Tight Hamstrings?

Are your Hamstrings sore after exercise or running?  Tight Hamstrings? Stretching your tight hamstrings further may not be the answer.

When your hamstring aches or is sore after exercise or running, your first thought may be to try and stretch it. However, if you have tight hamstrings due to them already being over-lengthened, stretching more will not fix the issue. Stretching a muscle that is already over-stretched may irritate that muscle even more.

So, what do you do if you have tight hamstrings?

To analyze where the problem is actually coming from with a muscle that is tight because it is already over-lengthened, we take a closer look at the opposing muscle group.

Your hamstrings attach to a bone called the ischial tuberosity (sit bone). This is part of the back aspect of your pelvis and is the most common area that runners complain of feeling pain. The opposing muscle group to your hamstrings are your quadriceps. Your quadriceps attach to the front aspect of your pelvis. Your hip flexor muscles work together with your quadriceps, and they also attach on the front aspect of your pelvis and to the lumbar vertebrae of your low back, just above your pelvis.

Both your hamstrings and quadriceps muscles work as opposing muscle groups. Their job is to keep your pelvis stable. When you run, the movements and forces involved make their job a lot more difficult. To make things even more complicated your pelvis is also designed to move, so keeping it stable is quite a difficult task.

Your quadriceps are typically a stronger muscle group than your hamstrings. This difference in strength is normal and when these two muscle groups stay within their normal strength difference ratio, they function properly.

Running can dramatically change this strength ratio, which leads to muscle imbalances between your hamstrings and quadriceps. Remember your quadriceps start out already being stronger and they usually win the strength war too. Changing the strength ratio between your dominant quadriceps and hamstrings leads to tugging at the muscle attachments at the front of your pelvis, pulling it into a slight anterior tilt. Running also uses a lot of hip flexors and they typically like to join in on the strength war too, as they help your quadriceps.

Why does all this strength ratio difference matter?

As your pelvis tilts forward (anteriorly), it lifts your ischial tuberosity upwards (remember this is your hamstring attachment site at the back of your pelvis) which means your hamstrings get pulled upwards and become over-lengthened. In response to this unwanted lengthening, your hamstrings tighten up in order to stay attached on their attachment site at the back of your pelvis.

Over-lengthening your hamstrings in this way places it in a vulnerable position and makes it prone to injury. In addition to over-lengthening your hamstrings, anterior pelvic tilting also shortens our lower back muscles. So, what we as physiotherapists most commonly find is runners with a strength ratio imbalance is tight, shortened quadriceps, hip flexors and low back muscles and tight but over lengthened hamstrings.

Now add more running to the already over lengthened hamstring scenario – what happens next?

When you run, you swing your leg forward, and your hamstrings are then lengthened even further and this places additional stress on your hamstrings, mostly at their attachment site. More stress at the attachment site puts your hamstrings at a greater risk of injury. The result may be tendonitis, tendinosis and sometimes muscle tearing. Usually, pain is the first warning sign of things not being right.

City Physiotherapy has a few tips to help you target your stretches to best help your tight hamstrings.

Stretch and roll your quadriceps and hip flexors with quadriceps stretches

Stretch your hamstrings when lying on your back instead of standing

Use the low back stretch and pelvic tilting to help stretch your lower back muscles

Strengthening your core muscles and your hamstring muscles will also help readdress any muscle imbalances present

Add some planks into your strengthening regime.

Strengthen your hamstring muscles doing some leg curls. Use no weight or a very lightweight at first. It’s really important to pay attention to moving your hamstring through its full range of motion and to perform the exercises slowly with control. Try to perform this between 2-3 times a week.  Your Physiotherapist will give you hamstring strengthening exercise progressions when your tendon and muscle is ready to take on more loading. It is very important that you do not rush this phase, as progressing too quickly will likely irritate the hamstring tendon attachment. Some exercises require more strength and stabilising and if not performed correctly can aggravate your pain further.

t 

Sometimes changing your exercises from all running to adding exercise at the gym like the stair climber or swimming to keep your heart rate going can help. Climbing stairs uses a smaller stride than running and may therefore not irritate your hamstring.

Physiotherapy can help with the healing process as well as targeting your rehab to your specific issues. At City Physio, we will work with you on correcting any muscle imbalances with targeted exercise therapy.  Physiotherapy and Remedial Massage therapy can help to release tight muscles, improving their flexibility, facilitating blood flow and improving your joint range of motion via a variety of treatment modalities such as hands-on manual therapy, dry needling, supportive kinesiotaping, and exercise modifications.

Would you like to book an appointment to help your pain? Book online 24/7 at www.cityphysiotherapy.com.au. Appointments available Mondays- Saturdays, or click on the booking link here BOOK ONLINE HERE

BACK TO BLOG