Part 1: Hamstring strains
Football has become the most popular team participation sport in New Zealand (sorry rugby fans). It is a great and exciting sport for everyone involved but unfortunately it can come with a risk of injury as many of you probably know. Reports have noted that around 20% of amateur football players reported an injury on average every week.
Injuries in football occur most commonly in the lower limb and occur most commonly from:
- tackling
- running
- twisting or turning
- jumping or landing
- using the same muscles repeatedly (overuse/fatigue)
- hurting an area you’ve injured before (re-injury)
- foul play or colliding with an opponent
- lack of physical conditioning
The most common injuries footballers suffer with are the following:
- Hamstring strains
- Groin strains
- Ankle sprains
- Knee injuries – MCL or ACL injuries ; Meniscus injuries
Specific types of training have been shown to reduce the risk of certain types of injuries. These include strength training for muscle injuries and plyometric training for ligament injuries. In this blog series, we will provide at least three exercises that you can start performing to help you prevent one of the injuries that is common in football. Non-footballers can also find excellent benefits from performing these exercises.
This week we will highlight exercises that are great for preventing hamstring injuries.
Prevention of Hamstring injuries
1. Single-leg hamstring bridge
As seen below, you lie on your back with your knees bent and one heel on the ground. To perform the exercise, you raise your bottom off the ground and you hold this position for 10-20 seconds. You will feel your hamstring muscle working hard to keep you up. This is a great exercise for improving strength and preventing injury. Perform 5 reps of these on each side on 3-4 days per week.
2. Nordic hamstring curls
As seen in the photos, you need the help of one other person to perform this exercise. You go on your knees and get the other person to hold your feet tightly. You then lower yourself slowly towards the ground until you are unable to hold yourself anymore and you then let yourself fall to the ground. The key to this is trying to lower yourself as slowly as possible. You will feel your hamstrings muscles working very hard during this. This exercise is excellent for improving muscle strength and preventing injury so if you have someone to help you, I would strongly recommend that you try this one. Try to perform 10 reps every second day and increase to 2 sets once you get better at them.
3. 2-leg hamstring bridge and swiss ball curl
For this exercise you will also need a swiss ball. Your hamstrings will feel quite tired after this one but it is another great exercise for improving strength and preventing injury. You start by lying on your back and putting both feet up on the ball. You then lift up your bottom like you are doing a bridge. You need to keep your bottom up for the duration of this exercise. You then need to curl the ball towards you by bending your knees. As you curl the ball in, you lift up your bottom even higher and lower it when you curl the ball out again. Try to curl the ball in and out 10 times. Try to aim for 3 sets of 10 reps but start at 5 reps if you find it too hard initially. Perform this exercise on 3-4 days per week.
If you’re dealing with pain or recovering from a football injury or just want to stay strong and prevent setbacks — come and see us at Queenstown Health. Our team is here to help you move better, feel better, and get back in the game.