pulled my upper-left hamstring, right under the butt, in late June. It’s October now. Still the same pain.
I’ve done sprint work maybe 2 or 3 times since then. Tempo work maybe 7 or 8 times.
Went to physical therapy (though the focus of that was on my knee, we worked on hamstrings too)
Anyway, there’s still a sharp tightness when I’m running and lift my legs past a certain point.
I would think that any actual tear would be healed by now. I’m pretty sure it was Grade 2 at the very worst.
Is this tightness/pain just a result of some weakness because of the inactivity?
At therapy, I had A-STYM done on my legs, which is supposed to break up the scar tissue.
And I was getting deep tissue massage 1-2 times a week before that.
I just don’t understand why this injury would still be nagging me when I see people say that 10 days is sufficient time for a grade 2 to heal and it’s been months.
It looks like it’s the tendon that you hurt. I’ve had the same thing and thought for months it was my hamstring, if its right where the ham meets the butt then more than likely its your tendon. Avoid ALL strengthening exercises for the hamstring for now as strength isn’t the issue. The only thing for it is rest and then get some deep tissue massage on it to remove the scar tissue
Scar tissue is something that can be romoved very quickly if you have a good strong therapist. I had a deep tissue massage on the area and although the procedure was excruciating, after it the tendon felt a million dollars for about a month. My mistake was that I started doing too many romainian deadlifts, glut hams etc combined with sprinting and reinjured it.
I would say if you can get a good therapist (especially someone who specialises in ART or deep tissue) that even 1-2 sessions followed by a few weeks of easy training or rest and then maybe another massage may be all you need. Remember to ask specifically for a deep tissue massage or ART not just a massage.
Do you think tempo is compatible with “easy training and rest” ?
And how soon after you started feeling better did start doing hard work again? I’d like to easy back into some squats before too too long, just to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
if you have healthcare insurance or the like, you might want to get to a doc who could refer you for an MRI or whatever it would take to figure out exactly what is wrong in or around there.
Yes tempo is something that I could always do pain free (I’m asuming your prob is the same as mine though).
I was an idiot and went back doing sprints and weights 2 days after the treatment. If I could turn back time I would have rested about 2 days then start some tempo, intense upper-body weights and low intensity medball. I feel more than anything that it was the lower body weights that aggravated my tendon the most, so if I were you I would avoid lower body weights till the pain is completely gone . You can get rid of this in no time if you follow these guidelines, but if you rush back into weights then it will drag out for months like what happened to me. TRUST ME AVOID THE WEIGHTS FOR NOW!
Those muscles are responsible for putting your pelvic in anterior tilt (READ HAMSTRINGS STRETCHING POSITION) you don’t want your hamstrings to be in that position! Be aware that tension in the Hams mostly are felt because of that, try It and see for yourself. Relaxed Hams position = FASTER HEALING
Put ICE when there is pain, and NEVER create pain in training, build everything slowly
10min, no more no less
Light accel 2x10x10m add 2m each 48h
Tempo might be good, If It is possible I would try uphill slow tempo(might have less hams ROM in the leg cycle)
Massage is Mandatory(have good pro care) 1-2x a week If possible, If not do It by yourself working from soft to more intense you’ll learn and trust your intuition If something don’t feel right, simply avoid It
I don’t know his stretching skills so…better to keep this simple, of course he can do a contro-lateral bending combined with the hips extension.
If he have a lot of skills and good body proprioceptive abilities he can also keep his lower back in "un"lordosis (keep his belly button In) position.
And If we carefully investigate about muscle fibers orientation psoas would be responsible for lower back hyper-lordosis and the Iliacus directly responsible for anterior pelvic tilt. But in general term both are responsible.
Muscles that are responsible for Hips flexion:
1-Sartorius
2-TFL
3-Gracilis
4-Rectus Femoris
5-Iliopsoas complex
6-Pectineus
7-Adductors longus & brevis
All those muscles will stretch to some extend, with a simply hips extension, but the muscles that will stretch less are those with other primary fonction
ex:
Rectus femoris might require knee flexion (In almost all cases)
Bottom line is: I just hope our discussion will benefits Stylee because been injured sucks
He might also stretch with low intensity his lower back with a flexion at the knee (erectors might also keep pelvis in anterior pelvic tilt)
And yes the stretching picture that is not perfect ( as every picture we found in the internet )
In fact, my stretching professor at the university was speechless when we asked him which internet sources or books on stretching was good. After some reflection he told us, make your own pictures…
You are right! I should have write (at least) Iliopsoas
For my last sentence, just look at where those two muscles are, you will understand that psoas have a bigger impact on lower back lordosis and Iliacus more impact on anterior pelvic tilt. I was surprised to learn one year ago that the medical litterature doesn’t make a direct correlation between anterior pelvic tilt and lower back hyperlordosis ( some studies do show some correlations but not all of them ).
PS-I really appreciate that you are attentive about details. I should say that the quality of knowledge here is far better than what we found in other website. (where did you learn about anatomy and stretching?)
. You can get rid of this in no time if you follow these guidelines, but if you rush back into weights then it will drag out for months like what happened to me. TRUST ME AVOID THE WEIGHTS FOR NOW! 
Thanks!