Functional Movement for Hamstrings

I get asked this question a lot; “My hamstrings hurt when I run, what can I do about it?”  First off, I’m not a medical professional, and for all injuries see the folks at Active Spine. They have a tremendous staff.  However, I do have a good idea for how the body moves. The body’s main hip extender are the glutes, and then the hamstrings assist in this function. For a lot of us, our glutes are not working properly and the hamstrings have taking over this role.  For that reason, one of things that worry me from a distance running perspective is hamstring issues. Force production in distance running is pretty low compared to that as a sprinter, so these injuries should be pretty rare if things are working correctly. 


Here’s a quick circuit to help.  All you need is an exercise ball.  Perform the three exercises one after another before resting. In the video I’m only demonstrating one set of 5 for each exercise, but building up to doing three sets of fifteen to twenty would be ideal.  Give it a try, it’s way more challenging than it looks.

Stay Healthy,

Wayne Earney MS, CSCS, PES, CES