pulled hamstring rehab?? I pulled mine 4 weeks ago… and still can’t deadlift, it’s hard to get into position without pain… can’t load the hamis in order to pull the bar
Hey Keren,
Thanks for posting this thread on our subforum.
Can you give some background on how you strained your hamstring?
What have you been doing since the initial incident?
Has this happened previously?
You likely will need to switch to rack pulls and not pull from the ground while you are working through this but I can give more advice once I have more information.
I’m 22 years old, I use to do bodybuilding style of training for 4 years, then switch to powerlifting the last year or less… I’m more interested in getting stronger then anything else and I’m very consistent.
It happened oneday During a split, heard click and felt a sharp pain, went to the doctor and after 3 weeks I got my ultrasound- he said that the hamstring looks fine and I need to “rest” … so I went to a well known Physiotherapist at my country (Israel) he said that he feels that there is some damage, and told me to limit the stretch. But I really want to recover from this ASAP , and deadlift again…
I’m 60kg and did 108kg for 2 reps before the injury:/ I’m afraid to loose strength…
now after 4weeks, im focusing on squats (tempo in order to avoid the hamstring stretch at the bottom… I have deep squat) and bench and heavy hip thrusts.
if there isn’t a tear, but still painful when I stretch, is it smart to work trough pain ? Or I can make it worse??
Hey Keren!
Sounds like your head is in the right place in regards to continuing to move and load in ways that you feel safe to do so. The fact that you are doing squats shows that your hamstring can handle load because you are able to stay in an erect position while squatting, I assume. While it may not be as much of a load to the hamstring like it is in the deadlift, the hamstrings play a large role in back squats.
As Michael alluded to in the post above yours, rack pulls would likely be a great modification for your current situation as it allows you to control where exactly you are starting from without the chance of you going past the range of motion before you are ready. Try setting the pins within the squat rack, if available, to wherever you currently can get to in the deadlift without significant onset of your hamstring pain. It is ok to work within a small amount of pain, although keep it under 5/10 and monitor how you feel after the session.
Because you did get diagnostic imaging that said you do not have a tear and assuming you did not have significant bruising to the back of your thigh, I think it is safe to say that there is nothing significantly affected in regards to your hamstring that would limit you from getting back into getting stronger, pending you take your time to return back into the deadlift movement. It may be more that the movement of the deadlift itself is giving you some pause which is why modifying for the rack pull will allow you to get back to deadlifting or at least as close as possible to that movement.
Good luck and let us know how you progress!
I will !!! Thanks for the advice:)
Hey Keren,
Apologies for my delayed response.
@Joe_1 has provided good advice. Just wanted to follow-up. I’m not entirely certain how the physiotherapist determined he could feel damage but I’m quite skeptical of this narrative.
With that said, I understand the desire to return to prior training as quickly as possible but it would be better to have the premise of training with tolerable symptoms in an effort to return to baseline training prior to the onset of symptoms. This mental switch will help with embracing the process and minimizing the rush to chase prior numbers/achievements. It’s unlikely the amount of time you have to work through this issue that you will lose a lot of top end strength.
Yes - it’s ok to have symptoms while training - provided they are tolerable (not severely increasing and leaving you feeling debilitated; unable to go and do the remaining activities of the day).
Starting with rack pulls is a good idea - I’d add in tempo for the rack pulls as well when you are lowering to the rack (3 second eccentric). I’d up volume to sets of 10 reps as well. These two additions will regulate external loading and minimize us trying to chase numbers. As the weeks go on, try to reduce the height of the rack until you are pulling from the ground again.
If you need help with programming, we’d be happy to consult with you: Contact Us | Barbell Medicine.
Keep us posted.
Yes, the mental part was really hard for me at the first mouth, I understand that it is better being safe then sorry.
Thank you for the programming advice, smart way