I’ve torn my hamstring for the 2nd time in about 8 weeks. Because I’m 23 and want to do this for many years to come I’m going to seriously lay off leg training for an extended period of time. In my mind, all is not lost and I guess this is a good time to concentrate on my bench press.
If anyone can point me to a good bench program I’d appreciate it. Anyone coming from similar experience also is very welcome to input any opinions/ideas.
Previously I’ve been training WS4SB, then did 5/3/1, tore my hamstring (sprinting not weight training), then went back to a Westside program and tore my hamstring again (ME rack pulls; too heavy, too early).
(I’ll be seeing a physio in a week to assess recovery time/rehab protocol)
Damn, bad luck…
Smolov or smolov jr can be used for bench, a lot of people have had success doing that.
I’ve done ‘blast your bench’ which is a 5 day a week bench routine also.
Smolov jr might be your best bet, i’d make sure i did plenty of back work too to avoid imbalances.
Just don’t go tearing your hamstring when using leg drive…
Is it a Tear or tear? Benching with any leg drive will probably be off the list of exercises for now. I pulled a hamstring last fall, with lots of bleeding, and it took two months before I could properly walk let alone lift. I’d say if your pull is serious enough that perhaps you need to step back rehab the ham and go easy on everything for a while. I couldn’t take enough exedrin after I pulled my hamstring to even feel like I was ready to go.
I went in to test my forty they gave me about five minutes to warm up and what do you know, pop.
Yeah won’t be flat benching any hardcore weights in the next week or so.
For past year I’ve been doing dynamic stretching/mobility drills ala Cressey/Robertson. When I tore my ham ~8 weeks ago I’ve also included foam rolling before training. My warmup today took about 25 minutes. (no static stretching except for my hip flexor). Anything I should have or shouldn’t have done?
I tore this hamstring the first time 3 years ago on my 20th birthday. That had a lot of bleeding. Back then I was into bodybuilding so never went heavy (at least not like a powerlifter). 8 weeks ago initially I thought the tear was going to be as bad but I RICE’d it hard and actually no bruising. Walking within a week so that’s why I thought I’d be right to go now. Obviously not, the most recent tear I’ve been RICE’ing hard too and no bruising evident. It may very well be psychological but I feel a groove where I tore it. I guess I’ll find out from the physio in a week…
I play in a footy team where the coach makes us static stretch for 10 minutes with no dynamic or mobility drills. Usually by the end of the training session someone has tweaked their hamstring or has a sore back, he tells them to fix this by stretching it more. Surprise, Surprise it doesn’t work, it makes it worse.
Although I should have known you would know better because your posting on T-Nation.