How much do you use your hamstrings for cycling?

dub_skav

Quick (and stupid) question. I pulled my hamstring last night, just wondering how hampered I'll be for the Wicklow 200 on Sunday.

It's not too bad (I've done worse), just a little sore.

I know my hamstrings haven't been sore from my training spins, but just wondering if you use them more as you get tired.

Any opinions?

DirkVoodoo

Dub_skav, I'm no expert on the subject, but I did a bit of reading after seeing your post.

The hamstring is used in both the power and the recovery phase of cycling. The hip side is used in power, the knee side in recovery. I suppose it depends where the muscle tear is, the best you can do is ice it up as often as possible and give it time to recover.

I'd say as long as you stick to plenty of spinning and dont have to grind through gears you should be fine. Google for a list of proper hamstring stretches and you should be fine.

EDIT: This also looks fairly handy Linky

bobtjustice

It depends on the damage to your hamstrings and where its located.
If its a micro tear then you should be ok. But I wouldn't recommend cycling on it if you feel it pull more or even moderate pain.

Your hamstring is effectively 3 muscles and they all have the same function

Bicep Femoris
Semimemembranosus
Semitendinous
All of the above flexes your knee joint and extends your hip so hugely important to the rotary motion of cycling.

The position of the tear and the position you are in on the bike will determine which muscle comes into play the most, obviously your quads will take most of the abuse. But generally all the above 3 muscles come into use at some point and with cycling they will be used quite a bit (obv after every "down stroke")
Also your fitness and recovery speed will come into play. I take it your of a moderate to high level of fitness to attempt the W200 so if its a small tear you should be ok.
Any physio will tell you though that you should rest when you feel a pull or tear like that.

Good luck with the race though.

My advice is try it and if it feels bad stop immediately.!

dub_skav

Cheers for the advice and research lads. Feels a good bit better today, I'm going to give it a lash and see how I get on. If I'm crippled with pain I'll stop obviously but I reckon I'll be okay

trek climber

Had a problem with my left hamstring a number of years ago - my advice would be to make to make sure that give a really good stretch both before and after , works for me anyway.
Hope it stands up on Sunday for you.