MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi all,
Yesterday I visited another physio in the hope to help with my knee issue. Again, I went through the assessment and again concluded that my left leg is weaker than my leg. Stiff hip flexor, weaker quad and hamstring. Anyway, he gave me a few exercises to start to begin building strength. I also have a little osteo arthritis in that knee.
Anyway, I told the physio that I had done these exercises before and I always ended getting hamstring cramps/pulls in the middle of them. And just like clockwork, 2 reps into a single leg squat (with supported opposite leg) and they went. Awful awful pain, proper cramp that lasted about 20 minutes. This type of thing has been hampering me for years and it really is getting to me. I can never properly recover. I try to stretch after riding, as that's all I can do. As soon as I start doing any stretching were I engage my hamstrings, they just go.
Does anyone have any advice? I'm going to have to go back in two weeks and explain I couldn't do them and go right back to basics, which even then, can cause cramps. I drink lots of water.
Not sure I can add much help but I do suffer from very similar issues. I've always just thought it was a muscle imbalance and that I'd need to train my abs and glutes to balance it out but I've never been patient enough to do that properly.
Contact the physio before then and ask if there is a adaptation to the squat exercise you could do to make them easier, or a different exercise which doesn't isolate and put pressure on the hamstring quite so much. Seems a shame to have to wait another two weeks to get started.
It could be that you need more work first around your hip flexors and glutes to offer support to the hamstring. Single leg squats are hard!
Have you tried weight-lifting exercises for the hams? Romanian deadlifts are the classic one - at a light / moderate weight I'd find them a lot easier than single leg / pistol squats, which are quite hard ime. Building strength is the way - I like a good stretch same as anyone, but they're bobbins by and large.
Drawback to the RDLs are that they need technique and are easiest with a barbell - so the gym, basically. But there are many other lifts for the hams.
I don't get it anywhere near as bad as you do, but my hamstrings are still pretty twitchy, it's taken a while for me to be able to do glute bridges properly without the hamstrings cramping and even then I can make them cramp pretty easily if I really 'grip' the floor with my feet.
I think you just need to start reeeeeeally easy and build up tolerance to load. My physio showed me a good floor exercise where I lie on my back, one leg out straight, other leg with knee bent. Using bent leg, I lift bum an inch or two off the gorund and hold, with the tension through my hamstring. I worked up to 4 x 20 second holds per leg although even that is still difficult.
I'm also doing high reps of Romanian deadlifts with pitiful weights to build up tolerance/form before eventually hoping to move to big boy weights (edit: great minds etc. Garry_Lager!)
I think typical riding puts more through the quads, and of course general life as well means hamstrings are weak and under tension.
Thanks all. I know it may sound a bit trivial, but I was really annoyed and frustrated last night over it. Feel like my body isn't going to work for me any longer.
I'll get in touch with the physio. I had been doing glute bridges, but I can barely get my arse off the floor. My hips are that stiff!
I'm going through it at the moment with low back/SI joint issues, it's surprising how many physio exercises seem to over-estimate the strength or stability of the average 40 year old desk worker! 1 legged anything can get in the sea quite frankly until my hip calms down...
I found this guys videos quite interesting on the subject of tight hamstrings. Slightly annoying presentation but bear with it! it's only 8 minutes.
Not sure how you embed videos but here's the link: