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Hamstring Strain Recovery

 

Outline

Our Hamstring muscle makes up most of our thigh muscle. At the back of our leg it crosses both our knee and hip joint. Because it crosses two joints, it’s primary action is to flex (bend) the knee and extend (bring leg back) at the hip. 

The hamstring is not composed of one muscle but of 3 large muscles: 

  1. Bicep femoris
  2. Semimembranosus
  3. Semitendinosus

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(https://www.jospt.org/doi/full/10.2519/jospt.2010.3047)

For those of you that run, when you are running at 100% speed, at the terminal swing phase your hamstring muscles are percentage activity is:

-Bicep femoris 67% 

-Semi membranisis and semitendinosis at 37%

This is why when we see a running hamstring injury it is usually your bicep femoris.

With hamstring injuries, the most common are hamstring strains (tears) and tendinopathy (tendon overuse injury). 

Recovery

Phase 1 – Protection, Ice, and  NSAIDs (if prescribed by Dr first few days). Therapeutic exercises consist of neuromuscular and isometrics in a protective range. The physio will give you progression criteria to pass you to phase 2. An example of a progression would be normal walking without pain.

Phase 2 – Protection in this phase – the muscle should be pain free in full range, however, we still avoid passive stretching into full range if weakness is still present. Therapeutic exercises consist of neuromuscular and isometrics in a protective range. Therapeutic exercises include neuromuscular, core stabilization, and strength focusing on eccentric control. All exercises need to be pain free. One example of the progression criteria in this phase would be pain free manual muscle test for the hamstring

Phase 3 – In protection for this phase there is no restriction in passive stretching however, sprinting/accelerating should be avoided until the athlete meets return to sport criteria. Therapeutic exercises should consist of sports specific drills, continuing progression of eccentric strength exercises leading towards end of hamstring range and trunk stability.  

Return to sport criteria – In order to return to sport your physio will do some final testing and once you have achieved all the criteria you will be asked to try 2 full training sessions. If there are no impairments such in pain, strength or performance you will be able to return to sport. The hamstring will still be vulnerable 2 months during return to sport. Also, with the recurrence rate of hamstring injury being 2x as likely, it is advised to have a physio monitor your progress throughout your season of sport.

By Physiotherapist, Paulina Backiel

 

 

 

References
1.Erickson LN, Sherry MA. Rehabilitation and return to sport after hamstring strain injury. Journal of sport and health science. 2017 Sep 1;6(3):262-70.
2.Heiderscheit BC, Sherry MA, Silder A, Chumanov ES, Thelen DG. Hamstring strain injuries: recommendations for diagnosis, rehabilitation, and injury prevention. journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy. 2010 Feb;40(2):67-81.
Photo retrieved from: http://sportsinjury.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Hamstring-Muscles-983×1024.jpg
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3 Steps to Netflix and Chill with Ease

BOSIC Specials

The What

According to recent studies on average we spend 71 minutes if not more on Netflix per day. However, when we find an addictive show we all spend 2 hours, maybe 3 hours sitting down. Long and behold there’s a greater chance of low back pain. 

The How

How did we end up with this pain?

Let’s take a step back and think about it. We have been sitting at our desk for 8-10hours. We have dinner sitting down with your friends and family. Finally to unwind from the day we sit down and cuddle with our partners watching Netflix. Therefore, the grand total of sitting down went from 8 hours to 12+ hours. 

 

Top Recommendations

To help your back and avoid this ache/niggle here are my top 3 recommendations:

1.Move more. 

This is no better time to multitask.  Use this time wisely to fit in your rehab exercises, stretch or increase your mobility. Here is my favourite stretch to Netflix and chill with:

 

    • Hip flexor to hamstring stretch
    • Fig 4 stretch

2. Slouching doesn’t look cool or feel cool.

Slouching generally adds to much strain on your neck and lower back. 

In a slouching position we will be with rounded shoulders forcing us to bend our necks to look up. This will eventually cause neck pain.

 Likewise for the lower back we posterior pelvic tilting and compressing the back making it hard for us to get out the couch. 

TIP: Slide your butt back against the back edge of the couch so you can rest your entire torso against the backrest to sit upright. 

 

3.Ad breaks

Yes ad breaks, but not as you know. Yes, you’re probably thinking, “but I subscribe to Netflix to NOT get ad breaks!” But break time is essential when spending time sitting or lounging.  

Think about scheduling your own breaks during the show or movie (ie every 20minutes) to stretch, go to the bathroom, replenish your snacks, or hell even grab yourself a well deserved drink. Breaking up the TV binge watching cycle will help alleviate the stress on your neck and back so you can watch at the safety and comfort of your own home. 

 

Those are my top 3 Netflix and Chill recommendations. Give those a try and let me know your thoughts. If you are still struggling with pain, don’t forget to book in here or call us at 8599 9811. 

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Types Of Runs For Distance Runners

By Physiotherapist, Paulina Backiel

Introduction

Are you interested in changing up your running routine? Perhaps you are training and are looking to add more challenging types of runs into your routine. Here, Paulina is going over all of the different types of runs that you can do as a distance to runner to improve your speed, cadence, and stamina. 

 

Tempo run
A sustained effort run, running at a higher pace than casula running pace over a given distance or time period.
Ex. 10km at sustained 4’30min/km pace

 

Fartlek
Defined in Swedish for “speed play”
This type of run can vary in distance, playing with quick and slow speeds throughout the run. These runs are usually based on set time intervals rather than distance and utilizing intensity zones.
Ex. 2x3mins at 60% effort, 4x1min at 70-80% effort, 6x30sec at 85-90% effort, rest between each effort

 

Intervals/speed sessions
Also called repetitions, usually a certain distance repeated a number of times.
-Passive recovery = sedentary recovery is considered rest
-Active recovery = walking between each interval is considered rest
Ex. 5x400m, active recovery between intervals (30s walk)
Ex. 6x800m, passive

 

Hills
Usually repetitions done on a specific hill or choice, however you can also change it up and do a hilly distance course.
Ex. Hill repetitions: 60m hill x5 with 20s rest between
Ex. Hilly run: 6km with 300m elevation

 

AT (Anerobic Threshold) run
Running at a hard pace (83-87% MHR) continuously until you start to decline in power/speed due to lactic acid buildup in your muscles preventing you from maintaining that power/speed.
-Anerobic threshold = 83-87% max heart rate (MHR)
-Max heart rate = 220 – Age
Ex running 25mins at 10km pace

 

Long run
An easy run that is the longest run of the week to improve endurance levels, and bodies ability to adapt to sustained energy effort. A long run is dependent on the athlete and their training. Ex half marathon runner’s long run may be 18-20km.

 

Mid-week long run
-50-60% distance of long run
Additional long run

 

Absorption/Recovery Run
An easy short run in the week for the body to absorb the training loads and recover from any hard sessions during the week. These are essential for all runners because recovery is important to decrease injury risk and aid in physiological changes running causes on the body.
Ex. 7km slow run (usually a pace of ~1km/min slower than your average pace)

 

Progressive Run
Just like in the name, in a Progressive run you start at a slower pace then progress to a higher speed slowly in a short or long run.
Ex.5km progressive: (progress 10 sec less every km) 1km – 7’10, 2km – 7’00, 3km – 6’50, 4km – 6’40, 5km – 6’30

 

If you are interested in getting started with running program but don’t know where to start, then start with my personalized running program – Run Faster and Smarter. This bespoke running and strength program will get you running faster and feeling stronger in just four weeks. Click here to book now!

 

Your physio, 
Paulina