In article <[email hidden]>, Burak Ilter
Quoted message said:
Thanks for the tip Ozzie. Sorry for being incomplete in detail. The strain
is in the back of the thighs (hamstrings). I am planing to buy a new pair of
running shoes designed for running on trails. I hope they will help, but I
would still appreciate any help.
The strain is not very painful so I have been continuing my training so far
without paying it any heed.
Burak
Issue:
For some time, I have noticed that my knees begin to hurt
when I begin stretching my hamstrings regularly. After about two or
three days of regular, (and mild) stretching by doing toe touches ( non
ballistic ) I begin to notice that my knees hurt when I run.
Ozzie's Response:
While our hamstring get tight more from sitting than from running, the
quads are more often than not the culprit. If you have a tendency to
stand and lock you knees in hyperextension, that is one way of
chronically tightening the quads.
The tighter the quads, the shorter they become, and tilt the pelvis
forward. From all the sitting we do, the hamstrings shorten because of
our slouching posture in all these ergonomic chairs we have. We should
be using energy rather than conserving it while we sit, by sitting
properly.
The end result is that we are tight and constricted. So if you are
doing and overdoing hamstring stretches, the end result is that an
overstretched muscle to protect itself shortens even more. So the
tighter the hamstring becomes the more you try to stretch.
I liked the idea of the doorjam stretch. Back in Feb '94 Runner's
World, they an article on the work of Aaron Mattis. His belief is that
you use the agonist muscle to stretch the antagonist muscle and then
for 2 seconds and only 2 seconds at the end when the agonist can't do
any more, you help it. That way you don't get into the stretch reflex.
Another exercise I have people do is get a rolling pin and lay on it.
Lay the quads across the rolling pin with most of the body weight on
the forearms, front of the toes and the knees. You are laying on the
floor with the pin under the quads. You gradually put more and more
weight as you roll out the quads. You can push the left toe into the
ground and that tightens the left quad. You relax the left as it lays
on the pin and tighten the right quad. You can go back and forth and
gradually you'll feel the quads sink more and more into the pin. Do it
lovingly and do not cause pain. Be consistent.
For the hams, while sitting on the edge of your chair, place a tennis
ball (and later a baseball) under one of the hamstrings. That leg with
the tennis ball under it is resting straight with the heel on the
floor. Rotate the leg side to side using the tennis ball as a form of
accupressure. If you sit up straight, you'll feel the hamstring even
more because sitting up straight causes the pelvis to roll more to the
front of the sitz bones and thereby elongating the hamstring making it
tighter.
Good luck on loosening your legs out of your pelvis...by elongating
both the hams and the quads. Also check out
www.mindfulness.com/of5.asp
In health and on the run,
Ozzie Gontang
Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975
Maintainer - rec.running FAQ
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/running-faq/
Mindful Running:
http://www.mindfulness.com/mr.asp
