Hamstrings & Injury Prevention

If you are an athlete, you are at a higher risk of injuring a knee when the hamstring muscles are much weaker than the quadriceps.  This is why strength and flexibility are great for preventing injury to the hamstrings and/or the knees.

 

Athletes are also at risk for hamstring and knee injuries when the gluteal muscles are not functioning properly or strongly enough. Tight hip flexor muscles are usually accompanied by weak gluts, which are responsible for shock-absorption during activity, but when not utilized, can lead to overuse of the hamstrings. Unfortunately the hamstrings are not structured to handle this type of workload, which results in injury to the hamstrings and even the knees, such as the ACL. In sum, it is also beneficial to have well stretched hip flexors prior to engaging in sports.

 

Here is a brief list of stretches and exercises to do as injury prevention.

 

Bridges – good for the gluts. Lay on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground. Raise your hips off the ground so your torso and thighs make a straight line. Repeat this exercise until your feel a good burn in your buttocks. Remember you can always further challenge yourself by bridging with one leg.

 

Hip flexors stretch – Lunge forward with one leg and position the foot beyond forward knee. Straighten your hip of the rear leg by pushing hips forward. Hold this stretch for 30-60 seconds. Repeat with opposite side.

 

Walking lunges – To increase the challenge, start by bending your knees further to the ground or add dumbbells. Repeat until there is a great burn in your buns, hamstrings, and thighs.

 

If you are more experienced, other great hamstring strengthening exercises include dead lifts, good mornings, physioball hamstring curls, and many others.

 

Tyler Williams, SPT

Kristi McMahan, DPT