Now as with any injury, you should always consult your GP and or physiotherapist before commencing any new exercise…

So a big mistake when rehabilitating the hamstring  is the lack of eccentric work… people tend to stretch and concentrically strengthen muscles which does not protect the hamstring when it is under the most strain. Eccentric contraction involves contracting a muscle in a lengthened position- in the case of the hamstring this would be from knee flexion through to knee extension. This differs to concentric muscle activity where muscles are both contracted and shortened at the same time, this would be the equivalent of performing a hamstring curl

Nordic hamstring exercises are found to be quite useful in strengthening the hamstring muscle

Look out on MCR for a detailed hamstring rehabilitation programme in the coming weeks

Recurrent Hamsting injuries? is a post from: Musculoskeletal Consumer Review

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Why focus on the hamstring?

In a study¹ amongst national basketball team divisions, division I players have significantly higher significantly peak torque (explosive power) than the lower divisions in both the quads and hamstrings. Running fast is not simply a result of the legs pushing off the floor with the quads; but also the result of the hamstring and the glutes pulling back the hips. Explosive power from both the quads and the hamstrings are crucial to high performance plays.

Hamstrings

The hamstring is a group of large, powerful muscles that covers the back of the thigh, from the lower pelvis to the back of the shin bone. The hamstring functions to extend the hip joint and flex the knee joint. If the quadriceps is far stronger than the hamstrings, it can easily overpower the hamstrings, tearing or straining them during vigorous game play. Sadly, hamstring pulls rank high amongst the most common injuries to bench a player. Just recently in April, Forward Luke Walton missed the Lakers’ game at Sacramento with a strained right hamstring.

Are you hamstrung?

Common symptoms of a pulled hamstring include :

1. Bruising from small muscle tear and bleeding,
2. Swelling,
3. Muscle spasm and,
4. Difficulty in contracting the muscle or flexing the knee.
5. Pain on walking especially upslope and sprinting.

Some immediate steps to take include applying R.I.C.E.R. (Rest Ice Compression Elevation and Referral). Seek a doctor or physiotherapist’s attention if you have difficulty walking or the pain is quite significant.

Hamstring of Steel

click for larger view

This exercise is great to build up really strong hamstrings.

Start position

1. Place your knees on the glute-ham bench with your ankles firmly supported and assume an upright position, with hips and shoulders in line with knees. If you don’t a bench, work with a partner to hold your feet down.
2. Tighten your buttocks and tuck your tummy in so your pelvis is in the neutral position.

Lowering movement

1. Slowly lower your whole body forward until you feel a pull in your hamstrings.
2. Squeezing your buttocks throughout the movement to keep your hips extended.
3. Stop when you feel a little strain in the hamstrings.

Return movement

Pause for moment and raise your body back to the start position. Your hamstrings will work very hard to get you back up. Watch for excessive movements from the back. If you feel your back muscles tightening up much and starts to ache, you could be using your back extensor muscles to compensate.

To make it easier to start with, bend at the hips a little or use your hands to help you back up at first. As you get stronger, you will be able to complete the movement up and down smoothly. If at first you cannot lean very far forward, this will also improve with practice. Aim to get as far forward as possible to work the hamstrings through a full range of motion.

Perform two sets of five reps at first, building up the range of motion. Once you can complete a full range all the way down and up, keeping your body straight, increase to three sets of 8-10 reps. Don’t forget to do sprint work to build up the explosive strength of your hamstring. And lastly stretch them out. Longer hamstrings produce more explosive power.

Reference:

1. Peak torque of quadriceps and hamstring muscles in basketball and soccer players of different divisions, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 1995

Is Your Game Hamstrung? is a post from: Musculoskeletal Consumer Review

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The Kinetic Chain

The ankle is a part of a kinetic chain that forms from your foot, through your ankle, shin, thigh, and all the way to your hips. Power needs to be generated and transferred effectively through this chain, particularly in an explosive vertical jump, for maximum impact. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We generally tend to focus more on building the thigh’s explosive power and less on building the smaller muscles supporting the ankle. The muscle around the ankle is important, not so much for power generation, but for holding the ankle joint to ensure the best kinetic energy transfer. For higher jumps and more consistent play, we will take a look at injury prevention and management tips, and strengthening tips for the ankles.

Injury Prevention and Management

dth="200" vspace="10" hspace="10" border="0" alt="Figure-8 Ankle Taping" src="http://mcr.coreconcepts.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/jumpshot-ankle

The first thing is not to get injured. Nothing causes performance deterioration faster than injury-related down-time. The ankle needs to be properly supported to withstand the rigors of the game. Ankle braces and supports unfortunately tend to be difficult to use as their thickness makes them uncomfortable to play in. One good option is to use sports tape. A rigid sports tape in a simple Figure-of-Eight pattern provides good support without excessively restricting movement. More complicated taping patterns may be too restrictive for play. And as tapes are quite thin, they are more comfortable to wear. Sports tape also play a role in proprioception, which is the awareness of movement derived from muscles, tendons, and joints. In this, sports tapes allow you to have a better sense of your muscle movement and exercise it accordingly during game time while preventing sprains in the process. It is possible to have strong muscles supporting the ankle and still get sprains if the muscles react too slowly to the changing environment like a fast moving basketball game; like a carfs air-bag going off after the crash.

If you do get an ankle sprain, apply the R.I.C.E.R principles – Rest, Ice and Compression Elevation and Referral. Don’t massage the area. Ice helps constricts the blood supply to minimizing swelling. Massage has the exact opposite effect to increasing blood supply. After which, your rehab specialist can start treatment to speed up recovery.

Strengthening Tips

Muscles supporting the ankle must be able do to two things – provide enough support (strength) and react fast enough when needed (proprioception)

Proprioception Training

The best way to simulate proprioceptive retraining, as well as work on range of motion and strength, is with a wobble board.

Strength Training

Plyometrics is a form of “explosive-reactive” power training. It involves powerful muscular contractions in response to a rapid stretching of the involved musculature. Injury can result from the incorrect use of plyometrics. So make sure you seek the advice of a professional who is trained and experienced in this method of training before starting on a serious plyometrics routine. Some common routines that are useful for basketball include Quick Feet Drills, Cross Jump Drills and Multi-directional Jump Drills.

Quick Feet Drills

dth="250" border="0" alt="Agility Ladder 1" src="http://mcr.coreconcepts.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/agility-ladder-1

Quick feet drills using a rope ladder are a form of plyometric activity. Sideways movements are functional for most sports.

Progressing to multi-directional patterns using the rope ladder, moving from left to right while contacting each square with both feet, then back, from right to left continuing the sideways pattern. The thigh muscles work to control the movement. This sideways exercise puts a controlled load through the ligaments of the knees and ankles

dth="250" border="0" alt="Agility Ladder 2" src="http://mcr.coreconcepts.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/agility-ladder-2

Slam Dunking Starts at the Bottom is a post from: Musculoskeletal Consumer Review

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