Sudden decrease in ROM in left leg

I'm having some trouble with my left hamstring and would love to hear your thoughts on what might have happened and the way forward.

I've been doing the FS series for months now and could consistently get my nose to the middle of my shin during wide hurdler. 

About 4 weeks ago, I suddenly couldn't get my knose to my leg at all in wide hurdler. There wasn't pain, but I felt some restriction stopping me and it would have been painful if I pushed. I figured it was an off day and skipped throughout the single leg hamstring exercises. 

The next week I rested from the FS stretch series, but I experience a nearly debilitating cramp in my left leg during elevated bridge. Oy vey.

The next week I used a lacrosse ball for a few minutes before FS and participated in all the exercises, stopping just short of discomfort on my left leg. It was better, but still significantly restricted. 

This week, I used the lacrosse ball for an extended session to really let the muscles relax, but my FS session was about the same as last week. 

During this time, I've had no pain or cramping in other activities, including Jefferson curls or basing in acro classs (where I've using both hamstring flexibility and strength to support someone else's body weight, see picture).

Any ideas about what I'm experiencing or how I should proceed? Doesn't seem like quite a big enough deal to see my physio about yet, so thought I'd start here.

6 hours ago, Julia Quigley said:

Doesn't seem like quite a big enough deal to see my physio about yet, so thought I'd start here.

I disagree and suggest consulting them sooner rather than later.

Ok, good to know. I have an appointment on the 8th already, and I'll ask about it then.

Hello Julia,

My knee jerk suspicion would be excessive load or volume while acro basing.  Remember that the hamstrings are working quite intensely while stabilizing the partner.

Try experimenting with reducing either basing volume or frequency and see how the hamstring responds.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Interesting thought, Coach! It is a lot stabilize. I usually take 1 class a week, but due to scheduling conflicts, it will be 2.5 weeks from my last class to my next class, so we'll how my hamstring responds during that time. 

Update: I've been sick for 1.5 weeks so no acro class tonight and no stretch series. But, I did see my PT this morning and we discussed my hamstring. She found the medial hamstring tissue a little thicker/ropier on my left leg compared to my right and it was slightly sensitive compared to my right. My glute activation on my left side is weaker than my right, but overall, she didn't find anything alarming. She went through some exercises with me (some of which are in Foundation and MS series!) and said she wants me to continue with the lacrosse ball, stretching, and glute activation and keep her posted. If it persists or gets worse, we'll re-address. 

I'm eager to see how my next stretch series goes. 

Sounds good Julia. You may be a bit tighter after being sick but hopefully over the next month or two you return back to an even greater ROM in your stretches.