Hamstrings...questions

[Odysseus]

INJURIES
QUESTIONABLE CB Roc Alexander (Hamstring)
CB Champ Bailey (Hamstring)
OLB Patrick Chukwurah (Thigh) (You sure it's not a hamstring?)
OLB Louis Green (Hamstring)

PROBABLE WR Charlie Adams (Knee)
TE Stephen Alexander (Thigh)
RB Tatum Bell (Flu)
SS Nick Ferguson (Knee)
TE Nate Jackson (Hamstring)
CB Darrent Williams (Ankle)

QUESTIONS:

1. Where does the name Hamstring come from? I think it relates to pigs and it's a butcher's term.

2. Why do the Broncos seem to be the only team with a rash of hamstring injuries? (I guess the Broncos wish they knew.

3. Who was the name of that stretch guru they brought in awhile back?

CLINICAL:
Background: Hamstring injuries are common problems that may result in significant loss of on-field time for many athletes because these injuries tend to heal slowly. Once injury occurs, the patient is at high risk for recurrence without proper rest and rehabilitation.

The hamstring muscles are 3 muscles in the posterior thigh, the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris. The semitendinosus originates at the ischial tuberosity and inserts at the pes anserine; the semimembranosus originates at the ischial tuberosity and inserts at the posterior medial tibia. The biceps femoris has a long head that originates at the ischial tuberosity and a short head at the posterolateral femur and inserts into the head of the fibula. Both muscles serve as knee flexors and hip extensors. At heel strike of the gait cycle, the hamstrings actually contribute to knee extension through closed chain kinetics. During the gait cycle, the biceps femoris contracts eccentrically in terminal swing, which is important in the pathology of the injury, as discussed later.

History: Hamstring strain is a noncontact injury and usually occurs with either acute or insidious onset. Strain injuries frequently are seen in athletes who run, jump, and kick. Avulsion injuries are seen in patients who participate in water-skiing, dancing, weight lifting, and ice-skating. The avulsion injury usually follows a burst of speed, and the patient may report a popping or tearing sensation. The most commonly affected muscle area in the hamstring complex is the short head of the biceps femoris, possibly because of its innervation.

As with most strain injuries, the injury can occur at the following 4 places:
Origin of the muscle
Musculotendinous junction
Muscle belly
Insertion of the muscle
Injury is most likely to occur while the musculotendinous junction undergoes maximum strain during eccentric contraction of the hamstrings.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has described 3 grades of severity of hamstring injuries.
First-degree strain is the result of stretching of the musculotendinous unit and involves tearing of only a few muscle or tendon fibers.
Second-degree injury refers to a more severe muscle tear without complete disruption of the musculotendinous unit.
Third-degree injury refers to a complete tear of the musculotendinous unit.
Physical: In addition to pain in the posterior thigh, the physical examination may reveal any of the following signs or symptoms:

Tenderness over the site of injury
Ecchymosis
Palpable mass
A palpable defect may be felt with severe strains, but swelling and the deep location of the muscle may obscure this finding in the acute stage.
Palpate the muscle for a defect with the patient in a prone position and the knee flexed to 90°. This position relaxes the muscle and decreases cramping and pain. Palpate while maintaining slight tension on the muscle.
Pain with passive extension of the knee and the hip flexed at 90°, as compared with the noninjured side, which stretches the muscle
Pain with resisted knee flexion, which activates the muscle
Causes: Many different causative factors can contribute to hamstring injuries. The most significant causes include the following:

Inadequate flexibility of the hamstrings can result in injury. This may be related to the patient having no or a poor stretching routine.
Inadequate strength or endurance of the hamstrings with either a side-to-side weakness or an imbalance between the hamstrings and the knee extensors can lead to injury.
Muscle fatigue can lead to dyssynergia of muscle contraction.
Insufficient warm-up time may be involved.
Poor running technique may play a role.
Return to activity before complete healing has occurred can lead to recurrence.

[Lidderer]

Answers

1. It's actually a shorthand euphemism for hamstering, (which see: Gere, Richard) and the sensation caused therein(a convulsive tensing of the leg muscles) led to many a strain in the upper leg.

2. I believe it has something to do with the altitude.

2b. No I don't.

3. Rich something or other!! and I remember him being! really excited all! the time! when responding to banal questions! posted by fans!

[Play2win]

Are They still using "The BEAST" ?!?

[-Slap-]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

QUESTIONS:

1. Where does the name Hamstring come from? I think it relates to pigs and it's a butcher's term.

2. Why do the Broncos seem to be the only team with a rash of hamstring injuries? (I guess the Broncos wish they knew.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary.

They define the word as a verb here, but you can see its origins.

hamstring (v.)
1641, "to disable, render useless," a figurative extension from the noun hamstring "tendon at the back of the knee" (1565), from ham "bend of the knee" + string. Cutting this would render a person or animal lame.

I don't think the Broncos suffer from more hammys than the average team.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by -Slap-

I don't think the Broncos suffer from more hammys than the average team.

That could be perception on both our parts. Anybody tracking numbers on this? It would nice to see proof.

[Lidderer]

seriously, it's probably the altitude

[ludo21]

Originally Posted by Lidderer

seriously, it's probably the altitude

more lack of stretching i believe. course i know these guys know how to prepare, but maybe there slacking?? im reaching here.

[Odysseus]

I think Slap makes a point that NUMERICALLY the Broncos aren't that different than other teams. I would love to see the annual breakdown of injuries but I can't find it.

It could be weather related. Weather in Colorado can go from rain, snow, to summertime heat. This means the air can be full of water one minute and then draining it from your body the next. Nobody in Colorado normally hydrates the way you should.

People come from around the world to train in Colorado. Sharpe used to do something which I thought was smart. He'd go biking in the high country. You train at 10,000 feet and anyplace else can seem pretty easy. They have a run there called the Triple by pass. You basically run up and down three mountains.

Broncos players have an opportunity to be in incredible shape just because where they live. I think there is something to going from Colorado to southern Florida. I guess some Broncos players should consider training there in the summer. That is really the only way to prepare for that place.

[Mediator12]

I put this out there earlier. The broncos have a soft tissue injury percentage of 68% on the season to date. An acceptable percentage is around 25% overall with normal recurrence rate around 25%. There are many factors that can cause the Strain or tear of one of the three muscles. Lower back Inflexibility, poor stretching routine, reapeated trauma from practice and workouts, fatigue, and strength imbalance all play a role in the injury and recuurence of injury.

I am mostly concerned with the rate of occurence with this team as It applies to two things the team controls. The strength imbalance and stretchignroutine pre-practice and Game. Those two factors are CONTROLLABLE. The others not so much. I hope someone reviews this poor rate and takes action. I do know the Medical staff has changed three times in 4 years however.

Here is a good article to explain this further:

http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1996/08_96/best.htm

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by Mediator12

I am mostly concerned with the rate of occurence with this team as It applies to two things the team controls. The strength imbalance and stretchignroutine pre-practice and Game. Those two factors are CONTROLLABLE. The others not so much. I hope someone reviews this poor rate and takes action. I do know the Medical staff has changed three times in 4 years however.

I really appreciate this repost. I agree that it's controllable. I don't know how the Broncos compare to other teams but this seems higher than normal.

Greek seems to be the only consistent factor down there from what I am hearing. It's a shame they cannot get a top notch special teams coach.

Who was the baseball player who did that remarkable comeback? I caught a glimpse of his workout and noticed there were a LOT of squats in there. I got incredible results with it. It loosens up your hips, knees, and ankles. You have a lot more power in general in your legs. (?Clemmons?)

[theodnixon]

Whos that enthisastic trainer for the nuggets?

Anybody that can help Marcus Camby remain injury free for a year would be on my list.

[zdoor]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

I really appreciate this repost. I agree that it's controllable. I don't know how the Broncos compare to other teams but this seems higher than normal.

Greek seems to be the only consistent factor down there from what I am hearing. It's a shame they cannot get a top notch special teams coach.

Who was the baseball player who did that remarkable comeback? I caught a glimpse of his workout and noticed there were a LOT of squats in there. I got incredible results with it. It loosens up your hips, knees, and ankles. You have a lot more power in general in your legs. (?Clemmons?)

Griffey came back from a hammy torn off the bone.

[wabbit]

Originally Posted by ludo21

more lack of stretching i believe. course i know these guys know how to prepare, but maybe there slacking?? im reaching here.

This is what the Sports Doctor on KCNC, Channel 4 was saying this week.

He advised use of much more time for stretching before practices & games, but with all elements of game preparation at such a premium, I can't imagine teams taking the suggestion into practice.

I know that Larry Coyer & DBs Coach Bob Slowik have placed a great deal of emphasis on play reaction; trying to get quicker & quicker...as any coach would want, it's just that the Broncos work on this day after day after day & that constant super acceleration might be causing some of this.

[TheDave]

Though stretching and flexibility does play a role in these types of injuries todays hamstring injuries are much more a due to an imbalance in strength between the 4 large muscles that make up the Quads (Vastus Medialis, Intermedius, Lateralis and Rectus Femoris.) and the 3 smaller muscles that make up the Hamstring (Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus and Semimembranosus.)

The quads are easy muscles to strengthen, Squats, leg pres, hack slides, etc. All major muscle, multiple joint movements that result in extreme strength gains for the Quadriceps. The Hamstring group are much more difficult to strengthen. Exercises such as leg curls and stiff leg deadlifts generally place joints in a position of poor leverage and do not allow the significant weight and strength increases that exercises such as squats do. (compare the amount you squat versus the amount you leg curl)

Another factor (and this is solely my opinion) in these constant pulls/strains is the use of Creatine and other "Supplements" that increase the speed at which a muscle contracts. With the extra strength in the front of the leg working against the muscles of the back, their are particular times during the running stride that these muscle groups actually work against each other to support the joints of the lower body. When one group is pulling one way and the other the opposite, the stronger group wins. When the speed of these contractions increases injury can easily become more common.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by TheDave

snip
The quads are easy muscles to strengthen, Squats, leg pres, hack slides, etc. All major muscle, multiple joint movements that result in extreme strength gains for the Quadriceps. The Hamstring group are much more difficult to strengthen. Exercises such as leg curls and stiff leg deadlifts generally place joints in a position of poor leverage and do not allow the significant weight and strength increases that exercises such as squats do. (compare the amount you squat versus the amount you leg curl)

Dr. Dave? Great post.

The Special Forces guys do flutter kick, bicycle situps, swimmers and reverse swimmers all day which works front and back of the body particularly abs and upper legs.

I found doing squats...a lot of them...doesn't do anything for speed but it feels like your body starts to lubricate your joints on those areas to compensate for you using them. I know it doesn't make sense but the body is a self healing organism.

I think people get old from not using the body rather than the opposite. If a player is blasting off speed drills all day it's like your body gets used to it and adjusts. The injuries IMHO is a factor of something they need to add to the mixture not subtract.

[DB-Freak]

Depending what squat they are performing.

Full squat is more of a posterior chain exercise more than the quad.

Half squats or quarter squats are dominant quad exercises though.

[DB-Freak]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

Dr. Dave? Great post.

The Special Forces guys do flutter kick, bicycle situps, swimmers and reverse swimmers all day which works front and back of the body particularly abs and upper legs.

I found doing squats...a lot of them...doesn't do anything for speed but it feels like your body starts to lubricate your joints on those areas to compensate for you using them. I know it doesn't make sense but the body is a self healing organism.

I think people get old from not using the body rather than the opposite. If a player is blasting off speed drills all day it's like your body gets used to it and adjusts. The injuries IMHO is a factor of something they need to add to the mixture not subtract.

Squats will help greatly with your speed.

Rich Tuten uses variants of squats to increase speed.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by DB-Freak

Squats will help greatly with your speed.

Rich Tuten uses variants of squats to increase speed.

I guess I'm doing the wrong type of squats.

What I do is a combination drill. I look for ways to save time and maximize results. I do a series of ten of these.

Squats: I put my hands on my hips and just squat on a four count. I do about 50 (x2) of these. After each Squat I do a toe riser on a 4 count with minor weight (20 lb dumbells) or zero military press.

The problem is I don't have a real plan about what I am doing. If you have anything in writing that I can run with just send it. That will help me target results and design a plan to fit my goals.

I want to avoid weights but do a personalized P.T. drill. I doubt anything I am doing is impressive but I want to train for both speed and endurance. I can't find anybody that knows anything about speed.

Any suggestions?

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by DB-Freak

Squats will help greatly with your speed.

Rich Tuten uses variants of squats to increase speed.

Then we are back to the original question about hamstrings. I guess it's not easy being coach. Back to the sofa!

[DB-Freak]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

I guess I'm doing the wrong type of squats.

What I do is a combination drill. I look for ways to save time and maximize results. I do a series of ten of these.

Squats: I put my hands on my hips and just squat on a four count. I do about 50 (x2) of these. After each Squat I do a toe riser on a 4 count with minor weight (20 lb dumbells) or zero military press.

The problem is I don't have a real plan about what I am doing. If you have anything in writing that I can run with just send it. That will help me target results and design a plan to fit my goals.

I want to avoid weights but do a personalized P.T. drill. I doubt anything I am doing is impressive but I want to train for both speed and endurance. I can't find anybody that knows anything about speed.

Any suggestions?

Trying to train for both (strength, power, speed) and endurance is very hard and it's likely that either one of them won't make as much progress as you would like unless you are under a care of a trainer who knows his stuff.

I know several people who tried to improve their numbers for the army tests while training for power and didn't turn out as exactly they wanted on their army tests.

Doing bodyweight squats or low weight squats will never help you increase your speed or power.

If you don't have access to heavyweights, you should try out single legged squats or pistols.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by DB-Freak

Doing bodyweight squats or low weight squats will never help you increase your speed or power.

If you don't have access to heavyweights, you should try out single legged squats or pistols.

You are saying squats with weights give you speed? I've never heard of any heavy lifters being fast. Is it a particular type of training or just large muscle groups in general? What distance are we talking about?

I think I'm really more of an endurance guy. I would like to train for speed just for short distances under a mile but still want to finish my first marathon. It's never too late.

Fauja Singh rocks!
http://www.sikhtimes.com/bios_041904a.html

[DB-Freak]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

You are saying squats with weights give you speed? I've never heard of any heavy lifters being fast. Is it a particular type of training or just large muscle groups in general? What distance are we talking about?

I think I'm really more of an endurance guy. I would like to train for speed just for short distances under a mile but still want to finish my first marathon. It's never too late.

Fauja Singh rocks!
http://www.sikhtimes.com/bios_041904a.html

I never said anything about being fast.

It will help you get faster.

But the thing is your talking about endurance still.

It won't make you fast in terms of endurance.

If you want that, run far distances more and faster.

[Nuggets4]

Originally Posted by theodnixon

Whos that enthisastic trainer for the nuggets?

Anybody that can help Marcus Camby remain injury free for a year would be on my list.

Steve Hess. Dude is a pimp. I remember when I was covering the Nuggets I got to meet him once. He's as hyper as you would expect. This 5-foot-nothing ball of muscle just running wild among everyone.

[LordHelmchen]

Originally Posted by quiettiger

I guess I'm doing the wrong type of squats.

What I do is a combination drill. I look for ways to save time and maximize results. I do a series of ten of these.

Squats: I put my hands on my hips and just squat on a four count. I do about 50 (x2) of these. After each Squat I do a toe riser on a 4 count with minor weight (20 lb dumbells) or zero military press.

The problem is I don't have a real plan about what I am doing. If you have anything in writing that I can run with just send it. That will help me target results and design a plan to fit my goals.

I want to avoid weights but do a personalized P.T. drill. I doubt anything I am doing is impressive but I want to train for both speed and endurance. I can't find anybody that knows anything about speed.

Any suggestions?

While I do exercises with weight, I only do them for upper body. Lower body I do exclusively bodyweight exercises. What I respond to really well are the following squats:
hindu squats (Bethaks)
jumped hindu squats

I do 500 squats in a row in about 15 minutes , alternating the Bethaks with the jumped Bethaks.
At the end of the workout I do iso quads.

This I do 2 - 3 times a week and it helped me really tremendously concerning strength and stamina, also to a lesser degree with speed, jumping ability and the joints (though I never really had any problems with my knees yet).
These excercises helped me a lot wit my martial arts training.
I hated squats above all excercises, and thus I went with squatting heavy weights (so I don't have to do many repetitions), and I got good "nominal" strength out of this, but I didn't feel really that much better and it didn't help me a lot with BJJ.
But after starting to do Bethaks, I just fell in love with this excercise, and I'm actually looking forward to doing them. This is the only excercise besides the bench press that I actually like.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by LordHelmchen

While I do exercises with weight, I only do them for upper body. Lower body I do exclusively bodyweight exercises. What I respond to really well are the following squats:
hindu squats (Bethaks)
jumped hindu squats

I do 500 squats in a row in about 15 minutes , alternating the Bethaks with the jumped Bethaks.
At the end of the workout I do iso quads.

500 squats are no joke.

http://www.mattfurey.com/hindu_squats.html What do you think of this guy.

As a warmup to your Hindus try staying down for five minutes. If you get up to 15 minutes your feet will start to go flat to the floor. It will give that extra flexibility and spring.

This has given me a lot to look up and work with. Thanks very much.

What martial arts style do you study? I can't study the way I used to. It's pretty wierd some of the limitations. All I can do is condition.