Anyone else know why and/or also get the above? It is a pain in the lower part of the hamstring that extends a few inches down the muscle towards the knee. I can feel it’s “further round” than the ITB so definitely hamstring - possibly biceps femoris. It presents itself when running quickly but has been barely perceptible so far as I’ve started on the BarryP plan running little and often, and slowly. In the past I’ve made the mistake of running 2/3 times a week and ramping up the distance/intensity far too quickly.
When swimming it is made much worse when pushing off from the end of the pool many times in one session. However, looking back at my records even swimming in a lake has caused a very little bit of the same pain. Perhaps it’s made worse by trying to lie flat or my kick? Having said that I really don’t kick that much.
Background info: The pain presents almost only in the left leg only. I am a long term cyclist who has several times done a few months of running/swimming before returning to pure cycling. Whenever I returned to cycling the pain goes away after a week or two. A physio once told me it was because of “weak glutes” causing the knee to twist inwards during knee extension. I have done around 7 sessions of trying to “switch on” the glutes with exercises but frankly it doesn’t seem to be making any difference. I really need to sort this out because it could scupper any chance I have of switching to tri.
I had all kinds of horrific movement pattern issues after my 2 back sugeries. With all the down time, plus nerve damage my body had relearned how to move…the best it could. Obviously I am on the other end of the spectrum with severe injuries, but sound movement patters are quite frankly rare in society. We are a people of sitters at desks, head down, hands locked on steering wheels. Bodies were made to move!
I had many of the same issues you did just bizarre tweaks and pains, tightness etc. Mind you I went through multiple rounds of PT from my neurosurgeon’s office and they thought I was ok, sent me right out the door with horrible movement patterns and their stamp of approval. Two years ago I started training with a dry land class and the guy took me on as kind of special project b/c I was such a mess mechanically. I had become so weak in the glutes I could not do one single unweighted squat without my knees driving out laterally or even an ounce of my weight distributed off the balls of my feet. Not only was I crazy tight in the musculature, but the muscles were just switched off. If you can find someone that deals with athletes all the better. There is nothing I cannot do that I want to do now. The pathway to getting where I am was a lot of Olympic lifts, squats, lunges and an enormous amount of core strength that is challenged in multiple planes. Weight was not and is still not the goal, proper movement is, which ultimately fixed 90 percent of my issues.