Are There Ways to Avoid Hamstring Injuries?

Overview

Most hamstring injuries occur while participating in physical fitness activities, but injuries also happen at home while doing household chores or when working in the garden. Hamstrings are the muscles on the back of your thighs, and injuries happen when stressed or fatigued muscles stretch too far. When a physical motion demands more strength or output than the muscle can provide, the muscle fibers tear, causing pain, inflammation and decreased mobility in the leg, especially in the knee. You can avoid this grievance in most cases, whether you participate in extreme sports or you bend down to smell the roses.

Step 1

Warm up before any physical activity. Stretching conditions the constricted hamstring muscles and increases blood flow. The risk for injury significantly lowers when warming up with sport-specific drills, which prepare the specific muscles used when performing. For instance, walking is an appropriate warm up activity for a jogger, preparing the legs for more intense exercise. Always stretch your legs and arms before working in the garden or doing household chores. Stretching for ten minutes when waking up in the morning also conditions the muscles for light physical activity.

Step 2

Strengthen your hamstring muscles with resistance exercises. Resistance exercises increase muscle mass and strengthen bone mass. These exercises also increase endurance, providing more output for a longer time. Squats are the most appropriate resistance exercise for strengthening the hamstrings and you can perform squats anytime using your own body weight for resistance.
With your back straight, stand against the wall and bend your knees so that your pelvis is parallel with you kneecaps, as if you were sitting on an imaginary chair. Hold this position for as long as you can, and repeat three times.

Step 3

Focus and concentrate on the physical activity or uptake the task at another time. Lack of concentration causes irregular firing of nerves between the muscle groups, often the result of many hamstring injuries. Have a regular sleep schedule, retiring and rising the same time every day, getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Take a nap during the day, if needed, as naps can improve concentration and performance.

Step 4

Refrain from being active in sports, especially extreme sports, if you have a herniated disk or pinched nerve. Pinched lumbar nerves weaken the hamstring muscles, and inhibit optimal performance. Seek treatment for herniated disks, chronic back pain and pinched nerves. A pinched nerve in the upper body could cause injury to the hamstrings, even if the nerve does not extend to the lumbar region. The legs may compensate for the upper body weakness, taking on additional weight or giving way to an alternative movement, which strains the hamstrings and other muscle groups.

Step 5

Keep items stored in your fitness gear to support your fitness activities. Keep a compression wrap in your gym bag to wear for support while training the lower body. Store a knee splint with your fitness gear in case of severe injury and you need to stabilize the leg until you can see a doctor.

Step 6

Mobilize the hamstring muscles during the healing process. You may not be able to discriminate the difference between the normal soreness that occurs after a training session and a mild hamstring injury. Continue your regular fitness activities, strengthening other muscle groups until the pain in the hamstrings subside.