Muscle tightness or something else?

new2703

 Many runners/triathletes routinely complain about tight muscles, esp the hamstrings.  Many are plagued by injuries to low back, hamstrings, calves and even the plantarfascia.  We keep trying to stretch but muslce doesn't seem to loosen up.  Impaired neurodynamics could be the problem.  Simple test:  Bend forward as if trying to touch your toes while keeping your knees straight.  Note what sensations you are feeling.  Ex.  Pulling in right hamstring, low back and or calf.  While holding that position bring your head down and chin to chest.  How does that change the symptoms or sensations that you were previously feeling?  If you felt an increase in the amount of pull impaired neurodynamics could be part of the problem.  For people with calf or plantarfascia problems do you feel increased pulling on the same side?  Would like peoples thoughts or experiences 

Satish Punna

I believe there is a lot of truth to this, and that is why some yoga postures can be very helpful, as well as dynamic stretching routines. 

ltmckelvey

I just tried this. When I bend forward I feel tightness mostly in my lower back. When I place chin on chest pain gets sharper. So now that you have my attention, what is the fix? I had idenified flexibility as a key limiter for me this season. Was planning on doing Yoga twice a week and doing a better job with dynamic warmups and static post WO stretching. What else can be done, ART?

rmiller

When I touch my toes, it's my hamstrings that feel the tension. When I bring my chin to my chest, that is where it gets tighter. So.. what does that mean?

What is impaired neurodynamics, and how does it affect us?

new2703

Neurodynamics deals with the mechanical and physiological aspect of the nervous system and how they relate to each other. Essentially. looks at how nerves respond (mechanically and physiologically) to gliding, twisting, bending and pinching. In addition, looks at how surrounding tissues can impact nerve function. for our purposes, impaired neurodynamics simply means the nerve is not gliding or functioning properly. End result, pain, tightness and impaired muscle function. Some schools even believe that many trigger points evolve from impaired neural mobility. The aero position that we ride in is essentially one big nervous system stretch (slump test). May be a contributing factor to why some people experience increased back pain or numbness in the feet with prolonged rides.

new2703

Russ. I'm going to try to provide video of some very simple movements. I'm not tech savy so this may take awhile