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Tight hamstrings muscles also known as hamstring dominance may be prone to severe strains or contribute to other problems such as back pain and they may be more susceptible to tearing. If you force a muscle to go further than it can normally go at speed it is likely to tear.
Tight hamstrings can cause the hips and pelvis to rotate back flattening the lower back and causing back problems. Tight hamstrings can also be responsible for postural problems and other back problems such as sacroiliac joint pain, as they will tend to pull the pelvis out of normal position.
If your muscles have tightened up then blood has been squeezed out of them therefore your muscles are working at less than 100% of capacity and your performance will be down as a result. Regular massage for hamstring muscles and hamstring stretching to improve muscle condition will not only reduce the likelihood of
injury but may also improve sporting performance.
Reasons why you have tight hamstrings:
Genetic reasons
Not stretching properly
Problems in your lower back
Muscular imbalances
Just stretching or treating them locally and overlooking muscular imbalance and their compensatory patterns can be a big mistake. Weak gluteal and hip muscles can result in a neuromuscular issue called reciprocal inhibition.
The process called reciprocal inhibition pairs weak gluteal muscles with overly tight hip flexors to distort your alignment and movement mechanics, while weak hip muscles make you susceptible to knee injury.
When the power of the glute max muscle is lost, the body will look for other muscles to compensate beyond their regular capacity. This creates a cascade of tight and weak muscles all the way down the leg in an attempt to recreate proper movement patterns. These muscles then usually end up becoming injured themselves, as they are overloaded and cannot correctly compensate for the dysfunction.
The effects of muscular imbalances can be immediately felt or be a slow process that you may not notice right away. What to look for when muscles that overwork and carry the load often ache and/or go numb. Those that remain disconnected are sore after exercise and can suffer from sharp pain and edema, tissue quality is emaciated. The compensation patterns can take extensive rehabilitation and months to reverse if you wait too long to deal with this injury.
Treatment: Over the past 10 years, I’ve been a practicing specialist in Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT). The goal of my practice is to get you to a state of pain-free optimal health. If you have symptoms, that’s your body’s way of telling you something is out of balance. I will help you find out where that imbalance lies, which is individualized for each person.
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