(Case Report) Dealing with Chronic hamstring issues
(Case Report) Dealing with Chronic hamstring issues
7+ years of pain gone in 3 months
I have a current patient, a senior enlisted Army medic
Injured his hamstring in 2017 and it had been giving him issues since then.
When I met him 3ish month ago his complaints were
always felt tight
pain when running after 1/2 a mile
pain that lingered for 2-3 days after a run
The Army PT test is 2 miles, so he could NOT stop running, so it was just something he had to push through.
Over time he had to run less, and of course it creates a vicious cycle of pain
something hurts → you do less → when you do do it it hurts more → rinse and repeat
Here’s the routine we used to have him running without pain in about 3 months
It’s a version of our Hip and Low Back Protocol that we’ve updated and added to the Teambuilder app.
You can grab it for 25% off for the rest of the month with code “App25”
Grab it here>>> here
Here’s the custom things I added to his program
#1 Hamstring Iso
With a chronic issue I assume there’s tendinopathy, so we start with isometrics. I start with 2 legs, then move to single leg.
Once we can get single leg for 30s, I elevate the foot.
When we started his leg would shake with just 10 second holds. We’re up to 3 x 30s now, so I’ll have to advance him again.
We started these daily at first, now he does them 2-3x/week.
#2 RDL
I want to load the hamstrings and this does it better than anything else (besides sprinting)
I like RDLs to be heavy, and I don’t consider them heavy until they are at body weight.
Actually heavy RDLs are when you get to 2x bodyweight.
We spent a few weeks getting to bodyweight for 2 sets of 5. This week we added 10#.
#3 Running Intervals
His goal was to run but he wasn’t doing much running so his aerobic fitness was not where it needed to be.
We started at 30s intervals (run/walk) and progressed that for 4 weeks.
After that we added a fast interval (15s run/rest) for higher intensity and then a longer interval (90s run/walk) to continue to build aerobic capacity.
After 4 more weeks and we knew his hamstring like it, i added a longer run (20+ minutes easy)
He did that Tuesday, Wednesday morning he reported no issues.
#4 Kettlebell Swings
I want to see what his hamstrings can handle, so this makes the dynamic nature of swings perfect for this.
It also improves his power.
We progressed to 10 swings every minute for 10 minutes. (yes, 100 swings)
His current progress
He travels a lot for work and no longer has the pain when he drives or has to fly to other locations.
He will experience mild discomfort after running but the pain doesn’t linger like it did before, and often times he reports the pain in on both sides, which usually indicates muscle soreness more than an injury.
He has done a few time trials on his 2 mile run and has no issue getting the passing score he needs.
His ultimate goal is to be able to run 10 miles a week since it’s something he enjoys, and we are nearly 50% of the way there.
I expect to hit that goal in the next 2-3 months.
We’ve put our programs in an app
With code “App25” you can grab this base program for 25% off for the rest of the month.
Grab the program here >>> Here
You’ll receive an access code, so download the Teambuldr app and get started