Okay, my last post until July 10th deals with Hamstring flexibility. The hamstring muscle probably has the most implications to your quality of life then most other muscles. One of the primary responsibilites of this muscle is stabilizing your knee. And if it is tight you are risking injury to your knee. You might be saying how can that be if it is in the back of my thigh. But if you know muscle anatomy you would see that the hamstring has primary control of the knee. If you are too tight or too strong you risk instability in your knee joint. Most people have much more strength in their quadtriceps (front of the thigh) and this causes inbalance and a host of issues. Your hamstrings should be no more then 60% - 70% the strength of your quadtriceps. Do the math. If you can lift 100 pounds during a hamstring curl you should not do more then 60-70 pounds in a leg raise.
So how do you test the flexibility of your hamstring muscle.
1) Lie on the floor with your face facing the ceiling.
2) Have a partner raise up one of your legs - that you keep knee locked and straight.
3) The minute your non-raised legs off the ground while your partner is raising your leg you fail.
4) To pass the hamstring flexibility you need to be able to raise you leg at least to a 80% to 90% angle without your non-raised leg rising off the ground.
Take the test and see if you have been working out incorrectly. Maybe your hamstring is too tight. If you find it is - why not reach out to me and I can suggest some really cool stretches to get you back in the game per-say.
I would not introduce my client to lower body work till they could show me they were flexible to take it. I could hurt their knee and cause them life long pain. You should be assessing yourself as well. These flexibility tests could save you from major injuries - please try them.
This is my last post until July 10th. I will be on vacation in Disney World with my family. Please do not forget me. I live to pass on my knowledge. And I beleive I am giving you a reason to come back - daily - to learn from me. Right?
Regards,
Eddie Camaroto CPT
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3 comments:
what is a 80-90% angle?
A 90% angle would be when you are lying flat on the ground and one leg is flat to the ground and the other leg is able to be brought to a position that leaves it pointing to the sky. Of course your lying leg must not move more then 2 inches from the ground while you do this for the test to be properly done. Has this helped you?
Great post, I am currently having a few issues with my knees and I was wondering if there is an email address I can contact you for your opinion? Thanks in advance
Ste
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