Hamstring injuries... a possible explanation.

[ian.birchall]

Interesting story in the Daily Telegraph concerning Raheem Sterling. After being transferred from Man City to Chelsea last year for £50 million his form dived so much that he lost his place in both the international squad and Chelsea as well at the end of last season after a spate of hamstring problems.

He has been told that this was a result of the Chelsea trainers wanting him to bulk up to give him more stamina but either those or the England physios have decided that this was the direct cause of his sudden increase in hamstring injuries and he has now reduced his weight to that he was playing for at City.

It will be interesting to see if the hamstring injuries disappear now then in view of the number of those that Wigan have suffered this year as the trend in rugby league appears to always bulk up. Watch this space.

[nathan_rugby]

Interesting story in the Daily Telegraph concerning Raheem Sterling. After being transferred from Man City to Chelsea last year for £50 million his form dived so much that he lost his place in both the international squad and Chelsea as well at the end of last season after a spate of hamstring problems.

He has been told that this was a result of the Chelsea trainers wanting him to bulk up to give him more stamina but either those or the England physios have decided that this was the direct cause of his sudden increase in hamstring injuries and he has now reduced his weight to that he was playing for at City.

It will be interesting to see if the hamstring injuries disappear now then in view of the number of those that Wigan have suffered this year as the trend in rugby league appears to always bulk up. Watch this space.

What about all of the players who have bulked up without Hamstring problems?

It’s an interesting theory but one example doesn’t make it a fact that will work for everyone.

I don’t have any numbers to back it up but my hunch from football says hamstring problems are more likely in the faster players and within teams that play with a higher intensity (more sprints, high load)

[Firestarter]

Interesting story in the Daily Telegraph concerning Raheem Sterling. After being transferred from Man City to Chelsea last year for £50 million his form dived so much that he lost his place in both the international squad and Chelsea as well at the end of last season after a spate of hamstring problems.

He has been told that this was a result of the Chelsea trainers wanting him to bulk up to give him more stamina but either those or the England physios have decided that this was the direct cause of his sudden increase in hamstring injuries and he has now reduced his weight to that he was playing for at City.

It will be interesting to see if the hamstring injuries disappear now then in view of the number of those that Wigan have suffered this year as the trend in rugby league appears to always bulk up. Watch this space.

What about all of the players who have bulked up without Hamstring problems?

It’s an interesting theory but one example doesn’t make it a fact that will work for everyone.

I don’t have any numbers to back it up but my hunch from football says hamstring problems are more likely in the faster players and within teams that play with a higher intensity (more sprints, high load)

There does seem a hell of a lot of hamstring injuries in the last few years.For whatever reason.Lockers used to get them a lot

[ian.birchall]

Field, Singleton, Havard, Isa,KPP, for a start.

[Blackpool_Pie]

It's interesting but I don't feel like it's a one size fits all thing. When I played I never suffered with any hamstring issues at all, but one season I put on nearly 2 stone to adjust to a new position.

It may be the cause in this instance, but many players have managed in other sports without issue

[Sutty]

I've coached a lot of athletes who have issues regarding tightness/injury to their posterior chain and I'm convinced it's because in modern society we spend so much time sitting down. This causes a weakness in the lower back, it shortens the hip flexor and creates a tension in the glutes that also leads to weakness. This all has a knock on effect lower down the chain.

Obviously, elite athletes don't spend as much time sitting down at a desk as most of us, but they probably spend a fair chunk of time driving and/or watching tv and playing video games. I'm not saying this is the issue with Sterling, but it's certainly something that's prevalent and is something I have to work with, with my coached athletes, in order to mitigate against

[Wigan_forever1985]

Trouble is with hamstring injuries is its a bit like a bad back once youve had one you become suspectable from that point on - i got one when i used to play and to this day from time to time and randomly it will be twinging even though i havent played in years

[Sutty]

Trouble is with hamstring injuries is its a bit like a bad back once youve had one you become suspectable from that point on - i got one when i used to play and to this day from time to time and randomly it will be twinging even though i havent played in years

Not necessarily, a lot of it is to do with the "prehab" following recovery from an injury. I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen people train well, for a long period, then they get injured, they rest and recover then start the rehab, which is nearly always strength based, then the rehab finishes when they're fit again and they stop doing the strength work. Then they'll train and compete again for a period of time and will get injured again and the whole process starts again. Because rugby is such a strength dominant sport, the injuries that we see players get nearly always come from an impact of some sort, because the players already spend a considerable time in the gym doing strength and prehab work.

There are only two things that generally cause injury, impact and tightness. It's a bit different in contact sports because there are twisting and shearing motions which cause injuries, but in their very basic form these could be categorised under the impact heading. Strength, conditioning and mobility should be the foundation for all training and exercise, you wouldn't build your dream home on poor foundations

Tightness stems from an area of weakness because the area affected isn't strong enough to cope with what we're asking of it, be it running, strength work, cycling or even just sedentary activities because simply sitting will cause a tightness because our bodies aren't intended to have the upper legs at 90 degrees to the torso, so we end up with weak glutes. One of the guys I was coaching was constantly plagued with calf strains and tight calves, but when we did a lot of work on strengthening his lower back and working on his mobility, the calf issues improved enormously.

I totally understand what you're saying about the lower back and how it can remain permanently weakened after an injury, this is partly to do with the muscle structure in the lower back being made up of a lot of smaller muscles, which aren't as strong as the big slabs of muscle like your lat's. That said, regular strength work can work absolute wonders.

[pedro]

I know for a fact wigan do no conditioning for them

[Sutty]

I know for a fact that you're wrong (regarding Wigan) because I've seen their strength training programs when I've been coaching players in the Warriors gym . They've even got a machine for measuring hamstring strength