Tight hamstrings?!

Tight hamstrings?

My boyfriend complains about having tight hammies, but refuses to do any stretching to try and alleviate it. He'll only do it when his coach is there, he won't do it in his own time, same as he won't work out unless he's at his martial arts class, but whines about putting weight on. Anyway, every time he or his classmates have any sort of pain, they dash off to the physio. I think it's so melodramatic - they're not professional athletes, why can't they take some responsibility for their own bodies? If he's got tight hamstrings surely there are exercises he can do without running to the physio every time they tighten up? It annoys me, it's like he can't help himself even though he can. Plus, if you do a martial art, you're gonna get hurt - you can't be paying for a physio every time you bash your foot! Argh it's frustrating.

1 week ago
I try telling him to stop whinging but he tells me off for being so 'cynical'. He broke his leg in November, so he's put on weight, but he'll only work out when there's a training class on. What's wrong with home work outs?! Grrr

1 week ago
Swelly belly you're going to get me into trouble. I'm at work, trying to be discrete about internet surfing, and you make me laugh. Out loud. Doh!

1 week ago
Dr Wot - your answer rings true in a lot of areas, except that he used to be so committed to it! He used to be so committed, he became almost obsessive towards his weight, he was lighter than me at 67kilos (he's a short guy but has a arge frame). He'd go away to fight, train most days - it became a bit silly. But now, it's like he'll only train when there's a fight in sight. I try to encourage him and tell him that he should be doing it for himself, he should be keeping fit for himself, not just so that he fight. He tells me off! He does go there more to socialise anyway - he continued to go even when he broke his leg (doing the martial art - which was, of course 'someone else's fault'. It wasn't, it was his fault but he won't see it).

Hi there

The secret to safe training is to be able to read the signs. All good instructors should conduct classes in a safe manner to reduce the risk of injury. On the other hand all students should train safely and treat each other with respect. Training hard is good for a young student as the body can take more hammer but speaking from experience any injury you obtain never goes away. As you get older these injuries come back to haunt you so training sensibly is the key.

With regards to stretching he needs to incorporate stretching exercises into his daily routine. These can be done whilst watching TV or first thing in the morning. Even just bending down and touching your toes will help. 5 mins every day should do the trick. Being supple helps reduce the amount of injuries as your body is more prepared for exercise.

You have to remember the point to training is to be able to defend yourself if the worst should happen. Doing high kicks from cold when your forced to will only result in damaged ligaments so its far better to be flexible all the time.

Physio will only help short term it doesn't remove the problem. Its a bit like taking a aspirin to mask the headache. Again training safely without ego is far better in the long run and its much cheaper. ;-)

As long as everything is done in a safe manner there shouldn't be any problems.

Best wishes

idai