Last season i had a mild srain in my hamstring, and during the season my hamstrings were really tight.
Is this due to a strength defecit in the hamstring, or ar e my quads not strong enough?
The muscle that was the problem is teh biceps femoris, on both legs.
I could run, but i could never sprint full out in competition.
ALso warming up took loads of time.
If someone can help get rid of the problem i would be very thankfull.
According to Shirley Sahrmann, one should seek the reason for muscle strain in weak sinergist — if the glutes are not strong or are not firing well, then the hams will over-do it which can result in strain…
Try doing a bunch of glute activation/strengthening work:
I think this is a little too simplistic …(talk to others and they say the antagonistic is weak) it is not a universal law … there are many issues with H/S’s
Sorry, I forgot to add: in most cases!!!
Satisfy now 
so you’re saying that i should get my glutes working!
i’ll let my fysio check my ass/hip area.
injusry at its most basic comes from an inability of tissue to absrob force. for example you land and from a jump or from a sprint stride and the force generated by gravity and your body mass exceeds the force absorption capabilites of the tissue, you then incurr an injury. another example, your in the middle of a stride and your hamstrings should be on and quads off (very simplistic analysis i kno) but you quads are on even to the slightest degree. the exterenal force (landing ground contact force ect) and the internal forces (oppsoing muscular contraction) exceed the force absorption capabilities of the tissue, injury results. So two things to prevent injury. 1. the ability of tissue to absorb force generated by movment 2. the ability to relax antagonist muscle groups at the same velocity and intensity as agonist contract. the latter is greatly over looked in training (actually both are but more the latter) to often people are concerned with generating force but not with releaving force (for lack of a better phrase) this is essential to effeceitn movement and staying injury free.
Agree!
Altought, the mechanisms of injury are very complex, don’t you think that if sinergists are weak or innactive, the “prime mover” should absorb even more force, which can eventually result in a strain…? If glutes don’t absorb force, then the hams must to this for them…
yes movement is a complex set of events which culd be responsible for the injury. the glutes being stronger or more able to absorb force does not make the hamstrings more albe to absorb force it simply takes some of the responsiblity of the load thereby taking stress off of the hamstrings. movement analysis is very complex. the simple answer, learn to abosrb force with the hamstrings, the complex learn to postion you body activate the muscle in the right motor patterns at the right time at the right joint angle for the greatest effeceiency then teach the movement to absorb force.
James I agree with most of your points, but the quads cannot turn off completely, if they did there would be nothing to stabilise the patella or knee anteriorly during top speed or even deceleration.
By experience, lots of hamstring injuries could have been avoided by listening to the body a bit closer. It’s my impression that many of the injuries have in fact made their presence before the actual “pop” by some minor tightness, fatigue, nagging or any other little sign. I guess experience is the best teacher in these circumstances… or close observation by the coach in the other end – communication is essential (pain = no gain). Reoccurring injuries are often the result of poor planning. The line between “sufficient recovery” and “increased absorbability” can be very thin from a planning point of view, and most often the first factor decides how the second factor will turn out to be.
When you pull your hammy the first time, the most important decision in your athletic carrier might be how you let that heel and come back. Pull it twice… and you might have a very frustrating time ahead with reoccurring pulls around the area with scar tissue.
Sometimes we look in vain for imbalances, and the problems eventually turns out to be in planning and schedules.
Lorein, some very good points - that’s why I feel at times a skilled therapist and expereinceed coach are your best friends at times.
The reoccurring effect of the H/S injury is very interesting. I think these figures are right - but there is a 30% chance of reoccurrance within 12 months in AFL players.
There is a 34% chance of H/S injury in over 24 yo’s.
no23 it was a very very simplisitic example but the main thing is that antagonist muscles relax at the same rate that agonist contract. your looking into a phrasing i was only trying to make it simple for example.
I thought perhaps you were being literal in this instance and suggested that contraction of the H/S’s prevent anterior shift of the femur on the tibula.
MY fysio checked me. and my ass muscles were extremely tighr.
so that might be the main cause of my hamstring troubles.
during my session we talked about things… and also achilles problems.
I will open a new thread about that.
this rule has been a saving grace for me. I rarely have hammy pulls in my athletes that end their season. WHat I preach from day 1 is learn to listen to your body. Track is not football where you should compete thru pain. Listening to your body’s signals and little bells will save a lot of people form injury.