness or vice versa, which is why it's important to have good ROM in both sets of muscles.Pain in a hamstring, however, can only be due to one of 2 things: actual damage to the muscle or referred pain (i.e., nerve pain). In the first situation, you want to avoid stretching the hamstring until it's sufficiently healed; in the second situation, stretching the hamstring may or may not alleviate the pain--more likely is that you end up stretching the causative area as a by-product.
What Star described is probably not actual hamstring damage, which is why I suggested a comprehensive stretching program to address all possible causative factors, including the piriformis and low back muscles. Piriformis stretches also indirectly stretch the low back muscles.
The muscles I've found key in stretching for running health are:
- erector spinae
- quadratus lumborum
- iliopsoas
- hamstring
- calves (gastrocnemius AND soleus)
- TFL (tensor fasciae latae)
- adductors (longus, magnus, brevis and their friends)
- quadriceps
Tightness, weakness and/or poor mechanics in any of these muscles can propagate problems in any of the other muscles. Stretches to specifically address one muscle may, in fact, stretch another muscle, so you can develop a "quickie" stretching routine that gets most of them that takes under 10 minutes. But I like to spend more time than that every day and hit all of them (plus my upper body) with targeted stretches since I've experienced most of the garden-variety running issues.
I was thinking about this (again) a bit ago. If my hamstrings are tight, then my priformis feels tight as well as my TFL, sometimes my IT band and has proven (to me) that it leads to a sore back that day or a couple days down the line. In my experience, it doesn't work the other way; if I am feeling pain in my back, it doesn't cause my hamstrings to get tight. May back is often tight because of my hamstrings.
Stretching my hamstrings does a little to loosen my back, but not the other way around. Stretching my back does nothing more than loosen up my back.
I've specifically had a doctor tell me that I'm having knee problems and tight Piriformis, TFL and hip region problems because of overly tight hamstrings (ie: laying on the ground face up I can only raise my right leg about 65 degrees, with 90 degrees being straight up)
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1013 days
chavi posted 1 year ago.
Hi Star, what specific yoga stretches have you tried?
I have had a tight hamstring for about a month now and the pain is in the inner thigh closest to my knee. When I try to do a glute stretch (the one where you bring your ankle to your knee and sit back) gives me sharp pain through that hamstring restricting my range of movement.
Is yours similar?
I stretch every day, regardless of whether I swim, ride or run. Usually, I stretch up to 3 times a day. I have had massage also and that does help some what but I agree that the tightness can be related to calves, glutes, ITB or quad being tight.
The ITB and gluteus medius are the hardest muscles for me to stretch and I have a trigger ball to roll around on which helps.
These little niggles can ease with lighter training but try stretching the ITB and calves specifically and see if that helps.
"Commitment means struggle, it means effort and always sacrifice".
772
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1403 days
Star posted 1 year ago.
Hey thanks for all of your input. The tightness is getting better. I will incorporate your suggestions into my stretching routines. Now that I think about it, I really haven't done many actual yoga routines (you know, lasting for more than 10 minutes) for awhile. So I'd better get back on it.
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My right hamstring (especially right under my butt) has been tight for the past month or so. This is my "short leg" and I use a heal lift in that shoe. I haven't been running more than an hour at a time (except for today) for the past month. I use yoga stretches after every bike and run. Any suggestions on working it out?
"I'm more fun than an iPod!"
My blog: http://star.trifuel.net