Welcome to episode 70 of The Optimal Body Podcast
Hamstring Strains & Overuse: Help Prevent them with These Exercises
Ever wonder why your hamstrings are always tight? Do you find yourself constantly stretching, only to feel tight again in a few hours? Are you a runner but feel discomfort in the back of your thighs? Dr. Jen and Dr. Dom dive into the hamstrings, culprits to hamstring strains and overuse injuries, and what you can do to help your hamstrings. They hone in on the importance of building hamstring awareness, the significance of progressive overload, and what you can do to help your hamstrings meet the demands of your day to day lives and your training. You’ll find the tools to help you understand the sensations you’re feeling and how you can navigate those sensations to feel optimal and functional again.
What You Will Learn in this PT Pearl:
0:55 – Muscles of the Hamstring.
2:00 – Breaking down chronic hamstring tightness.
2:23 – The importance of eccentric training on the hamstrings.
3:28 – Your muscles have sensory receptors.
4:23 – Why do we get overuse hamstring injuries or strains?
5:30 – Hamstring Strains and Running
7:37 – Exploring hamstring awareness
10:30 – Prehabilitation for hamstring strains
12:50 – Hamstring exercises you can try out.
14:40: Statistics on Hamstring injuries.
15:15 – It all comes back to the core.
15:30 – Additional Hamstring exercises.
17:40 – Continuing to explore your body.
18:35 – Benefits of doing eccentric exercises.
19:55 – Why you should start with isometric exercises.
20:20 – Progressively loading your Hamstrings.
20:55 – Importance of strength training.
To Watch the PT Pearl on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch
Items mentioned in this episode include:
The Optimal Body Membership: https://www.docjenfit.com/theoptimalbody/
Research Citations
Bourne MN, Williams MD, Opar DA, et al. Impact of exercise selection on hamstring muscle activation. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017;51:1021-1028. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/13/1021.long
Pollard, CW, Opar, DA, Williams, MD, Bourne, MN, Timmins, RG. Razor hamstring curl and Nordic hamstring exercise architectural adaptations: Impact of exercise selection and intensity. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2019; 29: 706– 715. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13381
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