Gaa Hamstring Injuries

Mclovin

There appears to be a huge trend of hamstring injuries in the GAA.

I am one such player who has been dogged by a hamstring injury for some time and was wondering if anyone had some ideas on what i could do. I sometimes get pins and needles in my feet an was wondering if its connected to my injury?

Is it that i just need to stretch more regularly!!!

An Citeog

Make sure you stretch properly a couple of hours before and after training. Keep yourself well hydrated aswell. Dehydration can be a huge factor in this and the hamstring is usually the first to go, particularly if you're out the night before a match.

If you're looking for excercises to do in the gym to strenghten your hamstrings and glutes, the straight leg deadlift is very good.

bryanbal

never had an injury in my life up to this year, hamstring and groin problems this year simply because its the first time i used weights. stop doing weights or else do them properly. gaa players like myself just get stuct into them thinking what harm can i do and usually overdo it.

thirdmantackle

insoles in your boots.

helps take a lot of the shock off your limbs

football takes a lot out of your hamstrings.

propet stretching can help however

whitey1

An old school manager down in Mayo remarked that " the only fvcking hamstrings he ever saw, were within in the Bacon Factory in Castlebar".

All kidding aside-2 excersises specifically address this problem.

(1) Runing backwards

(2) Touch your toes (with your feet crossed). 5 sets of 10-ease down-no jerking motion

sharkDawg

Alot of hamstring injuries happen as a result of back problems, a couple of years ago i had a niggling hamstring injury that wouldn't go away no matter how long i rested it for, eventually went to the physio who told me that there was an issue with my sciatic nerve getting caught against some joint. There and then he was able to work his magic and i was back playing the next week. If your experiencing lower back pain, sort your back out and the hamstring will take care of itself, if not keep stretching it and make sure you warm up properly!

redzerdrog

i have had a few years of hamstring injuries they are a nightmare. i am using heel raisers at the minute and seem to be doing the trick so far

Rogueish

You lot will make me cry :eek:. I have to go to work now (to fix dudes and dudettes like yourselves) but I'll put a hamstring and groin programme up this evening.

Rogueish

First of all this does not take the place of a specific individually prescribed assessment, treatment and rehabilitation programme.

Nerve or disc pain coming from the lower back can refer pain to the hamstrings. The sciatic nerve runs down the middle of the back of the upper thigh. Impingement of this nerve at the root can cause pain to refer varying distances from the back.

Pain can also be referred from the buttock, hip and sometimes the groin so professional assessment can be very important.

People who suffer from chronic hamstring strains or pulls must get their gluteal function assessed. The hamstrings cause the knee to bend and the hip to extend (brings the leg back). The gluteal muscles cause the hip to extend and rotate. The hip extension gives you the forward propulsion during running. If the glute muscles are inefficient the hamstrings end up doing more than their fair share of the work, fatigue, begin to tighten in response and finally strain.

A rehabilitation practitioner can best recommend where you are in your recovery as to where you can start in the following exercises. If you do not have any problems with your hamstrings and are looking to prevent problems pick one or two exercises to integrate into your programme.

Gym exercises include hamstring curls http://www.shapefit.com/hamstrings-exercises-lying-leg-curls.html usually starting out with 3 sets of 10-12 reps (fatiguing on the 12th rep). Progressing to 4-5 sets of 8 reps (fatiguing on the 8th rep) for strength, bringing your heels up on a count of 2 lowering down to the start as slowly as possible. However this is not a functional exercise for GAA players, you don’t kick a ball or run on your stomach with your hips held in a neutral position.

Single leg Dead lifts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eACTTzeh-E are a more functional way of training your hamstrings. Start out without any weight and progress to light weights starting out with 3 sets of 10-12 reps and progressing to 4-5 sets of 8 reps.

Bridging is a good way of training hamstring strength endurance at different lengths important when going from jogging to sprinting. Here is the starting level http://www.tinajuanfitness.info/exercises/hamstringbuttocksbridge.html guys be sure to keep your knees together as the knees drift out the emphasis is placed more on the gluteal muscles. Try for 3 sets of 10 reps holding each rep for 10sec. As the exercise gets easier place the feet further away from the buttocks again progress to single leg exercises. Progressing to http://www.shapefit.com/hamstrings-exercises-exercise-ball-curls.html (the picture shows the girls hips dropping as the ball comes into the buttocks – keep your hips up throughout the exercise)

Nordic Hamstring lowers http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7489/449 (see halfway down the page) are an excellent way of eccentrically training hamstrings. Start with 1-3 sets of 5 reps. To progress instead of lowering down to the floor. Lower half way and then return to the starting position. It is important to ensure that you do not bend at the hips during the exercise.

Progress onto deadlifts 4-5 sets of 8-10 reps. Get professional instruction on your technique. There are small seemingly irrelevant technique errors that if you are unaware of you can cause more damage.

GAA field training does not address functional hamstring movement. As a previous poster said backwards running eccentrically works the hamstrings. A good back to play drill is by doing laps but start by running forward on the length of the pitch and backwards on the widths (5 laps).

Another back to play drill we carry out on our athletes are 30m runs. This gives you an indication how close you are to returning to full competitive play. The walk trot is a little slower than a jog. This drill isn't quite coming out right between MS word and the boards techie stuff so I'm attaching the whole document in MS word

Level 1
0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0 (x4 times)
Walk/Trot ¼ Pace Walk/Trot

Level 2
0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0
Walk/ Trot ½ Pace Walk/ Trot (x4 times)

Level 3
0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0
Jog ¾ Pace Jog (x4 times)

Level 4
0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0 ←(30m)→ 0
Jog Sprint Jog (x4 times)

Also stretch properly. If you are looking to increase your flexibility or length of a muscle you must hold for 25-30sec. A 10sec stretch is fine for a warm up but after activity when you are already warm (After training or a match) holding for 25-30 seconds has much more effect. Touching your toes is fine so long as there are no underlying back problems.

P.S. Good hamstring strength and lower limb proprioception greatly reduces your risk of an ACL injury

If anyone has any further enquiries please PM me. I hope that this helps

Rogueish

Here is the above document in MS Word

sharkDawg

Rogueish, thats some mighty fine work, thanks

Rogueish

Thanks SharkDawg

I'm just gonna wait and see which one of my students finds it and hands it up as their own work

stoney1916

hi,
Just found out the other day that i may have such a thing called gilmores groin never heard of it before but my physio told me that i have either a rectus abdominus strain or this gilmores groin which if so would be detrimental to playing future sports. He says that I may not be able to play hurling /soccer again.will know in a few days whether its one or the other.does anybody know anything about this injury?

Pride Fighter

Never ever stretch cold. Warm up before you stretch, thats the best way.

Byrno

stoney1916 wrote:

hi,
Just found out the other day that i may have such a thing called gilmores groin never heard of it before but my physio told me that i have either a rectus abdominus strain or this gilmores groin which if so would be detrimental to playing future sports. He says that I may not be able to play hurling /soccer again.will know in a few days whether its one or the other.does anybody know anything about this injury?

Gilmore's Groin is a strain of the abdominal wall of the groin. There is dilation of the inguinal ring (a natural weakness in the wall). In a way it's like a hernia that doesn't come out. It is treated by inserting a mesh into the area of the inguinal canal, strengthening the wall. The surgery is usually done as a day case. Intense physiotherapy is also required.
Due to the amount of twisting involved in GAA and soccer along with the over-intense training in GAA means that this injury is on the rise here. I would also assume that hamstring injuries are also incresing due to this. Most people recover well from surgery. In fact Tom Brady of New England Patriots fame has suffered from this in the past, to name one.