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High-Tension Hamstring Training

Extreme Hamstrings: High-Tension Hamstring Training

ByErick Minor Published: April 23, 2009Posted in: Sports Training

Hamstring injuries are common among sprinters. One of the biggest challenges that I face as a strengthcoach is helping an athlete overcome a hamstring injury and at the same time improving performance. Icurrently train Darvis Patton, 2008 Beijing Olympic 100-meter finalist, and Leonard Scott, 2006 Indoor WorldChampion 60-meter sprint. Both of these athletes have experienced serious hamstring injuries. The followinginformation will shed some light on my techniques and protocols for building bullet-proof hamstrings.

Anatomy of a hamstring injury

You must first understand the function of the hamstring and where the most stress is placed on thehamstring in order to correct and prevent injury. The hamstrings are a group of three posterior thigh musclesresponsible for knee flexion and hip extension. During high-speed sprints, the hamstrings’ main role is to reinhip flexion and initiate hip extension.

Most hamstring injuries occur during the powerful eccentric contraction of the late swing phase.

This is when the front thigh is almost parallel to the ground during high speed sprinting. There is tremendousstress on the hamstring at this phase between the eccentric and concentric contraction.

So, my philosophy is to increase the strength of a muscle where it is the most vulnerable. This idea is calledaccentuation, and I first read about this in Vladimir Zatsiorsky’s book, Science and Practice of StrengthTraining .

The problem with most hamstring training programs is the emphasis on concentric dominant exercises. Asyou may know, we are stronger eccentrically than concentrically, so most concentric dominant exercisesdon’t place enough load on the hamstrings to prevent injury. The emphasis on concentric training is due to,in my opinion, an overemphasis on rate-of-force development.

The following exercises, which are staples for most sprinters, are what I consider concentric dominantexercises. Those exercises are power cleans, power snatches, and box jumps. These concentric dominant,explosive exercises are ineffective at preventing hamstring injury due to the lack of eccentric stress. You maybe thinking, what about explosive exercises? You must train fast to be fast, right? Nope.

In my opinion, sprinting is by far the most effective explosive/plyometric exercise for sprinters. There is no

gym exercise that can duplicate the speed of limb movement during a full out sprint. My primary goal for allmy sprint athletes is to prevent injury by addressing muscular weakness and imbalances and improvingperformance by increasing maximal relative strength.

Word of caution

This article is not intended to address biomechanical issues (posture, pelvic tilt, etc.) or acute injuries.Structural issues should be addressed by a qualified professional prior to implementing a maximal strengthprogram.

The following exercises are not intended for beginners or novice trainees. These exercises place atremendous amount of stress on the hamstrings in the stretched position.

Operating principles

1. Resistance training should be performed after morning sprint sessions. My athletes typically do their track workout at 10:00 am followed by lunch at noon and then resistance training at 2:00 pm.

2. Heavy hamstring work should be performed before an off day. This is of vital importance as the

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Reverse hip extension, single leg: Thisexercise requires the use of an Atlantis or PowerLift reverse hyper machine. Positionyourself on the machine as directed. Place thetrailing leg on a plyobox or high step. Position thepad so that you can keep the knee slightly bent.Perform partial reps maintaining tension on thehamstring.

Caption: Figure 4, Leonard Scott

The following leg routines were designed for 2008 Beijing Olympics 100-meter finalist Darvis“Doc” Patton. These routines were used duringthe 2008 off-season.

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Legs #1, Tuesday

Order Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest

 A Trap barWeight sequence:

315, 335, 355–375

4 3 31 X 1 3 minutes

B Modified Bulgarian split squatwith dumbbellsWeightsequence: 65, 70, 75–80

3–4 4–6 per leg 30 X 1 90 seconds per  leg

C1 Hip flexion, cableWeightsequence: 70, 80–90

3 8–10 90 seconds

C2 Reverse hip extension, one legalternatingWeight sequence:90, 100–125

3 6–8 per leg 2 minutes

Legs #2, Friday

Order Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest Int.

 A Modified Romanian deadlift 3–4 3 31 X 1 3 minutes

B Split squat, barbell 2–3 4–6 per leg 20 X 1 3 minutes

C1 Glute hamstring raise, advanced 3–4 4–6 30 X 1 2 minutes

C2 Hanging leg raise 3–4 8–10 2 minutes

Repeat each routine 4–6 times before changing exercises and protocols. The duration of the routinesdepends on progress. If you are still increasing the load after four weeks, continue the routine for another two weeks.

Darvis “Doc” Patton improved his 100-meter sprint time from 10.11 seconds in 2007 to 9.89 seconds in2008.

About the Author 

Erick Minor has been a full-time strength coach and personal trainer since 1997 and a certifiedsports massage therapist since 1996. He has worked as a strength coach and sports massagetherapist in clinical (chiropractic) and commercial settings. He is currently the owner of DynamicBarbell Club (www.dynamicbarbell.com), a private sports performance and personal training gymlocated in Fort Worth, Texas. Erick has personally trained hundreds of individuals seekingimproved sports performance or aesthetic enhancement. Also, he currently trains professional athletes fromthe MLB and track and field. As an athlete, Erick has competed since 1992 in powerlifting and bodybuilding.Recently (2007), he competed in Strongman.