Preventing Recurrent Hamstring Injuries
It’s the start of touch football season and with this we commonly see recurrent hamstring injuries flare up. There are proven risk factors to a hamstring injury including previous hamstring injury, increased age of player and sudden change in direction. To make sure you start your football season right we’ve put together some tips on preventing a hamstring injury:
- Warm-up – don’t just sprint onto the field, make sure you’ve done a jog, stretched your muscles and joints
- Maintain an adequate level of aerobic fitness in the off and pre-season
- Begin a pre-season training program including football specific drills
- Include stretches, strengthening regime and speed work in your weekly training program
- Gradually increase the intensity and duration of training
- Allow recovery day between training sessions
- Drink plenty of water before, during and after the game
- Stretch and cool down after every training session and game