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Injury from splits on pole
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Ah don’t let it worry you Kate just take it easy. Remember don’t force your stretches and never bounce in them either. Nothing should feel really painful if does ease off straight away.
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Pheonix hunter – that is the exact same thing that happened to me!!! No warning and I was fully warmed up and able to do the splits fairly easily … really strange! I think you are right though as I am loads stronger than I am flexible so maybe that is the cause! .. x
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It was very sudden for me as well and I was warmed up, it was at the end of my training.
I thought maybe I was tired and overdid my drop split (I did it thrice before I felt pain) and a lack of strength.
I was so angry at myself because I was video recording a choreo for Pole And Aerial ‘s Joy of Dance when it happened (life is so ironic ahah!!)and I wanted it perfect so I decided to do it one more time…and ended up injured ! -
No warning for me either and we had been in the yoga class for at least 30 minutes. I will say that the only time I have worked on splits in recent years has been when I’ve done Felix Cane’s flexibility DVD, which is a really long warmup before you get to splits so perhaps, for my old body, 30 minutes wasn’t enough since it wasn’t all hamstring/leg warmup in yoga. Don’t know–never for a minute when I left that class did I think it would be anything more than a week or two to heal–I only wish that had been true!
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Late to the party, but I found some interesting info after reading through this thread, trying to ascertain whether I’ve pulled something or not. This site even has a pdf checklist for hamstring rehab.
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/thigh-pain/hamstring-strain
I was doing splits training and during the right split stretch I felt (no sound) a tiny twinge around the back of my knee. I instantly quit the stretch. Afterwards, it felt kinda sore and jelly like (as usual after a good flex training sesh). Next 3 days I rested, during which it only feels slightly sore when used. 4th day I did some light stretches and it’s still sitting in slightly sore territory. I’ve been foam rolling and can’t really find pain anywhere, just a mild soreness that doesn’t go away. Ugh. I feel like I was plenty warmed up, I only stretch after a workout and my pole room is super hot, so I guess I just pushed a little too hard that time. There is too fine a line between pushing hard enough and not enough!
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About halv a year before I started pole (and was totally untrained) I tore something in the back of /inner thigh from spontaneously doing a cartwheel in a limited space. Definitely hurt on the spot and also on the next few days when doing some totally normal movements. After the acute phase I would only feel it if I for some reason sat in a straddle or so.
It lingered, but then when I started pole and strength training, the next thing I knew, it was gone. Now you people in this thread are already active, but do you explicitly train you legs?
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Yes Lina, I’m a bodybuilder. I train my legs 2x per week. One heavy session and one light. I started adding contortion training and ballet to my weekly training to prepare for competition. My injury was a result of over stretching and overtraining.
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I do an hour of physical therapy exercises for legs twice a week for more than a year.
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Strenght training is a bit of a tricky thing it seems. Often good, but if it’s heavy it can on the other hand make us more prone to injury. That’s at least what I’m noticing. I find it easier to happen to tear a hamstring (lightly) if I’ve lifted quite heavy weights (but not on body builder level) than if I do medium ones. Combining heavy weight training with flexibility seems to require a different strategy.
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Muscle, tendon or ligament (the worst!) tears, can take years before they feel ‘normal’ again. Depending on the severity it may never exactly be as it was before. Once it’s healed an injury of this nature will need care even after….. be sure to warm up and continue with strength, stretch and massage for the best prevention.
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I went to a “strength and flexibility” training at my studio for only the second time ever a couple of weeks ago. It was an hour long session and we focused on center split stretches (and corresponding strength work). At the end when my muscles were already stretched to their max max, the instructor had us do our straddle against the wall and came and pushed us into the wall further and had us push back and then release. This resulted in over stretching and my left knee is pretty messed up. It just feels like there is a ton of pressure building in there and I am still unable to do a ton of basic stretches I used to have no problem with. I’m pretty upset about it actually. In the future I will do my flexibility training on my own or will refuse to do partner stretching. I don’t want another setback like this one. It’s really really frustrating. I had gone to that class to advance my flexibility, not put myself a year behind. I’m so sorry to hear that others are going through similar setbacks too.
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sorry to hear that polargirl. I would hate to be the person who pushed someone further in a stretch and caused damage. I’m surprised that instructors do this. I think that kind of stretching is highly specialized and high risk.
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I definitely was not trying to be discouraging, sorry if it came across that wAy. I am trying to reach out to others with the same experience because I’m living with it and trying to figure out how to deal with it. Yes, you can get injured in any sport and these Are really common with sprinters for sure. I’m here for support from others going through this not to discourage
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No trouble! I just didn’t want to scAre people if I came across that wAy. 🙂
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As someone who had been an athlete my entire life, I agree that most activities carry risk of injury, even nonathletic activities. But I have to say that pole dance is a pretty extreme sport — dangling upside down often from extreme heights and whatnot — but I think there is also a very high-risk element in the emphasis on flexibility. All sports emphasize flexibility but not to the extent that pole does. Pole flexibility is borderline contortionist.
In speaking with my primary pole teacher about my injury, she admitted that some teachers, even at our studio, believe in increasing flexibility as quickly as possible in any way that they can, while she does not agree with that approach because it CAN, and often does, result in injury that negatively impacts long-term flexibility. One thing that I love about StudioVeena is the focus on SAFE strengthening, stretching, and skill-building — so that we can all enjoy pole over the long haul.
I ultimately just have to disagree that pole is just like any other sport in terms of injury risk, but one thing I love about it is that it is not “just like any other sport” in a number of other ways. I’m not trying to make pole out to be some super dangerous thing, but it can be if you don’t listen to your body and progress at your own pace. It has it’s own unique risks and pressures, to be sure.
The original post was about splits on pole. I simply don’t know if the original poster hadn’t properly warned up or was just extra tight somewhere that day and didn’t realize it, or whatever might have happened. We have to be extra careful with our bodies because our sport is frankly pretty intense.
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I agree polar girl , the flexibility and risks are very synonymous with gymnastics. We do crazy things with our bodies. I don’t feel like I am very advanced or do really crazy tricks but I have never pushed my body like I do now. What I do Is crazy compared to other sports
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Hi! I want to know if all of you in this thread has finally healed now. I had a hamstring injury 2 months ago and it’s also near its origin, at the ischial tuberosity. 🙁 I’m doing therapy but I can still feel the pain when I’m sitting down. 🙁
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Yes! I’m completely healed but I’ve gotten smarter about my training. 🙂 after you’re healed you will want to continue to strengthen your hamstrings as well as stretch and always be extra careful to warm up that hamstring. 2 months is not a lot of time. Do your physical therapy diligently and don’t ever stop doing it on your own
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That’s good to hear, Phoenix Hunter. I know 2 months is not long enough but it feels like forever. 🙁 I have therapy 2x a week, I’m still allowed to workout (though I still have limits) except pole. And yes to getting smarter at training. At workouts, I am now more conscious with my form and making sure I am not overexerting myself. At least something good has come out of this injury. 🙂
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Sharing my progress with my hamstring injury. It has been a long road to recovery. I injured my right hamstring over 3 years ago, and my left just over 2 years ago. I’ve been treating them both very gently since, and slowly persisting with splits stretching. The other day I was feeling really warm and thought about revisiting my jadesplit. I still don’t have a flat split on the floor, but I’m so pleased to see improvements with my active flexibility! You can recover, but it will take time and patience listening to your own body.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKfWZ6rBKjD/?taken-by=melnutter_baudelaire
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So I had not actually torn my hamstring when I posted in this thread originally.. it ended up healing completely within a couple weeks. However, I did tear my left hamstring at the upper attachment in March of 2015 (heard the dreaded pop and couldn’t walk for a couple days, couldn’t pole for weeks) and was only able to begin a light stretching routine again in October 2015, so 7ish months. At the time I was warmed up, at the end of my pole workout, and wanted “one more time” to perfect something. Bad idea. Did all the same wishing I’d not done that last try, why me’s, all the same things we all go through after this seemingly out of nowhere injury. I finally got my splits back after a good 3-5 days a week strengthening and stretching routine. I was so happy. I was still careful of that left hamstring, definitely babying it, but it felt strong and flexible. Then, I have a situation at home and have to start going to a studio once a week for my workout and after a pole class working on a hamstring intensive trick I decided to try to get into my split once more and I heard the familiar pop again, this time in my right hamstring. Ugh. I couldn’t believe I did this to myself again, basically in the same way. So my thoughts are, warming up your hamstrings before flex training is imperative, but them being tired from a full on strength workout is not a good time to push them. There’s a happy little medium you’ve got to hit to be safe. Warm enough but not fatigued. So now if I understand correctly, you shouldn’t flex train before a strength workout because flex training makes the muscle weak and, to my experience, you shouldn’t flex train after a hardcore strength workout either. It’s all a balancing act fitting in pole, conditioning, flex training, cross training, and rest days. I’m going insane trying to figure out a workout schedule, and it’s especially difficult when I see pole stars and instructors poling on a daily basis. How do they do it?
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What finally worked: I know this thread is really old but hamstring injuries are so common for us that I wanted to share what finally worked for me. After 15 months my injury healed (and it was not even torn per MRI) but it only healed after two dextrose injections into the hamstring. That being said, a year or so later during a brief sprint workout (running) it became injured again, though not as bad.
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How long did you guys stop pole-ing after injury? It will be almost 4 months since my injury now. I don’t feel the pain anymore but my right leg flexibility is back to zero. I took private pole classes but we focused on upperbody tricks. I am still scared to go back to taking group classes because of my fear of hurting my leg again. 🙁
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@grayeyes, my doc suggested Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections if my hamstring still won’t heal after 5 months. I have until november to know and decide if I’ll have it. Your comment somehow helps. 🙂
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@evilpurpletoe PRP is very much the same–at least the same idea in that they use it to stimulate the muscle to heal itself. I’ve worked at two surgery centers where we did PRP for various hard to heal injuries like tendinitis. I can’t say if it worked for the patients because I only saw them the day of surgery since I didn’t work in the surgeon’s office. I do believe the dextrose healed my hamstring and I tried so much other stuff. I’m headed back to that doc to see if he’ll inject it again for my current re-injury. I’m no expert but I don’t think PRP can hurt. It may hurt being injected but I don’t think it can cause any damage. If the dextrose didn’t work for me my doc said PRP was an option and I would likely have tried it.
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