Cure for tight hamstring?
Hi, looking for some helps regarding a tight hamstring. My 2013 season was generally injury free, and then when training for a November marathon, my hamstring started to tighten up. It comes and goes now. I managed the marathon with a PB but thought the pain would go away. It seems to be aggravated by long runs.
Any ideas about causes, and recommendations on exercises? I have read some other threads on the topic however haven't found the "magic" cure.
Thanks!
Any ideas about causes, and recommendations on exercises? I have read some other threads on the topic however haven't found the "magic" cure.
Thanks!
0
Comments
I was helped by going to physical therapy. First thing my PT did was have me stop running for a few weeks coupled with stretches, massage, and stim/ice. My hamstring was pretty swollen, but when she tested my strength it wasn't bad so maybe my case wasn't that bad. I started back running after a few weeks and ramped up slowly. I'm back to relatively long runs now and my hamstrings are just fine. I'm now off PT and still stretching and using the foam roller.
I think the biggest helpers for me were taking a break for a bit and the stretching. I've had this problem before, so I think I'm doing something wrong either mechanically in my running or have some sort of imbalance. Again, the athletes training athletes link is a good place to go for solving the imbalance issues.
I got my first hamstring problem while marathon training as well. Yoga helped a lot. I hate yoga. But it's good for hamstrings. After the chronic thing, then I pulled it several times by tripping. I've learned now not to try and catch myself when I trip and I just roll (literally!) with the fall. Over the last few years, my hammies tend to tighten up and hurt when I run a lot of mileage. I stretch a LOT and massage helps. Once, when it was particularly bad, I went to PT and got some e-stim- that seemed to help.
I'd say back off running if you can for a couple of weeks, stretch faithfully, try some yoga, and get a good PT.
When running in newtons it was worse so I switched to a more cushioned shoe. I also stretched regularly (glutes and hamstring) and used a foam roller.
Lastly, I've gone to an ART guy before... He saved my season last year by working out knots and finding the root cause of tight spots:
http://www.activerelease.com/index.asp
Hope it gets better soon!
Sorry to hear about the hamstring issue. Injury/ pain in the hamstrings is often persistent and can be difficult to treat. I agree with everyone's advice above regarding stretching and potentially starting some yoga. You also may want to consider adding some glute strengthening exercises into your strength routine. The glutes and the hamstrings work together as hip extensors and when one muscle group is weak, the other one becomes overworked, which can result in the early time to fatigue. A few good exercises for flute strength are the clams, donkey kicks, and single leg bridges (some examples here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Exercises-Get-Rid-Flat-Butt-18361944#photo-34165655)
If your hamstring tightness has been going on for some time, and is potentially affecting your performance, it would be worth your time to see a sports medicine physical therapist. A PT with proper training in sports medicine will be able to perform a more extensive evaluation of your body mechanics, strength, running mechanics and shoe wear to determine if any of these factors are leading to your hamstring injury. The American Board of Physical Therapy has a website that you can search for a board certified sports medicine physical therapist. This may be a helpful website, if you chose to go see a PT: http://www.abpts.org/apta/directories/abpts.aspx?navID=10737423513
Best of luck with your recovery!
Melissa
There's a great article in this month's Runners World about glutes and how weak ones can cause hamstring problems