Strained Hamstring Recovery Time
Hamstring strains are one of the most common injuries in competitive sports like soccer and rugby.
If you’ve pulled your hamstring muscle, then you’ll want to know exactly how long it's going to take to get you back onto the field safely, and back performing at your very best.
Now muscle strains or tears are generally graded between 1-3, and this is no different for your hamstring muscle (make sure to watch the video above for a complete breakdown of injury grades).
Now when determining how long it may take to return to sport after a hamstring strain, there are other factors that we need to consider, besides just the grade of injury, and these will also have an impact on recovery time. Things like:
1 - Previous history of a similar injury
as well as…
2 - The demands of the sport that you want to return back to
will have a big impact on the hamstring recovery time.
If you’ve strained your hamstring, then here are some great hamstring strengthening exercises to try.
These exercises will start at very early stage rehab, and will progressively become more and more demanding on your hamstring muscle as it continues to heal and recover.
Beginner Hamstring Exercises
1 - Standing butt kicks
Standing butt kicks are a great way to work the hamstring muscle group. Hamstrings are responsible for knee flexion and hip extension, so it's important to keep them strong and healthy. Here's how to perform a standing butt kick:
1. Start by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart.
2. keeping your upper body still, lift your right leg up and back, kicking your glutes with your heel.
3. Return to the starting position and repeat with the left leg.
4. continue alternating legs for the desired number of repetitions.
Standings butt kicks are a simple yet effective way to work the hamstring muscles. Give them a try next time you're looking for a hamstring workout!
2 - Eccentric bridge
A hamstring injury can be a debilitating setback for any athlete. Eccentric training is a type of exercise that can help to prevent hamstring injuries by strengthening the muscles and tendons.
The eccentric bridge is one exercises that can be performed to achieve this. To perform the eccentric bridge, start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
Place a weight across your hips, and raise your hips off the ground until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Next, lower your hips back to the starting position, resisting the weight as you do so. This exercise should be performed slowly and with control in order to maximally activate the hamstring muscles.
With regular eccentric training, athletes can reduce their risk of hamstring injuries and recover quickly from hamstring strains.
Intermediate Hamstring Exercises
3 - Single leg bridge
The single leg bridge is a great hamstring exercise. To start, lie on your back with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent.
Then, raise one leg off the ground and place your foot flat on the other leg. Next, press down into your foot and raise your hips off the ground until your thighs are in line with your chest.
Finally, hold for a few seconds and then lower back down to the starting position. Work up to holding for 60 seconds on each side.
You can also make this exercise more challenging by placing a weight on your stomach or adding a pulse at the top of the movement.
4 - Single leg elevated bridge
The single leg elevated bridge is a great hamstring exercise. It helps to improve hamstring flexibility and strengthens the hamstring muscles. To perform the exercise, start by lying on your back with your legs straight.
Place your heels on an elevated surface, such as a bench or chair. Raise one leg off of the surface and bring it towards your chest.
Keeping your other leg straight, raise your hips off of the ground and hold for two seconds. Lower your hips back down to the starting position and repeat. Perform eight to 10 repetitions on each leg.
Advanced Hamstring Exercises
5 - Single leg deadlift
Hamstring tears are one of the most common injuries in sports. The Single Leg Deadlift is a great exercise to strengthen the hamstring and prevent these types of injuries. Here's how to do it:
Start by standing on one leg with your knee slightly bent. Slowly hinge forward at the hip, keeping your back straight and your weight in your heel. Lower your hand toward the ground while keeping your hamstring muscle engaged. Return to standing by driving through your heel and squeezing your hamstring muscle. Repeat for 8-12 reps before switching legs.
Performing the Single Leg Deadlift will help to build hamstring strength and prevent injuries. Give it a try next time you're in the gym!
6 - Nordic hamstring curl
The Nordic hamstring curl is a great exercise for targeting the hamstring muscles. To perform the exercise, start by kneeling on a mat with your feet together. Then, slowly lean forward, keeping your back straight. Once you reach a point where you cannot keep your back straight any longer, extend your arms out in front of you and slowly lower your body down to the mat. Return to the starting position and repeat the exercise for 10-12 repetitions.
While the Nordic hamstring curl may seem like a simple exercise, it can be quite challenging. If you are having trouble performing the exercise, try bending your knees slightly to take some of the pressure off of your hamstrings. You can also place your hands on either side of your head to help support your body as you lower down to the mat. Remember to keep your back straight throughout the entire exercise and to move slowly and controlled.
The Nordic hamstring curl can be performed with or without weight, depending on your level of fitness. If you are new to the exercise, start without weight and gradually add weight as you get stronger.
(Make sure to watch the video for the complete demo on how to perform these exercises.)
In the clinic we make sure that your hamstring strength is adequate, by using some fancy high tech equipment to measure peak force production, and what we like to see is the injured side getting back to within at least 10 percent of the uninjured side.
But you can also test your strength at home by seeing how many single leg elevated bridges you can do on each leg - ideally your injured side should be equal to your uninjured side in terms of maximum number of reps.
And now that you’ve re-strengthened your hamstring muscle, you need to make sure that you can safely run on it at speed, before returning to sports like rugby or soccer.
So we’ve developed a “return to running” program for hamstring strains just for you, which you can download by navigating to “injuries we treat” and then “Running injuries” on our website.
This program progressively increases your running speed and volume in a safe manner, so that you can be confident to return to the field once you’ve passed all the levels.
So make sure to download the free running program, and be sure to follow all of the rules for progression through each level, and get back to playing at your best.
So there we have it - our breakdown on strained hamstring recovery time, and how to progress your rehab and recovery after a hamstring strain.
