Pain in Bicep Femoris (Hamstring)

[ASHWHIT]

Hi Guys,

I am a rugby player and in the middle of pre-season at the moment. This is a time of year which I use to add size and strength to my body in preparation for the fast approaching season. I have been training in the gym three times a week and participating in club training twice a week which has consisted of skills and fitness based activities.

Last week I developed a pain in the bicep femoris otherwise known as the hamstring. This pain was a tight pain almost like cramp but was relived when I reduced the speed I was running. I stopped training at that point and went for gentle jog and stretched off hamstring and gastrocnemius.

A few days later I went to the gym and performed some Squats and Deadlifts with full ROM without having to reduce load which lead to no issues at all with regards to hamstring. However, when I returned to train with my club two days later I was still having problems. The same is true this week, I have no problems performing exercises like Squats and Deadlifts. But as soon as I built up to anything near a sprint I get this sharp, tight pain in my hamstring.

I have also tried using a foam roller to relieve tightness in hamstrings and gastrocnemius and aim to book a sports massage for next couple of days.

Any ideas or advice on my situation would be of a real interests to me?

Thanks in advance,

Ashwhit

[Heidi]

Possibly a small tear. These are often ok day to day and other exercises, only causing pain on sprinting as this causes a lot of eccentric muscle contraction which is hardest on the muscle.
Rest from sprinting for now. You can still jog and do leg strengthening exercises provided they are painfree.
Sports massage is definitely worthwhile as this will help to regain full flexibilty and remodel any scar tissue so that it is as close to normal muscle tissue in terms of strength, alignment and flexibility as possible.

[ASHWHIT]

Hey,

Thanks for reply.

I think your right based upon fact I can still jog its probably a minor grade 1 tear of some of fibres of bicep femoris.

Do you think the fact my quadriceps are quite tight might have contributed to this problem?

On the subject of flexiblity, I want to improve flexbility do you know of any flexibility programs I could follow which include static and dynamic stretches with advice regarding time to hold each stretch and how many sets etc.?

Thanks for your help