Hamstring Strain

Protection → Controlled Motion → Return to Function

What Hamstring Strain Is

A hamstring strain is a tear (mild to more significant) of the muscles at the back of your thigh, usually from a sudden sprint, stretch, or deceleration. It causes sudden back-of-thigh pain and tenderness, and — because hamstrings love to re-injure — the rehab matters a lot: progressive loading, and especially eccentric strength, is what gets you back and keeps you back.

Primary — A typical strain — sudden back-of-thigh pain during sprinting, kicking, or a big stretch, with local tenderness, still able to walk. This protocol is for it.
Secondary — Higher-grade or tendon avulsion — a pop with severe weakness, a big bruise, or pain right at the sitting bone (possible tendon tear off the bone) needs assessment.

Involved tissues: The hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh and their tendons, which bend the knee and extend the hip — most often strained where muscle meets tendon.

Two pillars for a hamstring strain: first, protect briefly, then load early-but-smart — gentle pain-free movement and isometrics soon, not prolonged rest; second, build eccentric strength and progress to high-speed running, because eccentric strength and sprint exposure are what prevent the high re-injury rate. Load it right, and finish the job with speed.

Eccentric strength prevents re-injury

Hamstrings have a stubbornly high re-injury rate, and the reason is almost always under-done rehab — people feel okay walking, stop early, and get hurt again on the first sprint. The evidence points hard at two things: progressive strengthening with a strong emphasis on eccentric (lengthening) load, where hamstrings are most vulnerable, and a graded return to high-speed running before full return to sport. So we protect briefly, load early with isometrics and pain-free strength, build eccentric strength (the tissue-builder and the re-injury preventer), and finish with a proper sprint progression. Don't stop when it feels fine — finish the job.

⚠️ Screen Before You Start — Get Assessed First If You Have:

●A pop with severe weakness or inability to walk
●Pain right at the sitting bone with a big bruise (possible tendon tear off the bone)
●Numbness or tingling down the leg (possible nerve or back involvement)
●A large, rapidly expanding bruise or swelling
●No improvement over a couple of weeks, or repeated re-injury

This is education, not a diagnosis, and doesn't replace hands-on care.

🌡️ Finding your stage

Take your movement temperature. Painful to walk, tender, easily provoked = Protection. Walking well, building strength = Controlled Motion. Strong and ready for speed = Return to Function. The win is full eccentric strength and confident high-speed running. Re-check every session.

Phase 1 · Acute

Protection Phase

🌡️ Painful to walk · tender

Goal: Protect the tear briefly, then load early with gentle pain-free movement and isometrics.

Manual treatment: Pain-relief modalities and swelling management.

Frequency: Daily · gentle sessions.

A. Calm & Protect

SoftWave Therapy

Video coming soon

Dose: As scheduled
How: Applied to the injured hamstring to calm symptoms and stimulate healing.
Watch for: The anchor of the early phase.

Protect & Manage (not prolonged rest)

Video coming soon

Dose: Ongoing
How: Relative rest with gentle pain-free walking — and avoid aggressive stretching into the injured muscle early.
Watch for: Load early-but-gentle beats prolonged immobilization. Don't over-stretch a fresh tear.

B. Early Isometrics

Hamstring Isometrics

Video coming soon

Dose: 5 × 20–45 sec
How: Gentle sustained hamstring contractions (e.g., pressing the heel down) in a pain-free position.
Watch for: Isometrics ease pain and start loading safely — keep them pain-free.

Protect briefly but load early — gentle pain-free movement and isometrics beat prolonged rest. Avoid aggressive stretching into the injured muscle early.

✅ Ready for the next phase when:

Walking is pain-free and the isometrics are comfortable.

Tracking Your Progress

The weekly stability check: am I better, the same, or worse than last week?

Better

Stay the course; progress eccentrics and speed as strength returns.

Same

Change the load or drill; make sure you're doing true eccentric loading.

Worse

Drop back a phase and reduce load; re-check you're not over-stretching it.

The Rules That Govern This Protocol

1Protect briefly, then load early — pain-free movement and isometrics beat rest.
2Build eccentric strength — it's the tissue-builder and the re-injury preventer.
3Complete a graded high-speed running progression before returning to sport.
4No lasting increase in pain after a session.

Movement You Love Is Therapy. This protocol is general education based on course rehabilitation materials and standard principles. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and does not create a provider–patient relationship. If pain is severe, worsening, or unexplained, see a licensed provider.