The Mighty Hamstring

My hamstrings have been giving me trouble for a few weeks now. Usually a tight muscle is worked out and back to normal for me in a short time. No doubt aging is a factor but should not be something that slows you down, you just need to approach things differently.

Preventative maintenance is key to keeping yourself off the injured list. Reality is, not many people take the time for muscle maintenance, ironically the older you get the more important this is but the older you get the less spare time you seem to have.

A muscle like the hamstring( which in fact is a combination of muscle groups that attach from the hip to the knee) is like an elastic band at the back of your leg. If its tight it will shorten the range or extension and prevent you from throwing high or effective kicks.

First, stretching. Don't skip the stretching. Not only does it warm up muscles but it tells you if something isn't quite right. You can have any injury and not know it for days until you make that one movement that says"ouch". You don't want to discover that in the middle of a full out committed kick..tends to be more than just "ouch" at that point!

Second, dynamic movement, kicks. Want to improve the height of the kick. After warming up and stretching the hamstring, start throwing the kicks that will stretch the hamstring further.(Cyclone, high roundhouse, dragons whip, etc.)

Third, try and fit in a massage session every 4 to 6 weeks.

Sadly, not enough people visit a massage therapist until something is bothering them or into the realm of injury. Time is always a factor for people and unfortunately so is our health care system.We seem to throw millions of dollars into reactive health care and little to no priority is given to preventive maintenance when it comes to our health.

Coverage for massage therapy ranges from none to a required doctors note to give you a token few visits for the year. I think we would be far better off to invest more of our dollars into the "before" instead of the "after".

In the meantime I have discovered the use of the foam roller to try and soften and work the knots out of my hamstring (see picture below). Another handy gadget that is not too expensive.

You can even watch a movie while spending some time on your muscles and not feel so guilty. Oh, and its really hard to eat popcorn while rolling on your hamstrings!

JC Masterson, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta, Canada