hamstring pain

You could try lowering the saddle a little til you feel it more in the quads. As for me when I train hard I make sure to take hyaluronic acid (water holding molecule) daily and a baked potato (helps make HA) on "long ride day" to keep the hams hydrated but I'm an old guy with tight hams.

Yeah, this is a good question, I have similar problems with my hams. Sometimes when I do really hard intervals on hot dehydrating days, my left ham particularly will cramp up, but also my right, but my problem is right below the gluteus maximus. It gets annoying. I stretch before and after, but the damn pain keeps recurring...

I sometimes hang out in a spinning class. My friend is an instructor. On those bikes, I can't generate as much power, because of the different angles, and I get hamstring pain for few days after.

Plus, I get tired quicker. I sometimes can hardly keep up with the folks in the class. Most of them are 15mph riders.

Biomechanical factor I guess.

wiredued said:

As for me when I train hard I make sure to take hyaluronic acid (water holding molecule) daily and a baked potato (helps make HA) on "long ride day" to keep the hams hydrated but I'm an old guy with tight hams.

Have you tried creatine monohydrate? It keeps muscles hydrated. It is more for strength athletes but it may be something to consider.

robkit said:

one theme i've noticed recently, as i've started to do more intervals at higher power outputs, is that any soreness i get the day or two after is really concentrated in the hamstrings, especially the lower section just above the knee.

Muscle soreness usually occurs near the insertion points where the ligaments and tendons tie in. Seldom will it occur in the muscle belly unless you're really trashing yourself. You're having soreness (DOMS) there because you have been training harder than you were previously conditioned for. Your body is simply adapting to the new stressors.

Quoted post said:

the soreness has in fact made my realise how much i use the hams when riding.

True, at least at the higher power output. You're probably not using them as heavily during your normal riding. I tend to use hammies more during high power intervals and hills.

Quoted post said:

... because my intervals are done on my second bike, set up on the turbo, perhaps its set up slightly differently. in which case can anyone help me diagnose the problem based on the symptoms?

It is possible. Check your seat level and positioning. Use a tape measure and see how the two bikes compare. Honesly though, if you recently started doing the intervals I would suspect it is due to the new higher levels of stress placed on muscles you weren't using fully previously.

robkit said:

one theme i've noticed recently, as i've started to do more intervals at higher power outputs, is that any soreness i get the day or two after is really concentrated in the hamstrings, especially the lower section just above the knee. the soreness has in fact made my realise how much i use the hams when riding.

2 possibilities

- because my intervals are done on my second bike, set up on the turbo, perhaps its set up slightly differently. in which case can anyone help me diagnose the problem based on the symptoms?

- it's just something i need to go through, to develop higher power. i do wonder about this though, because generally i expect soreness in the quads if at all.

It may be seat positioning. When my saddle is too low I get cramps in hamstrings. When my saddle is too forward I get cramps in calves. When it's too far back I get cramps in quads. No ideal position 🙂 I can always get cramps in races.

I tend to feel my hams and glutes more on the trainer than outdoors. The lower wheel inertia on a trainer more closely resembles a climbing situation outdoors.

Pain in the back of the leg/knee could also mean my seat was too low, but during hard intervals I tend to subconciously get up 'on the rivet,' so who knows what my bike geometry really looks like when I'm trying to grunt through the last couple minutes of a set.

I haven't heard that about creatine before do you have a link? Thanks

Doctor Morbius said:

Have you tried creatine monohydrate? It keeps muscles hydrated. It is more for strength athletes but it may be something to consider.

wiredued said:

I haven't heard that about creatine before do you have a link? Thanks

http://www.sportsci.org/traintech/creatine/rbk.html

http://www.brinkzone.com/creatine.html

wiredued said:

I haven't heard that about creatine before do you have a link? Thanks

Well, Andy essentially just finished a lecture on it here:
cyclingforums.comt313404 how to improve 1 minute power.htmlOpen ↗

I just read these links about creatine they mention strength benefits but no muscle/tendon hydrating benefits. Is this something you have noticed from personal experience or is it documented some where?

Doctor Morbius said:

sportsci.orgrbk.htmlOpen ↗

brinkzone.comcreatine.htmlOpen ↗

I've got hamstring soreness just below the glutes. I've had it for almost a year now.

OK, I'm 45, was riding 160-300 miles/week most of last year, but just 3 days/week during the winter for 120-140 total/week. Been riding the same bikes for several years without changes, though I did up my miles about 2.5 years ago.

I keep stretching, took a week or two off, took ibuprofen, but I'm still sore. Massage helps for a couple of days, and reducing my miles seems to have helped a tiny bit too.

I think I'm just prone to it. Oh well. But if anybody has ideas, I'm open to them! 🙂

DennistheMennis said:

I've got hamstring soreness just below the glutes. I've had it for almost a year now.

OK, I'm 45, was riding 160-300 miles/week most of last year, but just 3 days/week during the winter for 120-140 total/week. Been riding the same bikes for several years without changes, though I did up my miles about 2.5 years ago.

I keep stretching, took a week or two off, took ibuprofen, but I'm still sore. Massage helps for a couple of days, and reducing my miles seems to have helped a tiny bit too.

I think I'm just prone to it. Oh well. But if anybody has ideas, I'm open to them! 🙂

I also have been suffering with the exact same pain. In fact, I can feel it now as I write this response...a dull throbing just below the glutes. It started about a year ago, in my 3rd year of cycling. It can get very intense on the bike, depending on the intensity.

I've tried stretching, strength training, running...can't get rid of it. I've even written to several cycling bulletin boards...no real solutions.

Check out this article...I found this yesterday and just started these exercises:

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/hamstring-injuries.html

I am 44 and ride 5,000 miles per year, 10 centuries and take spin class about 100 times per year.

tourdelivermore said:

I also have been suffering with the exact same pain.

<snip>

Check out this article...I found this yesterday and just started these exercises:

sportsinjurybulletin.comhamstring injuries.htmlOpen ↗

I am 44 and ride 5,000 miles per year, 10 centuries and take spin class about 100 times per year.

Thanks! Sounds like we're in a very similar situation!

It turns out I've seen and even done some of those exercises, though I haven't tried the leg swing ones yet.

At my work we have a fitness center and the trainer here set up a program for me that included some hamstring-strengthening (and stretching!) excercises. One involved lying down and resting my legs on a fitness ball and lifting my body up, keeping it straight and resting my weight on my shoulders, and then pulling the ball toward me with my legs and also each leg by itself. That actually caused some pain behind my knee which is why I stopped that one. Also did leg curls and extensions, etc.

But I was already sore when I started that program, and after a couple months my hams didn't get better, maybe worse, so I stopped doing some of the excercises. It was frustrating to go through all of that and still be sore!

I still do some squat variations (one is like #3 from your link), leg presses and such, as well as some awesome yoga ham-stretches (let's see; padangusthasana). See here:
yogajournal.com483 1.cfmOpen ↗

But in spite of all this I still have soreness. Perhaps I just need to give myself more time. Perhaps I can start that fitness ball excercise again, without hurting myself, and maybe that will strengthen my hams. Perhaps the leg swings will do the trick. [img]images/icons/icon7.gif[/img]

tourdelivermore said:

I also have been suffering with the exact same pain. In fact, I can feel it now as I write this response...a dull throbing just below the glutes. It started about a year ago, in my 3rd year of cycling. It can get very intense on the bike, depending on the intensity.

I've tried stretching, strength training, running...can't get rid of it. I've even written to several cycling bulletin boards...no real solutions.

Check out this article...I found this yesterday and just started these exercises:

sportsinjurybulletin.comhamstring injuries.htmlOpen ↗

I am 44 and ride 5,000 miles per year, 10 centuries and take spin class about 100 times per year.

Yeah from what I've seen, after I do leg press it helps out a lot by balancing the muscles and I feel just great! However, I still get the damn pain. For you I would suggest asking a doctor or sports physiotherapist...If you've tried strength training and stretching already, I think asking someone in the medical profession might help...

DennistheMennis said:

I've got hamstring soreness just below the glutes. I've had it for almost a year now.

OK, I'm 45, was riding 160-300 miles/week most of last year, but just 3 days/week during the winter for 120-140 total/week. Been riding the same bikes for several years without changes, though I did up my miles about 2.5 years ago.

I keep stretching, took a week or two off, took ibuprofen, but I'm still sore. Massage helps for a couple of days, and reducing my miles seems to have helped a tiny bit too.

I think I'm just prone to it. Oh well. But if anybody has ideas, I'm open to them! 🙂

Have you tried to adjust your saddle height? I think that regular riding with improper saddle height can cause problems. Try this link and check your saddle height: http://www.wrenchscience.com/WS1/default.asp , then click on "WS Sizing System :: Get fit for Road and Mountain Bikes!" on the right. Make measures accurately with someone's help.
I find that this calculator pretty accurate at saddle height, the only complaint I have is about overall reach. I think they changed calculator some time ago and now, with my numbers, it brings me shorter overall reach than 2 years ago 🙂

dot said:

Have you tried to adjust your saddle height? I think that regular riding with improper saddle height can cause problems. Try this link and check your saddle height: wrenchscience.comdefault.aspOpen ↗ , then click on "WS Sizing System :: Get fit for Road and Mountain Bikes!" on the right. Make measures accurately with someone's help.
I find that this calculator pretty accurate at saddle height, the only complaint I have is about overall reach. I think they changed calculator some time ago and now, with my numbers, it brings me shorter overall reach than 2 years ago 🙂

Well, it's time to do a followup on this thread. I hope this helps others with hamstring problems.

I think I narrowed down the possible source of my own pain enough to state that poor bike fitment was the main cause after all. I had, in fact, made a change to my bike - new pedals - but I had also adjusted the saddle to compensate for their lower (I thought) height. I reconsidered that change about a month ago, and after raising the saddle back up 1/4 inch the pain is almost all gone now. I may try another 1/8 inch rise soon, just to see if that kills the last small amount of pain.

Also, I must add that the leg swings mentioned in an earlier post were very beneficial too (sort of like doing a series of high kicks). They are similar to many of the "dynamic stretching" excercises I've started to read about. They almost removed enough pain to make me think they were the main solution at first, but over time there was still enough pain remaining that I looked further.

Thanks to all,