T Nation

Pulled Hamstring and Training

Injuries and Rehab
#1

9 days ago I pulled my hamstring while competing in a wrestling tournament. Felt and heard a sudden snapping/tearing sensation in the spot where my right hamstring inserts in to the pelvic/butt region. Not good…

My athletic trainer told me that this will probably take 3-6 weeks to heal fully.

My questions are:
What can I be doing to maintain strength and muscle mass in both my injured and non injured leg? So far I have tried doing high resistance bike machine sprints ala Chad Waterbury, but even this will bother my hamstring if I go to hard.

Is there anything besides the standard RICE procedure and light stretching to speed the healing process?

I would especially love any advice from someone who has recovered from a hamstring pull before.

Thank you for your help!

#2

[quote]highlander0 wrote:
9 days ago I pulled my hamstring while competing in a wrestling tournament. Felt and heard a sudden snapping/tearing sensation in the spot where my right hamstring inserts in to the pelvic/butt region. Not good…

My athletic trainer told me that this will probably take 3-6 weeks to heal fully.

My questions are:
What can I be doing to maintain strength and muscle mass in both my injured and non injured leg? So far I have tried doing high resistance bike machine sprints ala Chad Waterbury, but even this will bother my hamstring if I go to hard.

Is there anything besides the standard RICE procedure and light stretching to speed the healing process?

I would especially love any advice from someone who has recovered from a hamstring pull before.

Thank you for your help![/quote]

Get those glutes working! Hamstring strains can result from underactive glutes. This is by far the most common reason I see and was the reason I had a history of hamstring pulls.

Another big thing with hamstring pulls, at least for me, is when you think you’re ready to get after it again, wait a week. This injury is notorious for lingering around because people try to come back too soon. Take care of it right the first time so you don’t have to deal with it for 3 months, if not longer.

#3

Yes I have been told that hamstring pulls are notorious for lingering…as difficult as it is, I will try and be very patient with the injury.

Good point on the glutes; once Im able I start really hitting the hip thrusts hard.