Hamstrings get hurt when they do too much work.
They will work harder if the glutes are not doing their fair share or if the hamstring is working in a stretched position.
When muscles get in too long (stretched) of a position, that’s when they’re weak and they break down.
So, we have to try to keep the length of hamstrings at an optimal length while maintaining glute involvement.
Three things cause hamstrings to get over-stretched and over-loaded:
1) Your hamstrings are too short for what you need to do.
A few people do need to lengthen their hamstrings . You don’t, however, need to be able to kiss your knees to be a runner.
Test your hamstrings
Lying on your back, if you lift leg upright, you don’t need to hit 90 degrees—not even close. 65 to 70 degrees is what you’re aiming for, because your leg is always going to be bent when you’re distance running.
If you can’t get to about 65 degrees, you have to stretch them. Most people over-emphasize stretching, however. You need enough range of motion, not too much.
2) You lack hip mobility.
Most people aren’t deficient in hamstring flexibility—but they are short of hip mobility due to tight hip flexors.
Having tight hip flexors is worse than having tight hamstrings.
If you sit at a desk all day then you are more than likely going to have tight hip flexors.
When hip flexors are tight, it creates pelvic tilt (rotating down in front, up in back). When pelvic tilt increases, your hamstrings are in a longer position in every point in the gait cycle.
You notice this especially on the opposite side. If you have problems in your right hamstring, you’re likely to have tightness on the left hip flexor, because when your right hamstring is lengthened out in front of you, your left hip is going behind you and it is that tightness that yanks the pelvis.
3) You have poor rotational stability.
Rotational control comes from hip muscles and foot muscles, not from hamstring muscles. Hamstrings bend your knee and extend your hip. When you’ve got poor rotational control, that puts things under more torque (twist) and can strain the hamstring.
The hamstring is getting overloaded and it can’t help. Having a stronger hamstring in that situation doesn’t help. You have to fix your rotational balance.
Hip Mobility Test
To find out if you need to work on hip mobility—and the large majority of runners do—take this test:
The Side Lying Hip Extension Test is a useful prerequisite for running that you can perform on your own
To perform this test, the athlete assumes the side lying position with the bottom legs hip and knee flexed at 90 degrees and maintained in place with the same sided hand (right hand shown).
The top leg’s knee is fully flexed and supported with the same sided hand (left shown).
You should ensure that the torso is perpendicular to the floor and not rolling backwards. The top knee should be in in line with the hip and shoulder and not be allowed to drop towards the floor or lift towards the ceiling.
You start the movement by extending the hip actively i.e. pulling the knee back towards the stick as shown below.
The top legs knee should be able to come in line with the stick or beyond in order to ‘pass’ this test. The picture above is a fail as it stands.
If you can record your results either by photo or video then you can compare how you change over the course of a few weeks following the laid out warm up routine below
| Reps | tempo | wk 1 Sets | week 2 | week 3 | ||
| Hamstring Stretch w Torso rotation | 30s | Slow | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Hip Mobilkity | ||||||
| Hip Mobility Warm up | 4 | medium | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| 1/2 Kneeling Box Jump | 6 | medium | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Initiate and integrate stability | ||||||
| Split Squat Jump Elevated Rear foot | 8 | fast | 3 | 4 | 3 |