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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [shorebird] [ In reply to ]
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shorebird wrote:
I had some version of this throughout last year, tried all the various exercise recommendations from slowtwitch threads with no success or healing and then finally got my stubborn ass into a running oriented PT in Dec. She diagnosed a strain at my hamstring attachment point, but said my lack of hamstring flexibility was severe enough that the tension was preventing the attachment point strain from being able to heal. Her regimen for me was all about long steady stretching of hamstring as well as groin and glutes, and gluteus medius strengthening (e.g. clamshells with a band). I asked that shouldn't i also be strengthening my hams, and she said it's totally optional for now and if i do it, focus on lightweight, eccentric contraction based exercises. point is to increase flexibility and range of motion as the primary goal.

long story short, the healing massively kicked in within three weeks and i'm now back on the run pain free. can also sit in my office chair again. it's pretty glorious. throughout 2017 i had held off from stretching and just foam rollered, because stretching seemed like it would worsen a strain. boy was i wrong.

May or may not be relevant for you, but seemed worth a share.

Experiencing some hamstring issues aswell lately. Stretching seems to make it worse, so i stopped it. Started doing excentric exercises but seemed to aggravate it aswell.
My hamstring are massivly short, so it seems like a similar story.
Thanks for the info, might try the slow stretching approach again.
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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [SBRcanuck] [ In reply to ]
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SBRcanuck wrote:
CDNtriGal wrote:
domingjm wrote:
I feel you. Training injuries are utterly frustrating. Do you have any discomfort in your glute or calf areas as well, or is it exclusive to the hamstring?


The pain is mainly in my glute but also in the bicep femoris (just up from the knee).


Have you had any imaging (xray, mri) done? In my case, I have CAM/FAI in the hip which causes one side to not move as well, which I think caused a cascade of issues. But saddle height was also one of them.


I have had two MRIs done that showed the partial tear 3.5 years ago and then the second was done in the spring of 2017 showing the HHT. Years ago I had an x-ray and was told I have coxa profunda (deep acetabular socket) and have wondered if it was a contributing factor?


As for hamstring flexibility, I actually have pretty good flexibility. The rehab exercises I have been doing for a long period of time were given to me be a chiro/athletic therapist/conditioning specialist who is well regarded where I live. He works with elite Canadian athletes so, I honestly feel I have done all the right things....there is just something about my position on my tri bike that really doesn't agree with me. I will post some video/photos on the weekend of my tri bike position but for now I am going to stick with my road bike.


I greatly appreciate all the feedback.
Last edited by: CDNtriGal: Jan 19, 18 9:07
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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [KellyNCollier] [ In reply to ]
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KellyNCollier wrote:
3. I constantly do eccentic hamstring exercises with actual hamstring curl weight machines. I can't find a good/effective way to do these at home with dumbbells, body weight, or resistance bands, unfortunately. I try to go to the gym 1x per week to do these, in season and out of season.



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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [stevej] [ In reply to ]
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stevej wrote:
What saddles have you tried and what saddle are you currently on? Also, anterior pelvic rotation is critical.


I wanted to touch on this. I've run the gamut of saddle discomfort, also had high hamstring discomfort that showed on an image but what we were primarily looking at was my hips (I'm 10 months PO from labrum/FAI repair). A thing I've learned is that I don't or at least certainly didn't engage my transverse abdominus very well. I've been focusing on that now for months and in doing so I notice a difference in how my soft tissue feels on the saddle and a difference in the amount of strain I feel in my hamstrings. I've been told I have overly flexible hamstrings but a stiff lower back. Basically I'd say I've had un-ideal pelvic tilt. (I ponder the influence of this on my swimming, wicked tight hip flexors, ...).

As another poster said, I find I want to either move my saddle forward or bring my bars back, and possibly up <gasp> as I'm not so good about holding the pelvic rotation over long efforts. Will re-engage with my fitter shortly.

Oh, and as a PS to the OP, I was also on a Cervelo (P2C). I could never have engaged my TA the way I'm trying to now while on my prior bike, the reach was just too long. And I was fit on the Cervelo many times. I'm unsure how good all fitters are at understanding our complaints on saddles, and again as already stated, they can't know what we look like as we fatigue.

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.
Last edited by: Tsunami: Jan 19, 18 9:51
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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [CDNtriGal] [ In reply to ]
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My layman's (but, *sigh*, excessively experienced POV) is that the insertion point from the hamstrings (either of them could be the culprit) is pissed off. Everytime you ride and ESPECIALLY if you are riding on a sitbones saddle (ISM style) then you are really aggravating it and re-inflamming it with every ride. Saddle too high is a symptom but you also have history so not the clearest picture. You need to get that inflammation down and treated. It can be a very humiliating thing getting PT in that area. The first time i encountered this I went months with the issue before it finally healed itself. The second time I went right to my PT and, yeah, his massaging the area in hopes of breaking up scar tissue is embarrassing but the time off the bike was only a week or two and treatments every 3rd day or so. Good luck!

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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do you have any race/fit pics during this time period? i'm curious if it's at all visible "how" you were riding your saddle. either rapp-style (i.e. basically no anterior tilt) or with tilt. i'd assume that a person sitting with tilt is putting less stress on the immediate area of the insertion point but when browsing what pics are available online it almost looks like the more forward you are on your seat bones (i.e. more tilted) the more stress you impart on that specific muscular insertion.


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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [jkhayc] [ In reply to ]
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I'd argue tons of tilt. Fitting one another at Austin TriCyclist 15 years ago we all wanted to be "steep and deep" so it was always slam the saddle forward, put on the longest stem you could find, and take out all the spacers. I don't believe I've ever sat "square" on a tri bike.

It'd be interesting to try to aggregate this injury along with athlete fit pics. I wonder if a correlation would emerge.

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App
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Re: Tri Bike Causing High Hamstring Tendonopathy [CDNtriGal] [ In reply to ]
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I had reattachment surgery for hamstring tendonapathy three months ago and am so glad I did. Long recovery but I feel like a miracle. HHT a bitch of an injury especially when its chronic. Slow twitch has some great old strands that have good information that I used over the years as I battled this. A varieties of factors I believe contributed to mine: run form, tribike, bike fit, pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors, quad dominate, lack of lumbar hip flexion and a heck of a lot of iron training over the years. l had tears on both sides with complete rupture of 2 out of 3 tendons on one side. Over the years I tried everything that the other posters mentioned including: intense physical therapy with all the hamstring protocols, graston, acupuncture, rest, cold laser, ultrasound, cortisone shot when it was at its worst, and 2 rounds of PRP (2 years apart)with tenex procedure. I actually had good results from PRP. I would take off a couple months and do a lot of physical therapy and often get relief. One side remains pain free after 3 years and one side kept flaring up and I just could not get rid of the ridiculous pain. What causes and heals for one person doesn't always work for the next. One of the problems is you start developing scar tissue on the sciatic nerve from this injury so during my reattachment ... two additional hours were spent taking the scar tissue off my sciatic nerve. My run mileage went from in the 40 mile weeks, 30, 20, 10 and pain was terrible running, biking, sitting at work etc. and still no relief. It is hard to find a lot of information on the internet for this but on Facebook there are two "priceless"groups: Proximal hamstring injury and surgery and proximal hamstring Tendinopathy support 2018. These are your people if you want to learn about how to deal with this. You do not want to stretch your way thru this. I'm not sure how competitive you are but perhaps going back to the road bike with clip on arrow bars and a good fit is the way if it really doesn't aggravate you. Many people in the fb group can't do road bike either so in that regard you are lucky. Good luck!
Last edited by: KSP: Jan 22, 18 18:03
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