As a soccer player I have recently suffered from the same ailment you have described. Some help has been lots of dynamic stretching of the hamstrings but I am not 100 % yet. I would also be interested to know if there are some very specific hamstring exercises that would alleviate this condition.

Streching is definately one thing that you should do, strengthening is another. A lot of times the problem is because of quads/hams balance (or lack of).

As far as streching goes, I used Active Isolated streching with my teams. I think it works the best for sports. You basically do 6-10 reps of 4-6 secs with each strech.

What is active isolated stretching? Thanks for your feedback

IT band stretches help as well as lying on the floor with a towel around the foot, then pull the leg (straight) up off the floor until mild/moderate pain. Hold for 30 seconds. PT taught me this stretch.

ive tore my hamstring in august of last year while doing a sprint session, aswell as plenty of gentle stretching i found that swimming helped me alot. by the end of september i was back into my training and doing short sprints.

AIS was used by Micheal Johnson, Try looking up for Gerard Hartman's website, He recomends it to all the people he treats.

As for stretching again use the web search, but look for microstretching I personaly recomend this (its pretty much just relax streching) I have been doing this all winter since I spoke to the team who created it (well put a trademark to it)

Hamstrings are usualy linked to the back when it comes to injuries, but I would say check your hipflexors/quads for flexibility! Improve there and not only will your hammys not get injured as much but you will run smoother and faster!!!

I would get checked for Ischial bursitis, which gives pain on prolonged sitting and can be brought on by excessive hill running, I would also get the hamstrings checked for addesions and scar tissue brought on by micro truama from training loads. For all sports men/women prevention is far beter than cure, try to have a regular sports massage, I a month issufficeint to gain some benefit, make it part of your training regime. Take it easy John Murphy

When you get into speed/hill work you are putting more stress on the posterior chain (hamstrings, glute, low back). Your hamstrings might be the strongest thing on you and because your glutes and/or low back may be weak the hamstrings may be doing most of the work and are therefore in a constant state of fatigue.

1) Stretch your hip flexors to make sure they are not overly tight and the glutes have shut off because of reciprocal inhibition.

2) Focus on strengthening the glutes. A co-contracted lunge is ideal for this. Also, I have found that doing front squats with a light weight at slow repetitions helps me activate the glutes. We almost forget how to activate certain muscle groups and therefore need to retrain them.

3) Makre sure the lower abdominals are strong and flexible. This will help the low back as well.

Final thoughts: If we feel a pain in one area we then to focus on that area. Oftentimes we need to focus on everything around the area. Our bodies are a well oiled machine. And any machine has multiple parts. If a cog is ailing then the whole machine suffers. Take the time to look around the area in order to solve the problem.

Jonathan -

I used to be a football player and when my career came to an end I didn't do any weight or running for three to four years. Recently I got back into the weight room, started working out again to get back into shape. But then one morning I got up and I felt a tightness in my right hamstring. I thought I could just stretch it to loosen it up but my hamstrings are so tight I can not touch my toes.

I have talked to several physical therapists and they told me that I needed to stretch. But the pain is so severe that it runs down into my calf muscles. Every time I strecth it hurts really back afterwards. When I try to run full speed, I have a bounce in my run (when I do anything athletic).

My question is how bad is this hamstring? How long will it take for it to heal? I would like to go back into the gym and do something athletic. I've taken cortizone shots, inflamatory pills, and Ibprofin but the pain never goes away. What can I do to speed the healing process? Any ideas?

Kano - is your hamstring still tight?