Strained Muscle/Tendon in Pancake?

[Stigz]

Hey everyone, 

I've been stalking  these forums for a while but this is my first post - wish it was a little better in nature, lol. 

 

I was stretching about 3 weeks ago, warming up in the pancake position, where i generally have very good mobility and can usually get chest to deck with my legs at about 90 degrees. Anyway, i was moving side to side, getting in the corners, messing with pelvic tilts, and i heard/felt a pop. I got up, did a squat, no pain.

Now 3 weeks later it's still tight. I squatted a week after the "injury" - if you want to call it that, it's just moderate tension. On a pain scale of 1-10 its about a 2 or a 3 (1 being an itch, 10 being i'm going to black out). I probably shouldn't have squatted, but from my googling, it said that if it was a grade 2 or 3 tear, i would have had a loss of strength, but i squatted pretty much near my lifetime max, which i know now i probably shouldn't have.

 

I only "feel it" when i get into a deep Cossack squat, or a pancake - which now I avoid because I don't want to aggravate it. I've been icing and using a heat rub intermittently.

 

I think it's either my right semitendinosis or maybe right semimembranosis - my guess is a minor strain, maybe a small tear. Its under my glute, in towards my groan, and localized ot 

Does it sound like that to you guys?

I've since not stretched really, i do pike hangs and calf stretches, but avoid the area i "injured" but still train my upper body and levers and planches. 

 

What are your thoughts? Should I stretch, avoid stretching, ice it? Heat it? Take it easy or take time off completely? Its more tension and a bother than pain, and I do have a "loss in precieved mobility" but thats probably because I dont want to do a pancake fully and completely tear something. I have virtually no tension once I'm warmed up, but I've avoiding training lower body, jumping, and pistols - I do however, still practice judo and Krav Maga. 

 

Any input, help, or anecdotes are appreciated. thanks! 

[Kit_L]

 

 

my guess is a minor strain, maybe a small tear. Its under my glute, in towards my groan, and localized ot

 

OT? Can you reframe this; not sure I can understand what you are getting at here.

 

I have a very similar problem (I suspect long standing; the significant amount of additional hamstring stretching brought on by the 90–day challenge and much since then). Since I started back on SLS (pistols), and exploring accessory exercises, I have found that single leg weighted speed skater squats expose the problem area perfectly. So does the Elephant walk. And in this process, I found that I have lost a lot of strength in this area – so that is my focus now. Once that area feels good/strong again, back to strong stretching. I will note that the single leg SSS are themselves a strong stretch for this area IF you go deep enough. I keep strict form by resting the shin of the working leg against a chair seat, and lowering the trunk until the spine is horizontal. It's the balancing component, with its requirement of strong co-contractions of many muscles, combined with the strength requirement that exposes the weakness. I am sure the injury is fascial and may be somewhere in between biceps femoris and semitendinosus.

 

In general (now talking specifically about your experiences) keep as active as you can, and throw the occasional challenge at the area in question. Your body will tell you immediately when it's ready to stretch.

[Xams2387]

Any update on this?

Ive got the same sharp pain for a couple days after hamstring stretching. 

It lasted about 10 days when it first happened (6+ months ago), and gradually reduced to 2 days. 

It only presents itself hours after the stretching and then when in end ROM situations for the next 2 days. 

[Nathan]

1 hour ago, Xams2387 said:

Any update on this?

I don't know about Stigz, but Kit has posted regarding his issue relatively recently here: Getting over hamstring injuries (tear, pull, strain, weakness). There are many other related threads if you do a search, but that one is probably the best place to start.