Hamstring & other sports injuries

Hi. I strained a hamstring sprinting last year (full on seizing/locking up - beyond painful!) and despite taking great care rehabbing & not pushing too hard the past 9 months I still feel weak & tight in the posterior right leg chain (Achilles up thru hamstring). Comes and goes a bit, though - which is a telltale TMS sign, I know. But...this damn “injury” is rooted in a definitie traumatic event, so...I waffle

Any other serious athletes out there have success stories about similar cases to share?

 

@onetruedog,

Let me say that I empathize with you on this. I pulled my left hamstring back in 2013, which came seemingly out of nowhere. I had worked my way up to 10+ mile runs on Saturdays, and made it about 1/2 mile in on a 6 mile run with a buddy and BAM!!! I was out of commission for the better part of a year. Sprinting all but guarantees a hamstring pull because of the huge stresses on large muscle groups.

I'm not a sports therapist, but I've been injured enough while running to feel fairly comfortable explaining what has worked for myself. I personally didn't feel 100% at the 9 month mark after my hamstring pull. I waited a year before I got back into any serious running. I can tell you that since I started back in 2014, my hamstring pain/sensitivity has waxed and waned off and on.

There's a huge psychological element that goes into running after this kind of injury because it is such a violently painful experience.

I've been able to overcome this in the past year through a combination of mindfulness and warming up. I condition myself to believe that my warm up will not harm my hamstring, then I proceed with 4-count jumping jacks, 4-count forward jumping jacks, [gentle] forward leg swings, and forward pedals.

I've been doing this warm-up routine for a few months now, and it's made a world of difference with the sensation in my hamstring(s). I'm finally back to being able to add in high intensity, longer distance sprints to the end of my runs; keep in mind these are distance sprints and not the typical high impact, short sprints.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Richie. Good advice. I too have been back to medium-intensity sprinting since last September, but yes - the 100% intensity, short (20-50m) sprints are frankly scarry and I haven't attempted them. Of course most of my mates on the masters track team have popped a hammy, so it seems to be an accepted risk of the sport. My therapist suggested maybe a reframe my goals to the 800m or even the 400m, so that training doesn't need to involve full acceleration and max velocity. Dangit!

Good thing this ain't our full time job!

 

Dr. Sarno has some stories about pulled hamstrings in one of his books. He perceives then as TMS.

 

Yes thanks I went back and saw those.