SS: Ow Ow Ow Ow!! (Hamstrings)

[Cubsfan]

Ok, so I pulled both of my hamstrings playing softball today. Running to first, and about halfway there, I could feel both my legs just start to HURT! Hobbled off the field and went home. Been doing the whole RICE thing tonight, but boy do they hurt. I might go see the doc tomorrow, although I doubt he can tell me anything more than what I'm doing.

I was curious, does anyone know if hamstring strains can be caused by an imbalance between the quads and the hamstrings? I rode my bike a LOT for quite awhile, and just in the last few months have been doing a lot of work on the stairmaster. I have abnormally large quads, but really have never done anything for my quads (never done many specific lifts for them, no running, etc...)

Oh well, back to elevation... *sigh*

[dsuds]

The muscle imbalance will definitely make your hamstrings more susceptable to injury. My nephew's best friend is in the same boat you are. He did lots of squats & weights and has huge quads, but has pulled his hamstrings about 4 times because of it. We've tried to tell him that all the isolated weight work was a but he didn't listen.

Also, my son was an avid skateboarder and the imbalance caused by kicking with the same leg gave him terrible shin-splints when he ran... so much so that he gave up skateboarding.

I know that injury is very painful, and I feel for ya. Heal up soon.

[Merlin]

Yes the imbalance hurts. Not so much because one muscle is big but rather because the other is being pretty much ignored.

To keep the hammy in shape jog backwards every now and again. Backpedaling is good. This is the main reason why baseball players often pull the hamstring while basketball and football players don't.

In the mean time a hamstring pull needs lots of time to heal. Big muscles take a while and the hamstring is one of the biggest. Do some light stretching if you can and nothing strenuous for 6 weeks. Don't mess around. After a couple of weeks the leg will feel fine but don't be fooled as it is still injured. Using it too soon will just re-aggravate the injury.

[Cubsfan]

Thanks for the advice. Any ideas on what I could do for cardio in the meantime? I figure I'll finally start lifting weights like I've been meaning to do (upper body), so that'll be good, but I'd still really like to be doing some cardio too.

[cheapie]

swim?

[modena]

Your hamstring strength should be about 66% of the strength on your quads. Thus if you can do a 100 lbs leg extension, you should be able to do 66 lbs leg curl. Obviously they should take about the same amount of force to do, like you shouldnt be struggling way more to do one then the other.

I have strained my hamstrings a few times, your best bet is to take a few days off doing anything for them. Then start slow with lifting and light cardio. You will DEFIANTLY want to get some deep tissue message at some point down the road as to prevent scar tissue from building up and/or to get rid of any that will form.

To prevent further injuries to the hamstrings, make sure you are fully warmed up before doing anything high intensity, like sprinting for first. Proper and excessive stretching is also a huge benefit (which I myself neglect but I know I should be doing more of).

Also try to stay clear of ben gay and those types of creams, I cant remember exactly why but I know both my doctor (my father) and personal friends who are physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specielist also recommend not using the creams.