Advanced Myofascial Techniques: Volume 1 by Til Luchau

Author:Til Luchau
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Handspring Pub Ltd
Published: 2015-02-15T17:00:00+00:00

Figures 9.5/9.6

The Hamstring Technique uses the client’s active lowering of the leg (knee extension) to glide and eccentrically release the tissues beneath the practitioner’s static forearm. Work layer-by-layer, beginning with the superficial fascia, and continue pass by pass all the way to the intramuscular septa between the hamstrings’ muscle bundles

After you have worked through the outer layers, you can begin to anchor deeper structures, still working gradually and guiding your client’s slow, focused movement. Remember, the release happens during the straightening of the knee, as the hamstrings’ tissues and muscles are lengthened in an eccentric pattern. Feel for and differentiate between the three or four muscle bundles of the hamstrings themselves (Figure 9.7), which originate on the ischium and then split to reach around the gastrocnemius insertions at the back of the knee. In most cases, the short head of the biceps femoris crosses only the knee joint, and so it does not usually extend the hip.

Continue working on the connective tissues between and around the myofascial bundles, rather than just on the muscles’ bellies. Remember that strain injuries are most common where tendon meets muscle, or where tendon meets bone. Use caution and sensitivity in the popliteal space, or in any areas where your client reports a nervy or shooting sensation (since the sciatic nerve is here as well).

In addition to hamstring injuries, other conditions will respond to direct work here. The sciatic nerve passes under the biceps femoris (Figure 9.7), where its tethering can be one cause of sciatic pain (6). Pes anserinus bursa inflammation (felt as burning and pain medial to the knee with exercise) can often be relieved by working the semitendinosus muscle, along with the gracilis and sartorius. Working the entire hamstring in the way described here can sometimes help ameliorate hamstring syndrome (a painful irritation of the hamstrings’ attachments on the ischial tuberosity, which is often worsened by sitting).

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