strained hamstring

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Hey guys,
Ive been training rugby to improve my conditioning. However, when going all out on the sprinting sessions, it seems Im prone to pulling my right hamstring. A friend told me it may be due to an imbalance where the quadriceps is way stronger than the hamstring. Do you guys know what excercises I may do to strengthen my hamstring?
Also, im following the Starting Strength routine. What excercises you guys recommend to do as a replacement for squats and deadlifts while my hamstring recovers.

Thanks
 
Hey guys,
Ive been training rugby to improve my conditioning. However, when going all out on the sprinting sessions, it seems Im prone to pulling my right hamstring. A friend told me it may be due to an imbalance where the quadriceps is way stronger than the hamstring. Do you guys know what excercises I may do to strengthen my hamstring?
Also, im following the Starting Strength routine. What excercises you guys recommend to do as a replacement for squats and deadlifts while my hamstring recovers.

Thanks

just stay off the lower body movements for a few weeks and let it heal completely. trying to work around injuries will generally make them heal slower
 
Underactive glutes (and therefore quad dominance) is likely at the root of it. Youtube some glute activation drills and run through them prior to any running you do.

Google Neanderthal No More and give yourself a quick postural assessment. The prgram (and others on Mike Robertson's site) has specific p/re-hab routines focusing on glute activation, which is key to optimal pelvic alignment and posterior chain recruitment.
 
which part of ur hamstring did u tear? i tore mine through the centre of it earlier this year. cause of mine being a knee dominated tear i was still able to squat i just couldnt run for close to 5 weeks (torn in the worst place possible physio said) like revok said since this could be an ongoing prob doing activation stuff for glutes is a must and you have to bring up the strength of ur posterior chain as this will help eleviate future issues
 
Hey guys,
Ive been training rugby to improve my conditioning. However, when going all out on the sprinting sessions, it seems Im prone to pulling my right hamstring. A friend told me it may be due to an imbalance where the quadriceps is way stronger than the hamstring. Do you guys know what excercises I may do to strengthen my hamstring?
Also, im following the Starting Strength routine. What excercises you guys recommend to do as a replacement for squats and deadlifts while my hamstring recovers.

Thanks

For early hamstring strengthening I usually recommend (gasp) hamstring curls with a very light weight. I like to start most rehab programs with open chain activities as they are very easy on the muscle and you can use your good leg to limit eccentric contractions. As that gets better you can progress to eccentric hamstring curls, then after a week or so you can start to do some light single leg straight leg deadlifts and hip extensions. After a week of that or so you can start progressing into your squats and deadlifts again with very light weight. After 3-6 weeks depending on the severity of the tear you should feel 100%. Just ease back into it. For most athletes, anything past a 6 out of 10 on the pain scale means "stop" so use that as your guide. After you feel better, you should start some plyometric activities (deep jumps etc) to improve dynamic flexibility. Also, you need to find the cause of hamstring strains to prevent future ones.

As your friend said, quad dominance is a common predisposing factor to hamstring strains along with poor general posture, inflexible hips, leg length discrepancies, lack of hip mobility and lack of hamstring flexibility. Also, make sure you do a proper warm up before going into your all out sprints.
 
I was supposed to go Jogging today, but I felt some pain and tightness in my left Hamstring. As I have a Deadlift workout tomorrow, I've decided to give the Jogging a miss today.

If all goes well with the DL, I can Jog tomorrow or Sunday.
 
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