Why Strengthen Tight Hamstrings?

TIGHT HAMSTRINGS

Many people have tight hamstrings. Tight hamstrings can be prone to tears and limit sporting activities. The hamstring muscle consists of three muscles, semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris as can be seen in the figure below. Tight hamstrings can be responsible for postural problems and back problems as they will tend to pull the pelvis out of a normal position.

Reasons for tight hamstrings

Genetic reasons: People can be born with naturally short hamstrings while others are born more flexible. 

Not enough stretching: Those that are active in sports but do not stretch properly are more likely to have tighter hamstrings. Lower back problems can put pressure on the sciatic nerve which runs down the legs and causes muscles to tighten up.

What to do about tight hamstrings

Improve flexibility by stretching.  Avoid ballistic stretching, bouncing and forcing the muscle to go further than comfortable. This can cause more harm than good. Refer to the following site for more on stretching and forms of stretching. Sports massage can also help loosen tight muscles.

Problems due to tight hamstrings

Increased susceptibility to tearing. Forcing a muscle to go further than it can at a higher speed can cause it to tear. Posterior tilt in the pelvis. Hips and pelvis rotate back, flattening out the lower back and causing back problems. Lowered performance. Tight muscles means blood has been squeezed out of them therefore the muscles are working less than 100% capacity and performance will be lowered. Regular sports massage and stretching to improve muscle condition will not only reduce likelihood of injury but may improve performance. 

WHY STRENGTHEN YOUR HAMSTRINGS?

It’s so easy to strengthen the quadriceps, the front of the legs, but what about your hamstrings?  Is there any value in strengthening the back of your legs or your hamstrings? Stronger hamstrings can help protect the knees from injury. The hamstrings help absorb stress placed on the knee from activities such as running and walking. Weak hamstrings can lead to knee instability and increase risk of injury. With weaker hamstrings it’s more difficult to get up from chairs and climb stairs. With increased hamstring strength cyclists have more power. The hamstrings are important for knee flexion and extension. i.e. bending and straightening the knee; when running, strong hamstrings will help with flexing the hip that is pulling the leg back. It will also help with strength, power and speed and many of the Pilates matwork exercises may be    used to help strengthen the hamstrings. Keeping the 8 principles of Pilates in mind while performing the exercises will help to get more out of the actual exercise. Some of these exercises include, hip rolls, heel squeeze prone, shoulder bridge preps and full, one leg kick, side kick, swimming. 

Some ways to add to the challenge of these exercises: sidekick may be done up on your knee (so kneeling on the bottom knee); Hip Rolls can be done with feet on the foam roller or on the ball. 

Shoulder Bridge can be done with feet on the foam roller or on the ball. Swimming may be done on an arc barrel, lying supine, balanced on the apex of the barrel, resulting in less support. Swimming preps may also be done on hands and knees again, less support.