strained hammy with only 3 weeks til camp

[kyle07d]

doing my speed and agility workout last night felt could. im starting to get into really great shape. about 2 months ago i strained my left hamstring and sat out 2-3 weeks to let it heal up. i gradually worked back into heavy lower body lifts, plyos, agilities and sprints.

last night i was sprinting 60's. about my 4th one my left hamstring completely locked up. discouraged and upset ive decided to turn to this board this time in search of more knowledgeable help.

its not a pull, no bruising, no lump, i can walk and nearly touch my toes if i push myself to do it. its very sore and tender. i iced last night and downed the ibeprofen immediately when i was able to.

please, any help or advice is greatly needed and appreciated.


thanks,
-god bless

im going to be a freshman in college at lindenwood university in st. louis missouri. i play middle linebacker.

[kyle07d]

Any help? Please?

[jdprep42]

Do you have access to any sort of training room?

[kyle07d]

Training room as in Therapy? No sir. I've grown up in a small rural town. It's worse today. Very sore when I try and stretch it. Walking doesn't seem to bother it to bad tho.

Thank you so much for help

[JHart666]

let it rest for a few days, dont overstretch, you don't need to force a greater stretch just a light stretch if anything

[jdprep42]

In that case, I would ice it 20 mins on 20 mins off. Stretch, like the previous guy said it can be a light stretch, you just dont want it to tighten up. After about a week, I would start to try and do some leg curls at the gym, start with no weight on the machine, just the one leg. Is the pull low(near your knee), right in the middle of the hammy, or high(near the attachment point)?

[kyle07d]

I read where you should Ice and rest only for the first 3 days aNd then days 4-6 light stretching and heat?

It's a high pull, near my rear.

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it.

[jdprep42]

High hamstring pulls are one of the most annoying injuries. A lot of times it means that you have weak hips and some times the hips are out of alignment. My brother had this injury last year, and he went to the Eagles trainer who literally popped his hip back into place. Check out this site, at the bottom are two exercises that I would reccommed to strengthen your hips.

http://trisportstraining.blogspot.com/2007/03/high-hamstring-tendonopathy.html

[kyle07d]

I've heard that hips sometimes cause hamstrings problems. The thing that puzzles me is I hAve A 330 pound powerclean, which is a lift that uses A lot of hip strength and mobility. All summer i've been doing hip specific strength training. I'd like to believe my hips arnt the problem. I will definitely begin those exercises monday though. ThAnk you so much. Any other Information or advice is greAtly needed and appreciated.

[kyle07d]

how many days should i wait to start using heating methods and light stretches? 3-4? or is that incorrect? also it doesnt hurt very badly to flex my hamstring, only to stretch it or reach in the manner of striding.

thanks

[kyle07d]

bump?

[squat4speed]

Ice 5-6 times daily and do long contrast showers and do a bit of self massage.
Try and slow jog a bit then ice for 15 mins on/5 mins off/15 min etc.

At this point I would work on your bench press (1-3 rep max) to keep your CNS sharp. Do some heavy (2-3 reps) lat pull downs and maybe seated military press.

[kyle07d]

slow jogging this early? the injury was only on thursday. thats a great idea about the low rep lifts, thanks alot for the advice. what do you mean by long contrast showers? i started stretching this morning and my rom was awful, got progressively better as i continued to stretch though.

thank you.

[kyle07d]

well, thanks for the help thus far. its feeling better already.

[kyle07d]

finally went to the doctor after many hours of contemplating whether or not to. the doctor told me i needed an mri to diagnose the exact problem. its a lack of hamstring to quad strength ratio and size ratio. i just got the results back and theres a tear in my upper hamstring.....i think im going to puke.
not sure what this is going to do to my collegiate career but the way my stomach feels, its not going to be good. :(

p.s. to all athletes and lifters, please do an even amout of specific glute/hamstring training as you do quads. please take this down and put into training.

[TheHitStick]

My right hamstring was hurting really bad but I continued through with our sprints and workouts and just it stopped eventually. Recovery showers helped I guess, alternating heat/cold water. Also my right knee got jacked up and I could barely walk after football practice and I could barely lift because of my shoulder but I sucked it up and worked on recovery. Self massage it throughout your workout, again with the recovery showers and even ice baths help.

The best medicine ever for this stuff is Capzasin. Works immediatly, will burn like a bitch if you got a bad injury but this stuff works wonders. I put it on for one day and my knee and shoulder are perfectly normal.

EDIT: only read OP, yes you have to train your body evenally. if you dont train your back and do nothing but chest, it's gonna end up having back pains. You have to have as much muscle in each area.

[kyle07d]

my left hamstring has been bugging me off an on all summer. i pulled it last fall. i ignored the pain and continued my sprints and workouts all summer. i stretched. iced. massaged. even went to therapy a few times in kansas city. but i was determined that it was nothing serious so i kept training. and now after 3 months of pushing through pain its torn, with maybe surgery being required, theres a difference between pain and soreness. i ignored my limits. now im fuc*ed.

[speedfiend]

my left hamstring has been bugging me off an on all summer. i pulled it last fall. i ignored the pain and continued my sprints and workouts all summer. i stretched. iced. massaged. even went to therapy a few times in kansas city. but i was determined that it was nothing serious so i kept training. and now after 3 months of pushing through pain its torn, with maybe surgery being required, theres a difference between pain and soreness. i ignored my limits. now im fuc*ed.

I had a very similar instance with my hamstring.

First off, if you are going to be stubborn and not give your hammy at least 4 weeks of proper rest with only extremely light stretching after heating (my first recommendation)...

You need to get one of these: scriphessco.com/zoom.asp?item=716%200009

Doesn't have to be that particular one, but even small town sports stores have adjustable neoprene thigh wraps. If you would have worn one of these sooner it probably would have prevented further injury and increased healing speed.

You have to wear the thigh wrap on bare skin or else it slides down. Makes sure it is nice and snug all the way up by your butt where it hurts. Wear the thigh wrap and do nothing for at least 14 days. Next 14 days do a LIGHT jog with the thigh wrap and extremely light stretching after the jogging.

Eat ibuprofen till you piss blood daily (not literally) but you get the point.

Good luck.

[macmoney]

Take a hot bath w/ epson salt (the warm water opens your pores and helps the epson salt soak in) for about 15 min. do some light stretching for like 5 min. Then take another bath of just ICE cold water. Drink a TON of wather to by the wayt!