When to start jogging after hamstring injury
Running Hamstring Pain
hi this is Douglas I'm a physical
therapist and running coach bringing you
another informative healing on the run
running form correction video for
hamstring pain in this video you will
see three examples of runners that came
to see me specifically to help solve
their hamstring pain this is also
referred to as high hamstring pain
because it manifests at the top of the
hamstring where it attaches to the
pelvis this common condition developed
solely for distance runners and can
become nagging and chronic it consists
of inflammation at the attachment of the
hamstring on the ischial tuberosity or
more commonly referred to as the sits
bones that is why this condition will be
aggravated by sitting for long periods
of time in a car or more quickly on a
hard surface there is evidence that
certain modalities will help this injury
resolved this is especially true when
there is a muscle imbalance and
one-sided hip or pelvic misalignment but
they tend to require a layoff from
running with form adjustments both the
pain symptoms and the misalignment can
self correct the main underlying cause
for high hamstring injury is overusing
your hamstring to pull your body forward
when you're not engaging the core for
power and movement if you have this
condition and it is not responding to
strengthening and stretching and other
medical treatments you are probably a
candidate for form and technique work
once the underlying cause is corrected
this condition can often fade out
quickly let's take a look at the before
and after video clips and see what
measures help these runners become pain
free without layoffs or limitation this
first runner came in with hamstring pain
on both sides that hurt at the
attachment at the base of the pelvis on
the left side it was accompanied with
sciatic nerve pain that ran down the
back of her leg I call this high
hamstring pain and it's very common in
distance runners so let's take a look at
the still shots taking it mid stride
what is most prominent is the forward
lean in the right frame and the neutral
to back lean in the left frame on the
left she is set to have to pull her
torso forward producing the force for
that from the contraction of the
hamstrings then if we look at her in mid
stance the effect of this is more
obvious dropping a vertical lying down
from the shoulder you can see that her
body mass is behind the planted foot on
the left and falls through the mid
foot on the right which is what we're
looking for in terms of decreasing the
need for hamstring contraction as well
as minimum impact stress the visual
effect of this is a fluid sense of
rolling along the ground on the right
and a staccato step-step-step effect on
the left this rolling along creates a
lot of buoyancy the step step step
strategy creates more resistance in
pounding now let's look and see what the
pelvis is doing in slow motion you see a
more flowing motion on the right and a
holding and lack of movement on the left
as with so many running injuries the
mobility of the pelvis is key to the
natural map biomechanics one of the
prerequisites for full pelvic mobility
is that the pelvis be aligned underneath
the torso with the chest and shoulders
relaxed and engaged in a forward lean
the second runner is new to running and
was immediately hampered by high
hamstring pain on the left in his case
there is good pelvic mobility but there
are basically three things that needed
adjustment which resolved his pain
quickly looking at the still screen at
the image on the Left he is going into
full extension of the forward leg at the
knee his pelvis is held back and his
chest is pushed out forward with arms
and head pulled back this has him set up
to pull a large center of mass forward
by pawing the ground with his lead leg a
job that is delegated to and over works
the hamstring with the slow motion I
want to draw your attention to two
things one is the forefoot strike on the
left of your screen and the mid-foot
strike on the right this forefoot strike
pattern is a setup for other overuse
injuries such as plantar fasciitis
achilles pain and a variety of calf
issues the second thing I'd like to draw
your attention to is the scissoring
stride on the left frame which again
favors an already overburdened hamstring
as compared to the engagement of his hip
flexors on the right which gives him the
advantage of powering from the core
rather than pulling through on the
ground and engaging peripheral leg
muscles now taking a look at the third
runner she came to see me with long
standing pain again in the eye hamstring
very painful and getting in the way of
her racing goals and her enjoyment of
the sport looking at the still shot of
mid stride you can see on the left that
her back is arched her pelvis is held in
an anterior position placing her hip
joints back and her chest and shoulders
are held up and back in addition she is
leaning forward at the waist
this postural positioning doesn't allow
the chorim
of the body to engage and drive the hips
and thighs on the right she's aligned
with the pelvis under the torso giving
the latissimus muscle on the back and
oblique abdominals a chance to engage
and also allows for the hip flexors to
elongate and engage moving to the next
set of stills mid stance you can see
that her stance foot is well in front of
her hips and pelvis the result is for
her to paw the ground for force
production resulting in increased
contraction of the hamstrings in
addition this pulling herself forward
off the planted foot while creating
increased effort in fact slows her down
in the right hand frame the stance foot
spends less time on the ground and with
the pelvis underneath her and engaged
muscularly from the core she's able to
shorten her stride allowing for a faster
turnover this results in more air time
and less stance time and again with a
slow motion you can see the freedom of
movement of the pelvis and the improved
torso pelvic alignment that makes that
possible in summary the tightness in the
hamstring in distance runners is often
attributed to playing to larger role and
force production this is a strategy
adopted when the core of the body
doesn't play its role this can most
often be attributed to poor postural
alignment and positioning of the body
center of mass behind the stance foot at
foot strike thankfully this can be
eliminated by making the necessary
Corrections without disrupting your
training and as is true with all
Corrections made to overcome injury you
will also become a more efficient runner
as well to work with running injuries
using the healing on the Run approach it
is best to consult with a professional
who has an understanding of the injury
your running form and your current
training and goals I work out of
Lafayette Colorado and can be contacted
through my website at radiant running
calm
