For Sprinters, tighter hamstrings or not?

entropi

Cant remember where i seen this but it hinted at the fact some sprinters have tight hammys and can contribute to a faster time, can anyone shed some light on this?

Seeing as i've asked for a stretch to loosen up mine, but i'm sprinting so would rather have some info before i go and potentially decrease any performance gain i could keep.

Pherekydes

Master of Nothing wrote: »

Cant remember where i seen this but it hinted at the fact some sprinters have tight hammys and can contribute to a faster time, can anyone shed some light on this?

Don't confuse tight hammies with strong hammies. Strong hammies will assist in the recovery phase, i.e. when the heel is kicked up to the butt and pulled through. They also contribute during the leg extension phase. They act as a brake on the foreleg to prevent hyperextension at high speed. Hamstrings need to be both strong and flexible.

thirtyfoot

It depends what you call tight. If you say tight because you can't touch your toes you may be statically inflexible but in fact may be very dynamically flexible. Flexibility or lack of won't make you slower or faster but to get faster you need to do strength, speed, flexibility etc all in a holistic approach. There are contradicting studies on being over flexible causing problems with sprinters but I'd say don't worry about it. Pre-exercise do your dynamic warmup including dynamic stretching and post-exercise do static stretches. There is no secret formula, having tight hamstrings won't make you fast, having the suitable flexibilty to lift heavy or bound high or sprint fast will make you fast. Having the right flexibilty can only be confirmed by first knowing the correct mechanics of running for you and then been aware that you are flexible enough to complete the mechanics. The flexibility requirements of Paul Hession and Usain Bolt are likely to be different. Unless you can get a biomechanist to look at you, I'd keep it simple and dynamic before and static after.

entropi

Thanks for the information guys, just what i had suspected myself, in that i should keep it simple for now as i doubt i would be running higher than club level anyway in which case focus should be on maintaining and improvement instead of perfecting a stride to win olympic and world/european medals etc...

I'm well able to touch my toes and beyond if needed so i'm flexible in some ways yeah, but i will still try to get my left to get a 90 deg angle so i can feel good about it. I'll continue my own form of training in the park too, and still firmly believe doing 6.2ml every 3 days will help in my overall fitness level even though the stories about sprinters doing long distance is contradictory from many angles.

Looks like i'll do alot more squats and lunges too, always come in handy whether needed or not

conceited

Very good information posted in this thread.,I'd just like to add don't forget about your hip flexors.