I’ve been doing a pretty good job with my GPP work up until about the last week or so. The last two times I went out for hill work, I have had some irritation in my upper hamstring insertion. It mostly hurts during the first step after the start during leg recovery. This hamstring has been a constant problem. It always feels tight and I have been doing as much therapy as possible, but it seems to be getting worse. So first question is: any ideas on how to resolve the hamstring issue.
Second question is: once the hamstring starts feeling better, I will have missed a least a couple of my planned GPP workouts. How should I resume training? Just jump in where I left off? Drop back a couple of weeks and re-do those sessions? Something else?
Note that I’m following the CF GPP as outlined in the DVD with minor mods. Also, my last speed day was the first workout in week 5, so my next workout is scheduled to be the first no-hill speed workout.
You are probably over striding going up the hill. Don’t force the hill work so much and see what happens. Trying to run fast up the hill often leads to overstriding in my experience.
Difficult to say, of course, but considering the rest have been executed as planned, I would start where you left it with a volume modification perhaps and/or avoiding the track session in your comeback. A combination of Weeks 4 & 5, I guess.
Yes…look as surrounding structures. You could also consider sacrotuberous ligament (feels like bone), sacral ligaments, low back. It’s all connected. I have a guy with a deathly tight low back and dorsal ligaments…also has deathly hamstring troubles…never shows up for treatment either so round and round we go.
This wouldn’t necessarily say much really… You can cheat and present good hamstring flexibility. If there is an asymmetry between the two, then it’d be worth examining, yes.
If you follow Charlie’s whole GPP program with the advanced stage weights, you will be doing back squats and RDL 2 or 3 times a week. Perhaps it’s not so much the hill work but the whole load that needs to be cut back to provide adequate recovery/rehab.
Was really wondering if there is too much hamstring flexibility. Often, feeling like your hamstrings have a tightness to them (not talking about soreness here) can be traced back to having excessively lengthened hamstrings.
I had something along these lines and going against conventional thought, muscle feels tight = stretch it, I tightened my hamstrings up and the feeling went away.
I can touch my toes, but I don’t think that too much flexibility is my problem
tamb is right, I’m not squatting 3x week. I’m doing medball work and weights, but volumes are lower than on the DVD. I’ve had problems with my knees when under heavy weights, so I have to be careful with my volumes and intensities. Also, RDLs seem to irritate the injury, so I have cut those recently.
I had felt some irritation in my upper hamstring insertion a few weeks ago while sprinting, but the first time that it was acute was about two weeks ago while doing running A’s.
I’ve skipped my runs this week (just doing medball, jumps, and lifts) and have been doing massage and light stretching. It feels good now, but I haven’t done anything to stress it. I’m going to test it on Sunday.
