Snugness Research Paper

Hamstring Strains (HS) are identified by acute pain in the thigh with disruption of the muscle fibres, with 47% of all HS studies stating that the BF muscle is affected (3). This can be explained because the BF muscle tendon and muscle fibres are where the most common distribution of the ground force produced during running (3). Eccentric contraction is explained by a study from Guex (4) stating that between 75-85% of the running cycle the hamstrings are undergoing an active lengthening contraction. Having this amount of eccentric contraction upon the muscles has the potential to cause an overuse injury (4). At 85% of the running cycle, the SM, ST, and BF are stretched by 8.7-12.0% which is beyond their optimum lengths (4).

Without a doubt a strain to the hamstring is an atrocious impairment to all athletes. Prevent an injury by always warming up and stretching. Stretch after your warmed up, it will increase flexibility. Unfortunately, not being fully stretched that night at dance practice, was what resulted my injury.

When a patient tries to work through the aches and pains of either rehab or activities of daily life, they can develop pinpoint pain in their muscle due to compensation patterns that may hinder their performance. These pinpoint pains are commonly referred to as either active or latent trigger points. Active trigger points are known as highly localized, hyperirritable, taut bands of skeletal muscle fibers that can be felt by the patient without any palpation; while latent trigger points are pain-free until stimulated with palpation (Morihisa,Eskew, McNamara, & Young, 2016). These trigger points have been seen to be the cause of up to 85% of patients with the chief complaint of muscular pain (Unverzagt, Berglund, & Thomas, 2015). It is because of this that recent research on a technique called dry needling, has recently taken the sports medicine field by storm.

“The hamstrings and quadriceps are important to the stability of the knee joint. When there is a deficit in the strength of a hamstring, in comparison to that of quadriceps, an athlete is more likely to be predisposed to an ACL injury” (Krick, 2001, pg. 5). “Female, athletes in specific, rely heavily on their quadriceps to jump and pivot, therefore, a female’s quadriceps are stronger than their hamstrings. Because female athletes heavily rely on their quadriceps more, it reduces their knee stability” (Krick, 2001, pg. 6).

Before I can talk about flexibility, we need to define what a "tight muscle" really is. A very big flexibility misconception is that muscles need to be physically lengthened and the best way to lengthen muscles is through stretching. This is simply not true! Muscles already have all the length they need and attempting to change that length via intense stretching is liable to cause ligament damage rather than actually increase the range of motion.

1. Hold free weights in each hand and stand on one leg with one knee slightly bent.

The factors that contribute to a strained Hamstring can be put into two different categories, primary and secondary. Primary factors are the bad timing of intermuscular coordination and the strength of the hamstring during the change between the late recovery of the leg and the approach in the swinging motion of sprinting.

Physical therapy for sciatica should be a combination of stretching, strengthening and aerobic conditioning is important to a sciatica treatment plan. It has been proven that when patients engage in a regular gentle exercise plan the recovery time is quicker compared to the patient with no exercise plan. Stretching exercises help to focus on muscles that result in pain when they are tight and inflexible. A perfect example of a stretching exercise is a hamstring stretch. (Stephen H. Hochschuler, 2016) This can be done standing or sitting. The stretch can help ease pain and tightness in the hamstring caused by sciatica. These muscles extend from the pelvis to the knee in the back of the thigh. According to Dr. Mark Kovacs a certified strength and conditioning specialist states, “the best way to alleviate most sciatica pain is to do any stretch that can externally rotate the hip to provide some relief.” (Cirino, 2017) Dr. Kovacs believes there are six exercises that provide some relief to the patient, they

Stretching in a warm up is crucial; this is due to body releasing more synovial fluid in-between the joint thus making them more p[liable and willing to bend, this can help prevent

     Before going right into a stretching routine, it is good to know exactly what you are doing to your muscles fibers and tendons. First of all, our muscles are made up of many little fibers called myofilaments. As a muscle contracts, the area of overlap between the different sizes of myofilaments increases. As it stretches, this area of overlap decreases, allowing the muscle fibers to lengthen. Once the muscle is stretched to its limit, additional length is gained through the surrounding tissues. As the tension increases, the fibers in this tissue align themselves along the same line of force as the tension. Hence when you stretch, the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length, and the connective tissue takes up the remaining slack. When this occurs, it helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. Doing this not only increases the range of motion, but it also helps to heal damaged tissue in the muscles and tendons. When a muscle is stretched, some of its fibers lengthen, but others do not. The length of the entire muscle depends on the number of stretched fibers. This is also true when a muscle is

The problem with hamstring exercises is that the athlete may get used to all the training and eventually start to put excessive pressure on their muscles, causing a pulled hamstring, or a strained hamstring which is caused by extreme

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.

Below the glutes and on the back of the thighs are the hamstrings, which include three different muscles: The biceps femoris, the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. The hamstrings work to bring the heel toward the butt (knee flexion) and to move the leg backward (hip extensions).

My first reaction to the first paragraph and the photo that went with this article was that this was just a simple hamstring stretch, but as the article when deeper into the information I quickly found out that this is not the case. Technically is this a stretch of the hamstring? Well yes, but it is not the only focus of this

DOM’s is when the muscle contracts and a person feels pain during the contraction. With pain there is usually a loss of the range of motion and strength. The symptoms usually set in about six to twelve hours after exercise and increase as time progresses until the peak is reached which is at forty-eight to seventy two hours (Valle, 2013). During the course of the study, male soccer players were used and wore a compression garment over their thigh, leaving the other unprotected in order to act as a control. Athletes performed a submaximal test on a treadmill for three minutes at eight kilometers per hour and at a three percent positive slope. They measure heart rate and oxygen consumption. The next test was an eccentric exercise and consisted of ten minutes of free running and changed to forty minutes of a ten percent downhill slope at seventy three percent of their maximal speed in the test before. An MRI machine was used to measure the thigh its chemical processes and alterations in the muscular group (Valle, 2013). The study concluded that compression garments were not only the effective at treating DOM’s but also maybe could be a preventative measure, but they need further studies to predict that. The garment also can protect against a strength reducing injury (Valle,