The Hamstring

By Neil Jones on November 27th, 2008

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 The hamstring muscle group contains three muscles – biceps femoris, semitendonosus and semimembranosus. The function of the hamstring muscles is the give flexibility to the knee and hip, allowing players to stretch their legs, run at pace and turn quickly.
A torn hamstring usually comes under three categories, first, second and third degree. The recovery period, and treatment advised, depends on the severity of the tear. The most common hamstring injury is the pull, sustained when one or more of the hamstring muscles are stretched beyond its capabilities and damage is caused to some of the muscle fibres. This can happen in a number of ways, but most commonly when running at pace, or over stretching.
A first-degree hamstring pull will usually rule a athlete out for two to three weeks, during which time a diet of RICE (Rest Ice Compression & Elevation) is usually the best prescription. The main worry with such an injury comes from re[occurrence; rushing back from a hamstring injury is ill-advised as it can lead to more serious pulls and tears, which can take longer to heal.

. Coaches regularly press home the importance of a thorough warm-up before training and warm-up routines these days are far more finely tuned to ensure that every precaution is taken to protect the muscles and joints. The post-workoutcool-down has also been added to the modern game, enabling players tocool-down their muscles and get rid of any excess waste that may have built up during a  training session.
More athletes now use ice-baths both after training. These freezing cold wheelie-bins may look rather primitive, but they play a key role in revitalizing tired muscles, draining the existing blood from the legs, so that fresh blood will be pumped into the muscles and more oxygen received. Makes sense when you think about it.
Perhaps the worst thing about the hamstring injury is the fact that it can often be a long term problem.Rushing  back from such an injury can have far more serious consequences long term.