Weak Hamstring And Exercises

No Hammies wrote:

I have an injury in my left achilles as I pronate during landing. The AT at my college evaluated me and found that I have strong gluteal muscles including strong glute medius on the left side but a weak hamstring. He said that one of the hamstringS roles during running is to decelerate you during landing and it is too weak to decelerate me so that is why I pronate and got the injury. He told me to do hamstring curls to strengthen it. I have two questions. Firstly, does his diagnosis make sense? And secondly, I thought that hamstring curls are not a good exercise for runners because it does not transfer over to a running movement. Is this the best exercise to strengthen that weak left hamstring or is there another exercise I should do instead?

Single-leg romanian deadlft.

Stiff-legged deadlifts

Leg curls

Hyperextensions

"Lower back" machines not made by MedX

Do a single leg curl or a stability ball.

That's better than a leg curl on a machine, since it work both on the eccentric and concentric phases.

It is not possible to infer that your injury is due to weak hamstrings.

It is not true that strength developed on a hamstring curl machine does not "transfer" to running. It does.

However, I don't necessarily recommend that you go out and do hamstring curls, because most machines have backwards resistance curves that render them unusable by my standards. You also likely don't know how to use one correctly, which isn't your fault, but reflects the failure of the strength coaching community to provide proper guidance.

Basically, I dunno what to tell you,

Weak Hammie wrote:

Do a single leg curl or a stability ball.

That's better than a leg curl on a machine, since it work both on the eccentric and concentric phases.

Oh dear Jesus *shoots himself*

If your hamstrings are weak, it's because you're not using them. All the weight lifting in the world will make no difference if you still don't use them.

Better to adjust your form. Hamstrings shorten the leg on the recovery stroke, so that it accelerates forward faster. They also help accelerate the body by dragging backwards on the foot after it lands. Without them, your leg would straighten and your body would flop forward.

Sprinters depend on their hamstrings and get used to using them with drills.

Try eccentric hamstring exercises rather than curls. http://www.daveelger.net/2009/09/hamstring-exercise-for-runners.html

Bad Wigins wrote:

If your hamstrings are weak, it's because you're not using them. All the weight lifting in the world will make no difference if you still don't use them.

Good comment. Weight lifting alone isn't enough, you have to do sprints, too (e.g. crossfit style sprint repeats). When you SLOG, there is no muscle activation in quads, glutes or hamstring, you need to SPRINT. Ever wonder why sloggers are so SCRAWNY? That's why.

Having had hamstring problems for years I would strongly recommend doing strengthening exerices (which I didn't do). Sprint training alone is not going to do it

Anyone know any h/s stengtheners without a gym machine?

Asdfghjkl wrote:

It is not possible to infer that your injury is due to weak hamstrings.

It is not true that strength developed on a hamstring curl machine does not "transfer" to running. It does.

However, I don't necessarily recommend that you go out and do hamstring curls, because most machines have backwards resistance curves that render them unusable by my standards. You also likely don't know how to use one correctly, which isn't your fault, but reflects the failure of the strength coaching community to provide proper guidance.

Basically, I dunno what to tell you,

Why do people post when they have nothing to contribute at all. You didn't give a single solution to the posters problems, you basically said it sucks to be you.

Hills. Sprints, short and long repeats, tempo efforts on a rolling course, etc.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Having had hamstring problems for years I would strongly recommend doing strengthening exerices (which I didn't do). Sprint training alone is not going to do it

Anyone know any h/s stengtheners without a gym machine?

That glute ham raise (see the link to naia champ's post) can be done without a gym machine. I put my feet against a wall and a boss ball in front. To add difficulty, you could hold a medicine ball either at chest (easier) or above head (harder).

If you don't have a boss ball, either, find a partner who could hold your ankles firmly.

i tore my medial hammy last year, kept me out for ~8 months. daily single leg eccentric exercises were the thing that helped me get over the hump & running again.

-single leg windmill toe touch

-single leg deadlift

-single leg good mornings

-split leg zelchers

-supine bent leg walk out

-supine single leg chair bridge

(last 2 also good for glutes)

this is an absolute bada** review on hammy injuries & rehab/strengthening. i built my program around the one they outline after seeing no progress with several PTs/ART people:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2867336/

all stuff you can do at home. i still do my rehab 2X a week in addition to more traditional lifts (squats, deadlifts, legpress, cleans, etc.)

OP, your hammy does deaccelerate your lead leg leg when running, but it does so while lengthening (making it an eccentric contraction). hammy curls are obviously a concentric contraction, so you are correct in that they don't really work the muscle in the same way that it is worked when running. focus on eccentric hammy exercises instead of curls.

two absolutely great eccentric exercises i forgot to put in my previous post:

-single leg pawing (replicates exactly what your leg is doing when running sprinting, get some ankle weights if you want the hammy to do more work)

-glute ham raises (i do mine at home, kneeling on a yoga mat & anchoring my feet beneath my bedframe. the key is controlled decent, which is made possible by an eccentric hamstring contraction)

This article suggests that glute ham raise is counterproductive because it works hamstring at one point (knee) and because of its non-functional position.

http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/sports_sciences/a_systematic_approach_to_hamstring_prevention_and_rehabilitation_part_1

Any opinion on this?

this study followed two groups of soccer players and found that a group that did partner nordic curls/glute ham raises 3x a week for 10 weeks + 1x a week thereafter had a statistically significant reduction in the number of hamstring injuries sustained compared to a control group that didn't do the exercise.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21825112

i think there is something to the claim that glute ham raises/nordic curls are not being the best eccentric hammy exercise - since it engages both legs you can compensate by using one leg or the other more (not an issue when doing single-leg deadlifts, toe touches, etc). i'm also not sure that i buy that it works the hamstring only at the knee and not the proximal attachments...i feel like if i position/anchor my feet correctly (ie compact with feet not too far from my butt) and really focus on a controlled descent (i could care less about the ascent/concentric part of the exercise), the proximal hammies are doing a lot of work (though maybe not activated as much as when doing single-leg deadlifts). and the above study obviously supports the idea that if you're doing nothing eccentric with the hammies, nordic curls/glute ham raises are a good place to start.

I actually started doing these exercises but i started doing them when my ham was already a bit strained. i also think that you need to ramp up slower than the article says.

look at the appendix, there is a clear progression in the rehab program (phase I, II, III) and clear criteria you must meet before the more advanced exercises in successive phases.

i think the whole 'rest & let i heal' is BS for hamstring injury recovery. i started phase one when an ultrasound showed a pretty bad tear & the exercises hurt a bit, but there is no doubt in my mind it paid off later on. look at the phase I goals - 'minimize atrophy & prevent scar tissue development'. these are two things that you won't accomplish sitting on your couch hoping the strain/tear heals on its own. pain is OK during the exercises - soreness later on from the exercises probably means you need to back off. just my 2 cents from experience.

Single leg glute bridge

Bench step ups

1 leg "stand ups" - sit on bench at a height where knees are at 90 degree angle - stand up using one foot (add in a weighted bar on the shoulder if/when it is too easy)

^All 3 work glutes and hamstrings - it is important to not simply isolate these muscles for all of your lifts

For more hamstring dominant exercises:

DEADLIFTS