Soccer involves a tremendous amount of running each half, and sometimes hamstrings muscles grow very tight as a result. Tight hamstrings can lead to lower back problems, and overall they can impede athletic performance due to their proclivity for injury. If you play soccer regularly and find your hamstrings tensing up, a few simple post game stretches plus yoga can really help keep you limber for your games.
Impact
Tight hamstrings are very common in soccer players since the sport requires so much sprinting after the ball. The hamstrings are a group of three muscles -- the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris -- and tension in one or more of these muscles may lead to hamstrings strains, hamstrings tears or nerve impingement in the lower back.
Warm Up
One of the easiest ways to loosen tight hamstrings is to warm up properly before each game. Warm ups should begin with 15 to 30 minutes of light cardio combined with ball skill routines. The principle behind an adequate warm up is to prepare your hamstrings for the more intense work of the soccer game, especially the sprinting component, by warming up the muscles and connective tissue and increasing flexibility and elasticity.
Yoga
A number of yoga postures may be incorporated into your post game stretches to help lengthen and strengthen the hamstrings and reduce the tension in the muscles. These include Big Toe Pose, Downward Facing Dog and Head to Knee Forward Bend. If your hamstrings are extremely tight it is best to perform these poses when your muscles are really warm, immediately after a game. Ease into the postures and never strain to complete the pose. Work at your own pace and in time your hamstrings will loosen.
Warning
Tight hamstrings can easily lead to chronic strains, and if ignored the problem can lead to a tear in one or more of the muscles. These types of injuries can become so severe that surgery is the only option. Take the time to warm up and stretch and resist the temptation to overlook tight hamstrings. A chronic hamstring injury interferes with athletic performance and can arrest your ability to play soccer altogether.
References
- Sports Injury Clinic: Pulled Hamstring / Hamstring Strain;
- Sports Injury Bulletin: Hamstring Tendonitis: Devastating but Treatable
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Warm Up, Cool Down and Be Flexible
- Yoga Journal: Big Toe Pose
- Yoga Journal: Downward-Facing Dog
- Yoga Journal: Head-to-Knee Forward Bend
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