Training to Prevent Hamstring Pulls

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
21

yeah, the quad being too strong and the ham not being strong enough.

I did hamstring curls so much and went into the season never hurting my hams, and I do hurdles too. I think doing hurdles mught of helped because you have to stretch so much but, my advice is to work your hams as much as possible and to run with your ass, get your knees up and stride out.

22

[quote]Ross Hunt wrote:
I’ve noticed that there are plenty of sprinters on this board. What training methods have you used to prevent hamstring pulls?

One often hears that the cause of hamstring pulls is a high quadriceps to hamstrings strength ratio. How do you go about evaluating this ratio accurately in a practical training context? Is the ratio of your front squat to technically correct clean pull, for instance, a good indicator of this? Leg extension to leg curl?

I understand that there are many other causes of hamstring pull (poor mechanics, inadequate warm-up, simple overtraining, adhesions from previous injuries, etc.) but I am interested in the strength training side of this issue.[/quote]

I agree completely with the poster who qouted Charlie Francis regarding glute activation. One of the best ways for me to be able to do just that was to do hip bridges with both legs for time, then unilaterally for time. Buildup to greater than one minute per bridge. You can’t help but get your glutes activating that way. Mike Boyle also has written that strong glutes prevent hamstring pulls.

Nick

23

Julia–

Thanks for the advice. Hamstring curls get a bad rap in some places as a ‘non-functional’ exercise, but so many sprinters seem to do them as PART of the program that they sound like they’re worth a try.

[quote]Nick Radonjic wrote:

I agree completely with the poster who qouted Charlie Francis regarding glute activation. One of the best ways for me to be able to do just that was to do hip bridges with both legs for time, then unilaterally for time. Buildup to greater than one minute per bridge. You can’t help but get your glutes activating that way. Mike Boyle also has written that strong glutes prevent hamstring pulls.

Nick[/quote]

Nick,

Thanks. I’ll definitely give that drill a try and see how my activation measures up.