Everyone knows the old tried and true methods of dealing with tight muscles. The oldest and easiest method is to warm up by walking or jogging slowly to get your blood flowing and literally warm your legs. Then, stretch. That's it. Close to this method, but requiring assistance is massage. Some can do this regularly through services rendered for a fee. Some of us cannot afford or justify the expense on a regular basis. Stretching by a personal trainer works as well, but also falls under the 'I Don't Get Paid to Run' category. In recent years, it is common for athletes to use a device called The Stick, which is like a padded rolling pin. Sometimes you'll see football players using them on the sidelines to massage their hamstrings. I haven't tried it myself, so I can't really say anything good or bad about it. Maybe they'll read my blog and send me one. Wink. Wink.
Here's my situation... I regularly have tightness and aches in my right hamstring. I thought it might have something to do with either my right leg being a different length than my left or from running around the track the same direction every time. My solution is to try pushing off my left leg just a little harder than normal and see if there is just a slight difference. Maybe I don't have a perfect stride after all. I'll get over it. Meb can rest easy now.
I tried it on my last speed workout on the track. I don't know if it's a perfect solution, but my right hamstring was not sore and tight after the workout like it normally would have been. The problem is that my left hamstring was sore and tight. Either my theory is way off base or I just needed to tweak the amount and try to find the right amount of push for each leg. This could take some form work. I will have to start devoting time each workout to form runs to perfect my stride. It would be nice to have a video camera or two at the track to analyze my stride and see where I have deficiencies in my form.
It may take some time and work, but I may be onto something here.
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