Eccentric Exercises for Hamstring Injury Prevention

September 11, 2019 Joshua Kiely

You finally connect the bat with the ball and are ready to turn the tides of the game by sprinting that single to a double, when it happens - a hamstring blowout right as you round first. You expect the team to be disappointed, but instead everyone understands. We’ve all been there.

Hamstring injuries are among the most common injuries in all of sport. The hamstrings are a crucial muscle group during sprinting and quick stop-to-start movements. They cross the hip and the knee and act to extend the hip and flex the knee. Because of this two-joint distribution, they are a very versatile and powerful muscle group, but also prone to injury.

As with all injuries, when our body’s capacity for a movement does not match up to the demands of our activities we run into trouble. During running the hamstrings concentrically contract (shorten) to extend the hip to provide forward propulsion, and eccentrically contract (lengthen) to decelerate knee extension as our leg straightens out behind us. During running, the eccentric hamstring contraction is when we see may injuries.

We are in luck though! If we train appropriately there are ways to significantly reduce the risk of hamstring injury. A 2018 study found that there were exercises that could reduce hamstring injury incidence by up to 51% amongst 8459 athletes across a variety of sports. The takeaway point from the article was that one exercise in particular – the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) – could play a crucial role in injury-proofing our hamstrings. The NHE trains the eccentric contraction capabilities of the hamstring, which is the movement that often is the culprit for injuries.

Variations of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise can be performed on a Glute-Ham Raise machine but may also be performed anywhere soft to kneel and a partner.

To perform this exercise:

Begin kneeling on both knees on a soft surface while your partner holds your ankles to prevent your feet from lifting off the floor.
With hands out in front you to catch yourself, contract your glutes to keep a neutral spine and slowly begin to lower your upper body and torso to the floor.
If you feel you are going to fall forward, use your arms to assist in lowering. The process of lowering to the floor should take about 3 seconds.
Once fully lowered to the floor, use your arms to push back up to the upright kneeling position.
From kneeling upright, lowering down to floor and back to kneeling upright is one repetition.

This exercise can be performed as part of a balanced workout routine and/or after activity when the body is warmed up. No specific guidelines exist for implementation of NHE within a hamstring injury prevention program, but as with any resistance exercise, it is best to start small and build up. Start with a set of 5 performed 3 times a week and build up to 2 sets of 10 performed twice a week.

If pain is getting in the way of your favourite activities, don’t hesitate to book an appointment to get you back to your favourite activities, fast.