Preventing Hamstring Injuries
Don’t mean to brag (I actually love bragging), but having been consulted by a lot of World and Olympic champion athletes I can tell you that one of the biggest issues they face is how to prevent recurrence of injuries. When it comes to hamstring tears, there is very strong evidence that we can reduce the risk of suffering one by performing a simple (but incredibly challenging) exercise.
The New York Times recently posted an article outlining how this exercise works. Here’s a great excerpt and a link to the full article. I definitely recommend you check it out if you have ever had a hamstring injury and don’t want to ever suffer a relapse, as studies have shown that the rate of relapse is much lower in people doing this exercise.
“In a 2011 study, 942 Danish soccer players were randomly assigned to either an off-season program of the Nordic exercise or normal training. In the subsequent season, those following the Nordic exercise program experienced 70 percent fewer injuries than the control-group athletes. Players who had previously suffered hamstring damage saw 85 percent fewer injuries.”
