Therapy for Hurting Hammies

W.O.D 4rounds of

450m run
21 squat jumps
30 cleans (These were a last minute sub for push-ups)
Not sure of my time. Was around the 27-28 minute range. The runs are killing me. Guess what I'll be doing more of in the W.O.D's to come.

I decided to pay Coach D a little visit and join in his Thursday night groups. It had been a while since I had been there last because of a foot sprain sidelining me for roughly 3 weeks. Needless to say, it showed. My hammies hurt even larger after his W.O.D let alone my own from yesterday. Hats off to the Coach though. I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard if it weren't for the good turn out he had.

ONE WAY TO STRETCH THE HAMMIES

A proven, effective method to stretch hamstrings is called contract-relax. Martial Artists have been using it for years. At least that's what my buddy Doug says, and he would know. He has practised Go Ju Ryu for about 20 years or so. In this stretch you are basically trying to reset the resting length of the muscle itself. For most muscles, the contract-relax method described below is like a miracle.

To use contract-release to stretch your hamstrings, lie on your back, extend one leg, and lift it up and toward your chest , so that the hamstrings being stretched are at their end range in either the straight-leg or bent-knee position. You can perform the straight-leg variation while sitting in a chair at work. Now, without actually moving the body, and maintaining tension at the hamstrings’ end range, generate a forceful contraction in the muscle. What will likely happen is that your quad helps out with the effort and that is ok. Hold the contraction for about five seconds, and then relax the muscle. Next, take up the newly created slack in the muscle by extending a little farther and hold for about ten seconds. Start again with the contraction-and-release cycle. Repeat this process about five or six times. After stretching the hamstrings in both knee positions (bent and straight), stand up and enjoy the changes.