Your hamstrings are muscle group located on the rear of each upper thigh. It's common to experience tight, strained or cramped hamstrings, which can occur for several reasons. Upon dealing with hamstring cramps, take steps to prevent them from occurring again. Before trying any new exercise or treatment, talk to your doctor and have your condition properly diagnosed.
Muscle Fatigue
Hamstring cramps are common among people who are unconditioned and those who participate in seasonal intense sports, reports the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. During strenuous bouts of exercise, your hamstring muscles can fatigue and cramp due to the muscles not getting enough oxygen. When they lack oxygen, your hamstring muscles will contract and spasm involuntarily. Thorough stretching, and then starting out slowly and gradually working up to a more intense level of exercise, can help avoid these types of cramps.
Muscle Tightness
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People who are sedentary can find their hamstring muscles feel tight or hard. Hamstring cramps due to tight muscles can happen when you are active, sitting or lying down. A daily program of general stretching or a program geared to your sport can often help you prevent hamstring cramps. It is equally important to properly warm up before and cool down after any activity.
Heat and Humidity
Exercising in hot, humid conditions can lead to hamstring cramps. When your body loses too much fluid through excessive sweating, you can also develop an electrolyte imbalance. Substances such as calcium, potassium and others are necessary to help your muscles contract properly. If your body is low in any of these substances -- either through a poor diet or dehydration -- your muscles can involuntarily contract and spasm. Drinking enough water and eating healthily before and after exercise can help resolve these kinds of cramps.
Medical
As explained by Opar (3) the hamstring consists of three muscles, biceps femoris (BF), semitendinosus (ST) semimembranosus (SM), this composes a muscle group crossing the hip and knee joint that acts synergistically in extending the hip and flexing the knee.
What is a hamstring strain? According to Mayo Clinic, "A hamstring strain is a sharp pain that occurs up the back of your leg, also known as your hamstring." Swelling and tenderness will begin to appear within a few hours, however, bruising is a common experience within a strain, additionally not being able to apply weight onto the injured leg. You can treat a strain at home. Nevertheless, you should visit a doctor when if it grows unbearable to walk on your injured leg.
The causes for this muscle disorder are not completely understood, but there are several theories. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff, muscle cramps are caused by overuse of muscle, dehydration, muscle strain, or simply holding a position for a long period of time. In their article, “Muscle Cramps,” they also stated that cramps may be related to underlying medical condition such as inadequate blood supply, nerve compression, and mineral depletion (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2013). Getting inadequate blood supply affects the arteries that deliver blood to the legs producing cramps in the legs and feet while exercising. Another article called, “Muscle Cramps-Symptom Evaluation” also lists anemia, medications, kidney disorders, and hormonal problems as causes for this disorder.
This is nothing more than a small tear in a muscle, and many call it a muscle strain. When you stretch a muscle too far, you'll find you have this problem. Many runners describe a popping sensation as the muscle tears. You'll need to rest the muscle, ice it down, use compression and elevate it as much as possible.
Muscular cramping can be alleviated by adequate hydration, and eating fruits—particularly bananas, with each intake of clen. Some researchers also recommend Taurine supplementation of 3-5g daily, and Potassium supplemantation of 200-400g daily, taken on an empty stomach before bed.
The biceps femoris is one of the three muscles including the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus, that make up the group of muscles called the hamstrings. The hamstrings are located on the posterior side of the leg. The biceps femoris originates on the ischial tuberosity and inserts on the head of the fibula. The movement of the biceps femoris is responsible for the flexion of the knee and the external rotation of the lower leg. Flexion of the knee happens when the back of the foot is raised toward the back of the leg.
The second reason that this ball is an amazing product is because it can be used to massage sore muscles. Athletes can get sore muscles at their games and tournaments. However, there is no need to worry about cramps when this ball is around. This ball can massage all parts of the body as well, along
There are four different Hamstring muscles that run along the back of your thigh. These four muscles are called: semimembranosus and semitendinosus (medially) and biceps femoris – short and long heads (laterally). Hamstrings strains can occur for multiple reasons.
Pulling or straining a muscle is easier than most people think. It can happen to the fittest athletes and even the most limber young children, not just older adults. This type of injury can take some time to heal, which reduces the ability to exercise in the mean time. Luckily, muscle pain can be prevented by using the following five easy tips:
Although the mechanism of pain reduction following exercise is not very well researched, it is believed to be due to changes somewhere in the nociceptive pathways, peripheral or central.
Tight quadriceps and weak hamstrings are a common muscle imbalance. We tend to use our quads more in everyday life, and many popular exercises in the gym emphasize the isolated development of quads. There are two main ways that weak hamstrings can cause back pain.
Hamstring injuries originate from a disproportion between the quadriceps and hamstrings. The quadriceps are a large, resilient group of muscles which help to extend the leg. These muscles may upon force overstretch the hamstring, placing too much tension on the hamstring muscles.
This case study presents an individual who is experiencing frequent leg pain upon participation in physical activity. Leg pain is a common condition experienced by competitive and recreational athletes. However, the diagnosis of leg pain can be difficult as there are numerous possible underlying contributors. A thorough comprehension of human anatomy and biomechanics is essential for a proper understanding (2). Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome is one of the most common conditions experienced by athletes (1,2). Of a group of 150 athletes who reported exercise- induced pain, 33 % were diagnosed with chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) (2). Although mostly athletes experience CECS, it is still prevalent amongst non-athletes (3).
When an athlete sweats profusely, electrolytes, such as sodium, are lost. When the amount of sweat lost is greater than the amount of salt being ingested, a sodium deficit is created in the body. Also during exercise blood pressure increases which in turn causes a decrease in blood plasma volume. To compensate for this loss, water from the interstitial fluid compartment moves to the intravascular space. As exercise progresses and the individual continues to sweat these compartments become more contracted. Commonly seen in the quadriceps and hamstrings, these contracted compartments cause neuromuscular junctions to become over excited which triggers an action potential in the muscle fibers. This creates “small localized muscle contractions visible at the skin” called fasciculations which are a common precursors of larger and more intense muscle cramps. Athletes with high sweat rates and a high sweat sodium concentration, or “salty sweaters”, are most at risk for exertional heat cramps. This is because it speeds up plasma volume loss, resulting in the fluid moving faster out of the interstitial compartment, which triggers muscle cramping. To prevent and treat these cramps from occurring, one should drink a carbohydrate-electrolyte drink with about 3.0 grams of
Always make sure you do some stretching exercises before and after working out, as this can help prevent muscle cramps.