• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Hamstrung by the Hamstring – Treatment and Prevention, Part 1

You are here: Home / Coaching / Hamstrung by the Hamstring – Treatment and Prevention, Part 1
22
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

March 18, 2014 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

Last Updated on April 26, 2014 by Amir Rehman

This guest post was written by Dr. Allan Tissenbaum.

He is an Orthopaedic Surgeon based in Pittsburgh, PA, specializing in both Surgery and Sports Medicine.

Outside of work, he is a top ranked Masters Sprinter winning several National titles in the M50 category and prior years.  He has run 11.07 in the M45 100m and 11.42 in M50.

JIMSON’S PREAMBLE: Allan and I go way back to our McGill University roots and ironically, for 8 years covering 1981-1988, we were never teammates.  It wasn’t until the 1992-93 season where we both returned to our 5th year of eligibility and ran together on the 4x200m relay at the Canadian University Nationals (then the CIAU) in the Skydome, Toronto.  All through the years, we were coached by Dennis Barrett starting the 1984-85 season, who is currently at McGill for the 29th season.

Allan and I are a few years apart, so we do collide in the same age group every few years. Unlike other Masters Athletes, we don’t duck each other!

Mens 50-54 100m - USATF Masters Outdoor Championships 2013

Hamstrung by my Hamstring

At the USATF Masters Championship (July 2013) in the 100m final, I was feeling good in Lane 4, accelerating away from the field at 40 meters until… click on the video below to see what happened.

(click here for the video on USATF.TV)

Unfortunately over the course of my running and professional career I have been on both sides of hamstring injuries. I hope to give some input as to the anatomy physiology, treatment and prevention to this potentially career ending injury.

See also  2015 Nike Sprint Spikes Revealed

[Tweet “Hamstrung by the Hamstring – Treatment and Prevention”]

hamstring_muscles-Biceps_Femoris-Semitendinosis-Semimembranosis

The hamstring muscle is not one muscle as it is commonly referred to by most individuals. There are three main muscles: the Biceps Femoris(BF), Semitendinosis(ST), and the Semimembranosis(SM). All three of the tendons originate from the ischial tuberosity, which is the bone at the base of your butt. The Biceps Femoris ends on the lateral or outside on the fibula, the other two end on the medial side on the tibia. The primary action of these muscles is to bend the knee, secondary action is to extend the hip.

The Biceps Femoris is the most commonly injured followed by the Semitendinosis. There are many theories and explanations for injury, but no single theory can explain all injuries. Risk factors that are associated with injuries are: Strength imbalance, insufficient warm-up, and fatigue.

There exists studies in basic science which show associations between muscle length and strain, flexibility and best muscle length, flexibility and warm-up. The most common cause is excessive strain during a negative contraction and the severity has to do with the speed of the contraction. This is most likely to occur in the late swing phase of sprinting when the knee is extended and the hip flexed.

What is apparent after reviewing the literature is although we think we understand the injury, we are really unsure as what to do for prevention or the best rehabilitation protocols.

Injuries are graded along a spectrum. Grade 1-3. Grade 1 is stretching of the muscle fibers, grade 2 has more stretching with disruption of some of the muscle fibers, grade 3 is complete tear of the muscle fibers. The most common area for injury is the at the junction between the muscle and the tendon area. This is an area that is susceptible to injury because the of the poor blood supply and the transition of tissue from tendon to muscle. The body of the muscle is next in frequency followed by the origin and insertion sites.

See also  Hamstring Injury Management, Part 2

Fortunately most injuries are grade 1 or 2, and will usually heal with time and rehabilitation with time. The more severe grade 3 may require surgery depending on the area of the tear and after healing may be left with some functional impairment.

To be continued…

Category iconCoaching,  Injury Prevention,  Masters,  Track & Field,  Training Tag iconAllan Tissenbaum

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}