Is seems that no matter what I do to to keep them loose, my hamstrings in both legs are constantly tight. The harder I work and the faster I go, the tighter they get. Am I the only one who experiences this? Or is this normal for us avid triathletes?
I did get a good FIST bike fit, I see a chiro to keep straight, get a deep tissue massage at least twice a month, run with good shoes and power step inserts, and stretch constantly. In fact, at Sundays OLY race, it took me 100 yds before I could really run correctly, desipite doing bricks a couple of times a week.
Any one have the same condition, and found a magic bullet to solve the problem. I am tough, but they hurt, constantly.
Thanks in advance for your infomred thoughts and comments.
Are you riding a tri-specific bike? I had this same problem on bricks with my road bike… esp. on long rides. Going two feet off the bike hamstrings would lock up. Training with my tri bike for bricks solved the problem right away.
trigger point technology… tp massabe ball and quadroller…
the only problem is, you will have to invest time and energy, but it s the best way to keep everything lose and working well
it s most likely that your quad arent the problem but hamstring, buttlock, hip flexer… and you need to work on those so your quad wont have to compensate…
so, look into tp massage stuff… it s the best tool on the market right now…
Well, the only thing I can think of is to stretch before, during and after your training. Maybe take some longer transitions while training bricks and stretch right when you get off the bike. My lower back sometimes has issues still and I stretch before the run if time is not an issue. Save the pain for a real race.
Other than that check with a sports-related doctor or therapist and see if they can figure out what your body is doing.
I’m having a problem with my toes going numb, so I’m trying here first then on to a specialist as well.
How tight? Tight, like you can’t touch your toes tight, or tight like you can’t tough your knees tight? I read somewhere, can’t remember where, that runners legs are not supposed to be ultra flexible, because that elasticity actually helps in the repetitive action of running. However, if they’re tight enough to be painful often, then stretch, stretch, stretch. No substitute.
Tight like I cant touch my toes on everyday but raceday. At the finish line on raceday, I can get touch my knees, and I need the finish line volunteers to take the timing chip off my ankle for me. Is that tight enough?
I know strech strech stretch. I will check out the trigger point ball and roller as jonnyo suggests.
…breathe grasshoper… yoga is great for improving your flexibility BUT (at least in my experience) the worse off you are the more time you may have to invest in order to see results.
streaching is something people tells you with really looking at it. If you have a muscle, say quadricep that as so knots in it, you can streach as much as you want for 24h 5 days in a row, it wont do anything… it s like streaching a rope with a knots in it, you wont break the knots and cant force it, it will only make the knots tighter. Muscle react the same and you have to focus on your muscle fiber and breaking knots and getting muscle lose. I dont strech, never and so far, never seen anything proving streaching do any good to prefent injury or enhance performance. But warm up the muscle and massage it a lot, very important
There is a reason why in the living room of mostly every signle elite triathlete… there is a tp massage kit… they are relatively cheap and also get the work done to stay on top of things and train at the highest level…
I assume you mean “knots” and not “nuts” but regardless, I completely disagree with you about stretching, and having been a gymnast for 14 years, I will tell you that stretching and flexibility have direct impacts on strength, recovery and injury prevention. Yes you have to break up the knots if you have them, and you do that with massage and TP and other things like that, but we’re not talking about stress knots. We’re talking about a guy who is chronically inflexible, and much tighter immediately after activity. I’m not telling him to disregard TP or warming up, I’m just suggesting that adding more stretching, or more effective stretching to his workout will improve his flexibility. It’s not rocket science.
My hot tub. 10 minute soak with the jets and bubbles on high, at about 103F, nearly every night before bed.
One of those giant shiatsu massagers from Homemedics…works great on calves and quads, not quite as well on hamstrings.
The TheraCane…cheap, easy to use, works great.
I stop every 15-20 mins during my training runs to do a 20 second stretch. Pick a street corner and use the curb for your calves and hamstrings, lean on a sign to stretch the quads. I found that I am actually faster this way than running straight thru. And I recover faster…no downsides to this!
And last but not least my favorite hamstring stretch (I’m doing this as I type): Sit in an office chair with arms. Turn ~45 degrees to one side, put your leg up over the arm of the chair and rest it more or less in the center of the hamstring. Roll your leg a bit side to side to find the really sore spots, press down on your thigh for additional pressure. Spend 10 mins or so per side, it works wonders!
I assume you mean “knots” and not “nuts” but regardless, I completely disagree with you about stretching, and having been a gymnast for 14 years, I will tell you that stretching and flexibility have direct impacts on strength, recovery and injury prevention. Yes you have to break up the knots if you have them, and you do that with massage and TP and other things like that, but we’re not talking about stress knots. We’re talking about a guy who is chronically inflexible, and much tighter immediately after activity. I’m not telling him to disregard TP or warming up, I’m just suggesting that adding more stretching, or more effective stretching to his workout will improve his flexibility. It’s not rocket science.
i would be suprise if you could find a study to support this…
"i would be suprise if you could find a study to support this… "
Not everything in life requires a study. I guess I’ll rely on my 14 years of gymnastics to tell me what good stretching can do, and you can decide not to stretch if you want.
and i dont want to change your mind and it s a lot better to keep working on what as been good for you. I m just adressing the problem of someone getting chronical tight quads/hamstring. I see many people like this and work with them. Flexibility is rarely the cause of the problem(never). The lost of flexibility is the results of another problem that need to be adresse…We will more often see a problem with muscle imbalance, bad biomechanic and some over work muscle(knots)
that s why in most case, it s minimalise to tell someone to strech more and that everything will be ok. Streching might help someone but it s not the solution to the problem as flexibility isnt the limiter for a runner/cyclist…
"i would be suprise if you could find a study to support this… "
Not everything in life requires a study. I guess I’ll rely on my 14 years of gymnastics to tell me what good stretching can do, and you can decide not to stretch if you want.
You forgot to start your post with “Listen here, sonny…” to make it even more authorative.
An btw, what Jonnyo is saying is basically right. Cycling and running have little to do with gymnastics, a concept that evidently you have diffficulty grasping.
"Cycling and running have little to do with gymnastics, a concept that evidently you have diffficulty grasping. "
Exactly why you feel the need to be a dick is beyond me. I did not say that cycling and running are comparable to gymnastics. What I said is that stretching and flexibility do contribute to injury prevention and recovery. Get off your high horse.
“I m just adressing the problem of someone getting chronical tight quads. I see many people like this and work with them. Flexibility is rarely the cause of the problem(never)”
I agree if we’re talking about quads, but we’re talking about hamstrings, which are a slightly different animal. And I also agree that all the things you mentioned are possible causal factors (muscle imbalance, biomechanical issues, etc). However, if the guy is inflexible to begin with, it’s not a wonder he is tight enough that he can’t even touch his knees after a race. Improving his base flexibility can’t do anything but help. He’s not limited in his ability to run (so far as he has said), he’s just supertight after a race, and wants to prevent that tightness. I’m also no suggesting he get flexible like a gymnast, because that’s not particularly helpful for anything but gymnastics.
…breathe grasshoper… yoga is great for improving your flexibility BUT (at least in my experience) the worse off you are the more time you may have to invest in order to see results.