Deadlifts and hamstring injuries

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi all,

Apologies for the long post.

The other day I seemingly pulled my hamstring during backoff sets of deadlift. Walking funny, limited ROM, tender to the touch, yada yada. Moving forward my plan is to just keep is as mobile as I can and find things that don’t hurt, and to follow Austin’s article on this topic.

I’ve tweaked this same hamstring a number of times while deadlifting. Every few months. Always the same leg (left), always the same area (hamstring head on the outside of the leg, near the knee). This time is certainly the worst tweak by far, and a bit closer to the muscle belly, but it’s not a new occurrence in general. I also have some back pops every few months, and I handle those the same way. Not generally a big deal. However, I am kinda sick of hurting myself while deadlifting, and with this strain being much worse, I don’t like the idea of having to continuously having these things interfering with my overall training.

Some things that could be relevant:

  • I’ve started running recently during quarantine and have continued as gyms have opened
  • I don’t stretch much

My questions are as follows:

  1. Maybe it just be like that and this isn’t abnormal, I don’t know. I’d like to figure out why this is happening and if it’s a technique issue. I’m linking a clip of my single @8 prior to the backoff sets on the day that I tweaked my hamstring. Any obvious things that could be causing these leg/back tweaks would be appreciated. Sorry for the angle, I filmed this for myself without the intention of sharing it.
  1. Additionally, I briefly thought about just stopping deadlifting altogether. Maybe just squat more and do RDLs and the like instead. I don’t really want to do this, but I also don’t enjoy hurting myself. Any thoughts here? Is that reasonable at all?

Thanks for any help.

-Matt

2

Hey there,

Sorry to hear about this, I know these recurrences can be frustrating.

I don’t see anything unusual / concerning in that video.

Your recent introduction of running may indeed be playing a role, combined with some sort of predisposition in that area given that you seem to re-tweak in the exact same area every time.

This sounds like a situation where my first step would probably involve introducing some Nordic hamstring curls into your training once per week and aiming to build up some tolerance there as a way to potentially mitigate the risk of recurrent tweaks. You could also experiment with other hamstring-focused movements, pulling sumo, etc … but I’d introduce the nordics regardless.

1 Like
3

Thanks, Austin. Any particular protocol with the Nordics that you would suggest trying?

4

No, because its depends on where you’re starting from. You may only be able to do 1-2 reps per set at first, for example, or you may need two do them with some band assistance, but I’d aim to work towards being able to do 3 sets of 6 reps with as much control to the floor as possible.