Clean Run - November 2013 - 17

Developing Resistance to

Hamstring
Injuries
in Agility, Part 1
Agility
Hamstring injuries are fairly common among agility handlers.
Generally speaking, sports injuries occur as a result of trauma,
muscle imbalances, instability, improper mechanics, and/or
overuse. It is easy for handlers to be unaware of problems until an injury occurs because our bodies are very adaptable. Just
like dogs figure out what we want despite our idiosyncrasies
and less than perfect handling, our bodies find ways of using
other muscles and joints when some are not working properly.
Physical compensations can go unnoticed for weeks and even
months. Let's use Suzy Handler as an example. Suzy H. feels
lower back pain after a trial. She assumes the running surface
or her shoes caused it, but it's really related to weak and/ or
tight gluteal (butt) and hamstring muscles.
It is common for athletes to concentrate on training muscles,
joint areas, and fitness components in isolation. Examples
include stretching, strengthening, power or speed, deceleration, specific skills, or endurance. After sustaining a hamstring
strain, a handler might begin stretching that area before and
after each run thinking this will prevent recurrence of the
injury. She may choose to practice specific leg-strengthening
exercises, but these are not going to remedy the fundamental
cause of the injury: faulty movement patterns. Consider this:
we would not train our dogs to jump one jump and then expect
them to run an entire course. Our dogs need training of individual obstacles followed by training on how to run each in
sequence. The same is true for humans: specific muscle (like
hamstring) training along with movement training is necessary
for optimal athletic function.

Hamstrings and the Posterior Chain
The hamstrings are comprised of three muscles: semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris, located in the
back of the thigh. The hamstrings, calves, glutes, and low
November 13

Clean Run

By Kimber Chase and Kristin Rosenbach,
photos by Kimber Chase

back make up the "posterior chain." The posterior chain is
important because strengthening the muscles in this area will
build speed as well as resistance to hamstring injury. Most
people have an imbalance between the sometimes weak or
overly strong and tight muscles in the front of the legs and
the posterior chain muscles in the back of the legs. This
comes from primarily moving forward and sitting in our
day-to-day activities.

Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip-Complex (LPHC)
Efficient movement is dependent on stability in the lumbopelvic-hip-complex (LPHC). Though sometimes referred to
as the "core," we will define the LPHC as the bones, joints,
and muscles of the lumbar spine, pelvis, hips, and upper
thighs. The LPHC is the functional connection between our
upper and lower body. Stability in this area helps prevent injury while dysfunction can lead to lack of power, inability to
buffer forces, inefficient movement, compensation. and injury.

How Does This Relate to Dog Agility?
The body is like a chain with links, each body part connected
to another. If there is a weak or broken link, movement of
the chain is altered. Broken links cause compensation patterns which can induce injury. Muscles can be strengthened in
isolation but the entire body must be capable of applying that
strength in a functional movement pattern, enabling benefits
transferable to performance.
Running a dog agility course requires utilization of quick
reflexes and movement in multiple directions. In less than
60 seconds we expect our bodies to turn, bend, decelerate,
accelerate, etc. while remaining synchronized with an animal. This requires training in reactive situations and sensory
conditions, at different speeds with movement freedom, effi17

Clean Run - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - November 2013