I have always said it was the nice sunny day when everything seemed fine that allowed for muscle pulls. Unfortunately, how we feel often has little to do with how we function. Years ago, it was thought that muscles did everything and that the fascia, a connective tissue now understood to be an exoskeleton that we all have, governs how we move and adapt. It was believed to be part of how we stand, move, and even exert forces throughout the body. The fascia has its own blood and nerve supply and forms according to the forces we place upon it. We are all adapting, but some of us adapt better than others. According to a recent article in “The Conversation”, hamstring injuries are the most common injury in running sports, with sprinting causing 80% of them and kicking causing 20%. To pull any muscle, it is a matter of moving the muscle and the surrounding tissues to full tension and then going past the limit of maximum movement, causing parts of the muscle to fail internally. The strain can be mild, allowing you to continue walking, moderate, which causes significant pain with walking, or severe, where the muscle fails and may ball up, requiring surgical repair. The article says that the hamstrings’ job is to slow the leg and prepare it for ground contact. This requires very high forces at long muscle lengths — a combination that increases vulnerability to injury. The article also suggests that to prevent these types of injuries, Eccentric strength training, which involves exercises where the muscle lengthens under tension, such as slowly lowering a weight, should be used. Long-term straining can help improve muscle development, improve tone, and reduce the likelihood of a hamstring injury. It has also been my experience that problems with flexibility and strength in the upper body also increase the risk of injury, as your stride is also partly from the upper body. A tight upper body reduces stride length and power, and loads the hamstrings too. Tight hip flexors will also load the hamstrings, which is not mentioned in the article. Check out the article from “The Conversation” below, which includes helpful training tips to reduce the likelihood of a hamstring injury. Why do hamstring injuries happen so often and how can they be prevented?