Hi, guys, maybe some of you that are more experienced can help with it:
Anyone here had (or seem)hamstring problems when training the deadlift?
My problem is that before i reach muscle failure in the deadlift (or even in leg curls)i feel a hamstring pull that hurt for days(or weeks). And it doesnt matter if its low or high reps, when the set gets challenging i manage to complete the rep but feel the ham pull.
Its frustrating because i know i have the strength to pull the weight but now i dont know when to stop, because it seems like the weights i can do with safety are below my strength. This is seriously limiting my progress.
Do you guys think this can be a flexibility problem or what?
Thanks in advance.
It could be a flexibility problem, but not just a hamstring flexibility problem. Tight hip flexors, calves, and glutes can all exasperate a hamstring problem.
It is also likely that you have a slight hamstring strain. Hamstring injuries can be a bit funny. You can give a 95% effort over and over again and believe that your hamstring has healed and is fine, but as soon as you go up to an all out effort you irritate again and are right back at square one.
The other bad thing about hamstring injuries is that even a very minor one can hold you back quite a bit. There is no such thing as fighting through the pain when it comes to hamstrings.
My advice: Quit doing everything that irritates it. Take a break, and then slowly ease back into it. As soon as you start to feel any pull or strain, quit. You do not want to aggrivate it anymore than you already have. Try a variety of exercises to hopefully find something that you can do to strengthen the muscle without causing pain. It looks like DL’s are out for you, but SLDL’s or RDL’s might be okay. Try squats, GM’s, GHR’s, and hamstring curls.
The biggest thing is that it is going to take some time to recover before you can go back to heavy deadlifts, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to not rush a hamstring injury.
Tedro, thanks for the help.
Actually what happened is that i hurt my right hamstring doing leg curls 2 or 3 months ago, then 2 weeks later it felt ok and i hurt it again in the deadlifts (for 12reps), since then i only did this exercises for easy sets and the injury was healed… but today i tried heavy deads again and hurt my other(left) hamstring, one guy who as watching the lift actually heard the noise of my tendon!
I think about flexibility since sometimes i felt my hams tight when kicking, but i still can put my palms on the floor with knees straight(well… not today), so i’m not sure.
The only things that really helped, and are still helping are lots of stretching (see if your calves are tight), and foam rolling/rolling with a tennis ball. Also if it doesnt aggravate it, try doing bodyweight squats for set of 50-100 reps. This has really helped me get the area strengthened and conditioned again.
Thanks for the replies.
I’ll try the tennis ball thing and stretching. I’m sure that in less than 1 week i will be able to do squats, lunges, etc… with no problem. What i dont know is when i will be able to do hamstring work heavy, because seems that my hamstrings cant handle the force they produce so i’m hoping the flexibility and soft tissue stuff helps.