Hamstring rehab

Last night during the snowstorm I was doing sprints in the basement with H, during sprint #4 i felt a slight pull on my left hamstring, I walked it off and stretched alittle more and attempted to perform another sprint, Big Mistake... I pulled it!!

So with my sprinting for the evening done I returned to the Man Room and researched Hamstring rehab, here are a few things I learned. So pissed my right hamstring was just feeling great now it's my left, I guess it's my fault for not fixing the issue of weak glutes an hip flexors...

Immediate management


All sport medicine textbooks have a chapter on the immediate management of muscle injuries. The most important procedure in the management of soft-tissue injuries in sports people is initial icing while moving the muscle, known as ‘cryokinetics’.

This is done by sitting with an ice bag under the hamstring and keeping the hamstring moving by bending and straightening the knee to the point of mild discomfort.
 This satisfies the immediate goal of reducing swelling and subsequent haematoma, and the addition of movement results in less ‘ice scarring’. Ice scarring is a phenomenon whereby the superficial fascia adheres to the underlying muscle and affects the overall gliding of the muscle in relation to its covering fascia.

 The end result is a muscle that moves with its adherent fascia whilst contracting. The quickest way to cause ice scarring is to over-apply ice to the injured area and to keep the muscle completely still while being iced. One must be certain before applying ice to a hamstring injury that a local muscle injury does exist. Icing a ‘neural hamstring’ with no local muscle pathology will result in more reflex muscle tone and more ice scarring.

Rehab running


The following rehab running protocol applies to both muscle tears and neural hamstrings. The muscle pathologies will take longer to progress through the stages.

As soon as an injured athlete is able to walk pain-free, then running may commence. However, this running protocol must be controlled and follow a very set programme.

Athletes will understand, when it is explained to them, that running by themselves with very specific criteria takes away risk factors that are potentially damaging to the muscle. For example, turning to chase an opposition player/team mate or reaching down low to catch a ball. They are less likely to re-injure in a controlled environment. Following this principle, an athlete may start sport- specific hamstring rehabilitation with the following rehab running protocol.

Hope this helps if you have some pain!!