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| I've been practicing Ashtanga about 2-3 times a week for about a year now. I'm blessed with open hips and a flexible back. I've sort of hit a wall with my hamstrings of late. While I've seen serious progress over this year (I can touch my toes in forward folds, and was nowhere near doing so a year ago) with my hamstrings. Several weeks ago, I was in Parsarita Padottanasana B, and something "popped" in my left hamstring. I don't really know what happened; I didn't think I was pushing myself beyond my edge, but apparently I was. There was no immediate pain, only a strange sensation that something had "given." Now, whenever I'm in Prasarita Padottanasana, there's a twinge in my left hamstring; it's not terribly painful, but I feel it. I also feel the "twinge" when I'm doing prep for Kurmasana (which I'm nowhere near being able get into).
I took a few weeks off from yoga while I was traveling, and upon resuming my practice, I found that my hamstring felt worse. Stretching it actually seems to make it feel better though.
I guess my question is, how do I keep progressing with my hamstrings without overstretching? Also, any idea what they heck happened to me? I don't think I really tore anything because it seems like that would be more painful than what I'm experiencing. I'm a 26 year old active and healthy female with no past injuries. |
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| Hi Gretchen,
Welcome! The release of muscle fibers from their moorings on one another is often described as a 'popping' sound and a sense of giving away, followed by pain when those fibers are moved under muscular loading. It takes about 6-8 weeks for this muscle tissue to heal. You can speed that up by using ice on the sore left hamstring, then stretching after it's good and cold. Stretch right up to the discomfort, then sit in the fire attending to the tight muscle as it relaxes. Don't push into pain when you are weight bearing on the leg. Interact with the sore muscle when you are sitting or lying, out of gravity: contract it isometrically (muscle contracts but no movement of muscle is allowed), then let it release. Repeat this during the day, contracting the sore muscle, trying to isolate those sore fibers isometrically, hold and release, hold and release, etc. This interacting with the injury will speed healing. Ice sore point after any activity that makes it sore. Continue your asanas within the boundaries of pain-free action, observing the changing nature of things.
Best of luck.
Michael |
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| Thanks for the advice! I'll work on isolating the area. That is a bit difficult because it seems to be buried deep within my leg, and it acts up most when my legs are in that "V" shape. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Hi SH - I had to have a massage therapist work out my torn hamstring after about a year of trying to deal with it myself. She said it was like popping bubble wrap! You really have to make sure the leg is properly activated as you work so you aren't "hanging in the ligaments" and relying on natural flexibility to get you in the pose. Good luck! |
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| hi gretchen,
that's funny, i experienced the same thing a few months ago, and then again, recently. like you, i was completely perplexed because i didn't feel like i was pushing myself too hard and all of a sudden, pop, and i got that same wierd sensation. it was tender for awhile. i took a week off, and then started practicing again and only gently stretched the injured area. i wasn't sure if it was a tendon, but the sensation was deep in my leg, like you mentioned. it also hurt when i put weight on my leg in certain postiions.
michael, thank you for the advice. i will try some of those methods because it sounds like i had what you are refering to... one more question... this happened the morening after i had been running- which i used to do a lot, but don't do as often now. was that a coincidence, or does running tighten you up more and make you more prone to this type of injury?
thanks! |
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| Janet,
I do run quite a bit, which is what brought me to Ashtanga in the first place. I blame the running for the tightness in my hamstrings. I don't recall if I'd been running much when I had the "pop," but it's a strong possibility that there's a connection. Your situation sounds very similar to mine.
There's no question that running has done a number on my hamstrings. I've always been quite flexible, but after a few years of running regularly I could hardly reach past my knees. Anyway, I've been cutting way back on the running and will probably totally cut it out of my fitness routine. |
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| seoulyogi - 2007-04-08 9:23 AM
hi gretchen,
that's funny, i experienced the same thing a few months ago, and then again, recently. like you, i was completely perplexed because i didn't feel like i was pushing myself too hard and all of a sudden, pop, and i got that same wierd sensation. it was tender for awhile. i took a week off, and then started practicing again and only gently stretched the injured area. i wasn't sure if it was a tendon, but the sensation was deep in my leg, like you mentioned. it also hurt when i put weight on my leg in certain postiions.
michael, thank you for the advice. i will try some of those methods because it sounds like i had what you are refering to... one more question... this happened the morening after i had been running- which i used to do a lot, but don't do as often now. was that a coincidence, or does running tighten you up more and make you more prone to this type of injury?
thanks!
Hi Janet,
We are instructed that focused interaction with the object of our attention leads to samadhi, or integration with the object. When we are able to focus our attention on the injured area of the body by studied muscular contraction, increasingly isolating just the involved tissue, we can make good progress, speed healing and prevent chronic pain patterns. We may not be able to do this isometric contraction during the first few days of a significant muscle injury; it may be too sore. But, at the first opportunity, practice the gentle contraction and release (holding the contraction for a few seconds) when it feels apporpriate. It probably will be.
Running after having neglected it for awhile can easily lead to injury. First, we may pick up where we left off - the mind dictates what we think we should be able to do, rather than being present and in the body observing what the body is capable of in the moment - overdoing. Secondly, when we run regularly, the body gets used to that level of muscle destruction (from running) and rebuilding of muscle needed to maintain the routine. When we start up running again after a delay, the reconstruction phase is not up to speed. We're more vulnerable then. Athletes and others have discovered that going back out and repeating the excercise will work a lot of these muscle injuries out: getting that reconstruction up to speed again.
Some muscle injuries require some care from a good body worker, but the more we understand about how we heal, the less we may need help from others.
Michael |
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| Hi  Yoga journal has the best article on stretching. Here is the link,
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/209_1.cfm?ctsrc=nldn
It is titled "What Science can Teach Us About Flexibility"..and here is the part that made me think of your situation...
"...Such methods might appear dangerous or even cruel to an outsider, but in the hands of an experienced instructor they can be remarkably effective—and they bear a striking resemblance to cutting-edge techniques in Western flexibility training that focus on reconditioning neurological mechanisms.
As I researched this article, a friend told me about a time he accidentally engaged one of these mechanisms and experienced a surprising breakthrough after years of trying to master Hanumanasana (a pose better known in the West as "the splits"). One day, as my friend attempted the posture—left leg forward and right leg back, hands lightly supporting him on the floor—he stretched his legs farther apart than usual, allowing almost the full weight of his torso to rest down through his hips. Suddenly he felt an intense warmth in his pelvic region and a rapid, unexpected release that brought both his sitting bones to the floor.My friend had triggered a physiological reaction rarely encountered while stretching, a neurological "circuit breaker" that opposes and overrides the stretch reflex. While the stretch reflex tenses muscle tissue, this other reflex—technically, it's known as the "inverse myotatic (stretch) reflex"—completely releases muscular tension to protect the tendons.
How does it work? At the ends of every muscle, where fascia and tendons interweave, there are sensory bodies that monitor load. These are the Golgi tendon organs (GTOs). They react when either a muscular contraction or a stretch places too much stress on a tendon...." |
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| Does anyone know what affect hamstring size/length has on testoterone production? They are rather large muscles. In men do long lean hamstrings increase production of testoterone?
By doing yoga i know im having an effect...but how can i tell? Do you look in the mirror and notice changes or will you not be able to notice visually but only experience practically...eg: when you are doing a split or something? |
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Hamstring Advice
