Tight hamstrings: If you are a runner, you will struggle with tight hamstrings all your life. In 1970 I took a Navy survival course. The instructor asked the question, “What is the fastest way to warm up?” The answer was, “Never get cold!” The best way to keep from getting tight hamstrings is to never allow your hamstrings to get short.
Runners do about 12 Trillion hamstring push-offs in their lifetime. Marathon Maniacs do even more. All those push-offs are going to lead to hamstring tightness.
History: It just started. You cannot remember doing anything to your hamstrings, except hill work, speed work, long runs, trail running, and races. Your hamstrings don’t ‘hurt’ they are just tight and you think this is why your back hurts.
Self-Exam: Here are some things you can look for in yourself.
1) There are several different ways you can check your hamstrings. Here are a couple of videos to check yourself. If
a. HS test 1 VID
b. HS test 2 VID
c. HS test 3 VID
2) Don’t cheat. If you check your hamstrings every way listed here and one of the three says you don’t have tight hamstrings, but the other two say your hamstrings are tight, you probably have tight hamstrings.
Treatment:
1) Manage the pain:
a. NSAIDS will help. Use any analgesics you feel help reduce the pain in your hamstrings.
b. Knee braces usually do not help a lot.
c. Kinesiology taping to your hamstrings until your pain is under control. LIN
d. Continue running but avoid aggressive speed work and hill repeats, especially downhill running.
2) Restore full motion:
a. Since the hamstrings cross over both the knee and hip joints, you may have slight limitations to these joints. Here are two easy self-tests you can complete to test your joint mobility at the knees or hips. VID
b. The sequential short-term stretches to both legs and all the muscles below the hip are absolutely my favorite. It makes sure you get all the muscles, not just the tightest of the bunch. VID
i. Stretching does not have to be part of your warm-up or cool-down. But it HAS to be part of your training program. LIN
3) Most runners with tight hamstrings do not have weakness. It is just the opposite; your hamstrings are tougher than they are long.
4) Begin body weight exercises.
a. You can go straight to our section on weight training for runners.
b. As soon as you can pass the hamstring flexibility tests, consider yourself good to go.
c. Continue to tape your hammies util you can complete your speed work and hill work without pain.
Click here for video to know if you are ready to progress to more aggressive exercises.
5) Correct running mechanics.
a. Gradually return to your previous running. Start on relatively flat ground or even on a treadmill. The best part of returning to running with a treadmill is that you can actually hear your footsteps. Also, a lot of treadmills are in front of a mirror so you can see your hands move and your feet move. If your arms or legs swing weird, you may want to have a physical therapist complete an evaluation before you return to full running. Listen and ‘feel’ how you run. Is one leg hitting the ground harder than the other? Does one arm swing differently than the other? Until you can run without pain and with fairly symmetrical running mechanics, you are still at risk of reproducing your old injury or creating a whole new injury to another part of your body.
b. As soon as you can run without pain and without a limp you can return to your normal running routine.
6) Return to running speedwork and hills. After you have been able to run on flat ground for a week with your with your normal training and have not had any pain, you can begin to add speed and hill training to your program.
7) My favorite step, get back to full running! Have fun. Eventually you will bust something else and be back to the website to fix that.
8) If you follow the steps on the website for 2-6 weeks (depending on how badly you hurt yourself the first time and on how long you tried to ‘run through the pain’) and your problem does not resolve, then call our clinic for an appointment and we can do something Dr. Google cannot do. We can complete a hands-on evaluation, in-person evaluation to determine the cause of your pain.