Hamstring Strengthening Exercises
Hamstring injuries are one of the most common sports injuries, particularly in sports requiring high speed, agility, and explosive power. The hamstring muscles are critical for lower body movement, bending the knee to run and jump and controlling actions such as kicking. Preventing hamstring injury is essential and can be achieved through a targeted strengthening program. Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Mike demonstrates exercises you can do to strengthen your hamstring muscles.
The hamstring muscle group is made up of three muscles that extend along the back of the thigh: the biceps femoris (outermost muscle), the semimembranosus, and the semitendinosus. The main function of these muscles is to bend the knees to run, jump, or climb stairs. The hamstring muscles control actions like kicking, working as brakes when you swing your leg and helping to rotate the lower leg to control the foot position when you walk. The hamstrings also work with the glutes to help extend the hips when squatting and jumping.
Hamstring injuries often occur in sports that require high speed, agility, and explosive power, such as in rugby, soccer, and sprinting. Injury can occur during either 1) high-speed running or the acceleration/deceleration phase of the run or 2) overstretching the muscle when kicking. Injury to the biceps femoris muscle is most common when sprinting, while injury to the semimembranosus is most common when overstretching.
Sprinting requires rapid, high-force muscle contractions across the lower body; if the forces used during acceleration are greater than the capacity of the hamstring muscles to absorb the force, injury can occur. Injury can also happen during the swing phase of the sprint when the knee is extending but the hamstrings are contracting and shortening in preparation for the foot to strike the ground. Hamstring injuries can also occur due to decreased hamstring flexibility, limited hamstring strength (compared to quadriceps strength), fatigue at the end of a game, poor warm-up, and previous injury.
Hamstring strains and tears are one of the most common sports injuries and have one of the highest re-injury rates. Preventing hamstring injury is essential to prevent chronic hamstring injury. Prevention starts with a targeted exercise and strengthening program. Research has shown that exercise accelerates a patient’s recovery compared to rest and experts advocate for a progressive optimal loading approach with a focus on eccentric (lengthening) strengthening exercises for a hamstring injury. A 2019 study of athletes with acute hamstring strains revealed that those athletes who exercised with mild pain demonstrated improved strength and hamstring muscle healing compared to the group who stopped exercise when any pain was felt.
Nordic hamstring curls are often specifically prescribed for sprinters and soccer players as they have been shown to be one of the best exercises to strengthen all three hamstring muscles through eccentric contraction. A long-term 2017 Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine study studied three different interventions utilized to reduce the risk of a hamstring injury. The most effective intervention involved strengthening using a leg curl machine, hip strengthening and agility and hurdle work, and dynamic stretching and Nordic curl training. In a group of 300 sprinters who completed this intervention, only 2 reported hamstring strain injuries over a 12-year period, an almost 90% reduction in strain rates.
In the video below, Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Mike demonstrates exercises to strengthen the hamstring:
