Sams's Blog - The Dreaded Hamstring Injury

Posted by Hayden at 12:00am, Sunday 4 April 2021

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Over the course of the season we will be posting a number of blogs by Sam Donaldson a footballer, father and Physiotherapist at the clubs great sponsor RHP Physiotherapy

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“Sniper!”

Is this still the call when you see someone at top speed simply fall in a heap?

Often, we see an athlete speeding up, or at their maximum, clutch at the back of their thigh. Sometimes they will take some awkward steps but inevitably they end up on the deck.

More often than not, this is a hallmark sign for an acute hamstring muscle injury.

Football is a game requiring the majority of the body to be in its peak condition. Muscle injuries are common, but the most common is the Hamstring.

Typically rendering the athlete unavailable to play for a minimum of three weeks, but up to eight weeks in some cases (or longer if it involves more than just that muscle).

During the competitive season (according to UEFA data), hamstring injury occurrence increases x3 fold compared to other muscle injuries. A typical squad might only suffer 2-3 injuries per season, but this is in the elite, highly trained athlete with all of the medical and sport science support available to them.

In reality, semi-professional squads an amateur team suffers these injuries at a rate of approximately 1 every 8-10 games. But with potentially up to 6 games missed, that is a massive impact on the squad for the season.

In positive news, you can cut this injury rate down by 51% simply by including one exercise into your week, for 3 sets of 5-8 reps, on two occasions per week (think, after training).

Problem is, once injured, we can’t reduce the severity of that injury by being better prepared with this increased strength. But cutting down the rate of injury by half is appealing, particularly when we only need to spend 2-3 minutes, twice a week on it!

So, what is this magical exercise? Well… check the image below. But, it is often considered that this is so effective simply because it’s so darn hard! If you’ve already got it in your off-field routine, then it might be worth considering more options (cue plug to physio…)