what do you think may contribute to hamstring injuries that are reasonably controllable factors? i have had another slight pull/cramp today so i decided i am gonna completely knock off creatine, cut out caffeine. i’m also not sure if heavy squatting may be a factor if it is compressing the vertebrae in the lumbar region, so i might cut that out or switch to one legged squatting as the loads is reduced. i’m just trying to think of any other issues that i may be able to address in an attempt to minimise the risk of further strains and pulls…
forgot to add that i am doing so very low intensity jogging on weekday evenings for about 20 minutes at a time. not sure if this is contributing as i am asking my body to do to very different activities in the same day???
Sorry to see this, maris! How come and you are doing the 20-min runs? Are you confident your pelvis position is OK while running? Others?
the runs are to try and improve my body composition, that’s my sole reason for them. i’m not 100% sure it’s correct no. i’m going to decrease the weight i use for my cleans for the majority of my sessions, as a couple of strength and conditioning coaches have suggested i’m missing out the middle phase of the lift, which may mean i’m not extending my hips properly and i’m using the hamstrings not the glutes, which may be putting extra stress on them. not sure if that would then translate to a poor pelvic position when running or the hamstrings being placed under too much stress. someone has also commented i overstride in their opinion. not sure if that may be a factor. i am also making a conscious effort to drink more water!
I have found a good mix of ext/int tempo is a great way to improve body comp, and bw drills before bed and first thing in morning.
Are your hip flexors and psoas muscles flexible enough to make stepping over easy?
If they’re not, the hamstrings have to work hard to step over which is not good. I used to get lower ham strains all the time though I think this followed mostly after tempo sessions and not sprint sessions for some reason.
Then I started stretching my psoas-…psoasii…psoases…??? and flexors pre and post workouts and the strains stopped happening.
Sometimes my lower hamstrings still get sore (not strained) when I do too much tempo too soon.
There are many factors but I will try to tackle it using some knowledge of how the muscles around the hip function in synergy.
Inflexibililty in the hip flexors, quads, and IT band all antagonists of the hamstrings will lead to the hamstrings having to work harder than usual and once again, being exposed to injury.
Muscle length has to be maintained. Short hip flexors are a major barrier to faster sprinting and a potential injury concern for hamstrings.
If you have weak hip flexors then this may ontribute to hamstring strains. Weak hip flexors means less drive through the stance phase of the sprint gait. Your body will have to compensate by increasing the activation of your hamstrings to compensate, leading to mis-timing.
The Gluteals and Adductor magnus work in synergy, the GM abducts the hip (moves away from the body) and the adductor magnus along with the other less prominent inner thigh muscles move the leg towards the body’s center. The GM and AM play a crucial role in hamstring injury. Correct function of this pair alllows the Hammies to be the prime movers through bi-articulation (movement of two joints). The hamsrings can hip extend and knee flex. If a muscle imbalance exists for GM and AM then the hammies will have to perform the additional task of stabilising the femur. If the adductors are weak and gluts are tight then the hamstrings have to contribute more to adduction.
If the gluts are weak and the adductors are tight then the hamstrings will take on the role of abduction. Both scenarios will put the hamstrings under great strain.
Of course this is just a start point, there are other factors that may lead to the predisposition of hamstrings to injury.
Another reason could be that the hamstrings are simply not strong enough to cope with the stress of running fast.
i have been quite thorough recently in working on my flexibility around the hip flexors, glutes and hamstrings. from what i can gather from the thread so far, the key issues are flexibility, and strength, which seems logical enough. i’m beginning to think my current issue at least, is neural, as i can stretch the hamstring through the full range with no discomfort, and i have found a trigger point in the glute which eases the pain quite significantly.
But are your hamstrings strong enough? Are your gluts and adductors strong enough? Flexibility does not mean that you will not get injured. Alot of female athletes are very very flexible but they are prone to ham injuries because of lack of strength. What strength exercises are you doing for your hamstrings? What rep range?
Do you know for sure that it is neural?
I’m not 100% sure it’s neural no. It is feeling significantly better now though, and has recovered far more quickly than most hamstring pulls I have had. In terms of strength work I have done mostly RDLs. I have also done curls on the swiss ball. I did some nordic hamstring curls also. I tend to stay away from the basic machine curl.
Pulls and strains occur in most cases when the muscle isn’t flexible enough to accomidate the load. IE: regular weight on squats, not “warmed up”, muscle gets “pulled” to overcome the load.
I’d say the most useful thing you can do is make sure you stretch your entire hip region and below (hamstrings, quadriceps, calves) once in the morning and once at night to make sure your very loose and there’s no tightness.
In many cases too much flexibility and stretching can be a weakness - literally.
Strength is the priority.
I would guess you needed strength throughout the entire range, so that a load can be dealt with throughout the whole movement. I stretch each evening unless I have lifted, only because I figure that stretching after microtrauma may cause further trauma. Don’t know how scientific that is though. I will try to do a bit in the morning too, but not so much developmental stretching, but more maintainence work.
Totally agree.
Of course! I wasn’t implying to be a contortionist…just very flexible and not tight. A bit in the morning a bit in the evening, very light…enough to release some tension.
Everything in moderation 
As with everything I guess!
What is the real cause?
Immediate action would be to stretch and treat psoas, hip flexors and the hamstring itself, neural sciatic stretches and drop the creatine and caffiene.
Perhaps a combination of all these will help but would you consider reintroducing the creatine and caffiene to see if they are the real culprits? Otherwise leave them in the program but increase treatment for the body?
It sounds like the creatine and caffiene are useful so at some point you would want to use them again.
What about a different type of creatine or stimulant?