Hi All! This is IMF Performance Training's first blog post, we hope you find it impartial, useful and just as importantly, you feel we are not trying to sell you anything! Our soul mission is to cut out the rubbish and deal with the useful. We do not pretend to know all the answers but will provide posts that are based both on research and experience.This is a open debate so please throw your pennie worth in, as constructive feed back is great.
As a athlete, trainer or coach you will not need to spend long on the track or in the gym to notice that there is ALOT of hamstring tightness. Due to the high number of hamstring strains and 'gym talk' around it, it is worth having a chat around the subject to clear up the uncertainties.
Firstly it would seem that we look at the hamstring flexibility in the wrong way, perhaps our PT books were a little dated? or the body building world influenced our anatomy bias too much? Firstly we must stop thinking of the hamstrings in isolation as a muscle, can they be tight on their own? Maybe maybe not..however it is impossible to isolate them, so unless you are working with a cadaver forget about it. There are a number of structures before you get to the hamstring that you should assess first before concluding that the muscle is 'tight'. What might look like hamstring tightness usually isn't! Sound complicated? It is! However we can go through step by step.
What we need to think of is what movement the do the the hamstrings restrict? What is your end goal that you are trying to achieve? Really what I am saying here is we should be more concerned about the joint range of motion at the hip rather than the length of the muscle its self. Generally the muscle is not tight, it is the connective tissue, lack or correct movement patterning, neural tension and restrictions in the supporting fascia that restrict the movement.
The standard 'text book' checks you would normally do to look for basic movement at the hip are as follows:
Active Leg Raise
Lumbo-Pelvic Rhythm
Squat Pattern
However, typically I hear people say that 'i just cant get rid of my hamstring tightness' and I cant ever pass those tests above, my first response to that is how often do you stretch? Mostly the answer I find out is..not nearly enough! So to start with i would look here! We all know how to stretch the hamstrings so i am not going to teach you suck eggs. However, what if you have a client or athlete that stretches every day, or you just keep plugging at it as a trainer and it doesn't clear up? This is frustrating and it is likely that there is a restriction some where else in the body causing the muscles to remain tight, this is known as 'hypertonicity'. There are a number of factors that could lead to the hamstrings 'holding on', i have listed some of them out as a check list below for you to have a think about:
- Is the sciatic nerve tight? - If it is the muscles will remain tonic to protect it.
- Is there piriformis tightness? - If so, the pelvis maybe rotated adding stress on the hamstrings. Also the sacrotuberous ligament maybe impinged.
- Is there adequate t spine mobility - If not the lumbar spine will become too mobile to make up for it and the hip will be forced to try to stabilise the lumbar region. Also the lack of rotation at the t spine will place more rotational forces at the hip.
- Are the glutes strong? If not the hamstrings will be overstressed in helping hip extension and forming trigger points.
- Is the hip flexor group tonic? if so the glutes will be inhibited placing excess stress on the hamstrings and causing trigger point formations in the hamstrings.
If you have cleared all of the above and the hip still does not have adequate range of motion, then it is worth having a look into restrictions up and down the whole of the superficial back line. The superficial back line is a myofascial meridian that connects the toes to the back of the head via fascial connections. It would be worth employing a manual therapist to assess this for you however, in my experience take a look at the following if you have the expertise.
- Does the plantar fascia allow adequate ankle mobility?
- Does the calf allow adequate ankle mobility?
- Is the soleus tender?
- Is the hamstring tender?
- Is there tension in the posterior thigh fascia?
- Is there restrictions in the thoraco-lumbar fascia?
In summary, lets not try to focus too much on the hamstrings themselves. Lets look at what could be causing the hamstrings to 'hold' on. Think about multi-planer hip mobility, and the connective tissue that can restrict the movement you are trying to create ie ALR or LPR, this should lead to the answer! Remember, be objective and consistent in your testing.
Hit me back with responses!
John Scriven MSc, ASCC
Biomechanics Coach
IMF Performance Training
http://www.i-movefreely.com/
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, there is a lot of very useful information which is user friendly for all your readers. In response to your article I would like to suggest a diagnosis example for your readers. Let me explain. Like you, I train athletes and like you, my athletes suffer from "tight hamstrings". In the first phase of any training programme, technical development must be taken into consideration. In this phase I ensure every athlete knows how to perform the exercises and test every athlete through using the Over-head Squat. I use Fry and colleagues (2006) suggestions on diagnosis (see reference below) to locate areas of under activation, instability and as you refer to it as "tonic muscles".
Through the Over-head Squat I am able to observe (as you explain) the kinetic chain of muscular activation. Scapular retraction leading to trunk instability, lower back imbalances, glute activation, "tight hamstrings"...etc. Once an area of development has been located it is now the fun part of development, injury prevention and flexibility training.
In summary, find the location of the instability, develop the muscles, functionally train the athlete, re-test the athlete. Many Personal Trainers (and Strength and Conditioning coaches) fall into number chasing (lift more than last week!) which leads to tight hamstrings. All experienced coaches will develop range of motion first, then develop strength next. The key to athletic success is flexibility - simple!
Reference
ANDREW C. FRY,I DRAGOMIR CIROSLAN, MARY D . FRY,I CHRISTOPHER D . LEROUX,I BRIAN K. SCHILLING,* AND LOREN Z.F . CHIU. (2006). ANTHROPOMETRIC AND PERFORMANCE VARIABLES DISCRIMINATING ELITE AMERICAN JUNIOR MEN WEIGHTLIFTERS. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2006, 20(4), 861-866.
HI Jon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback and taking the time to write it.
I agree with the points you have made, flexibility is critical to building 'the efficient athletes', unfortunately the training world is too focused on the US NSCA system that is driven to passing arbitrary strength tests, invariably this creates egotism and as you say 'number chasing' in a range of tests that only test strength/power and inflate the ego. We know this strength and power are only one factor in sports performance. I love the quote 'strength training is a great way to make dysfunctional movement stick'. Get athletes to move well first, use less energy and then make them strong!
Unfortunately PT's and S&C coaches are ill equipped to deal with intrinsic biomechanical abnormalities that functional movement assessments such as the OH Squat may not pick up or deal with. Assessment like the FMS are just becoming popular, but only tell half the story. It is not those trainers faults, it is the people that write the course syllabus’s, PTs and S&C should be much more highly regarded and to do this I feel we must raise the bar and be more accountable for our programming. What I have tried to out line above blog is a process to think about if functional movement assessment may not explain. Great quote a strength coach told me once 'a muscle that is not working in isolation will not work in integration'.
Keep the blogs comments coming! Great to hear from you!
John