How to Avoid Hamstring Injuries
Hamstring muscles are the most commonly used muscles in your body and they stretch from the buttocks to the backside of the knee. They allow us to bend your knees and stretch the hip. On the other hand, hamstring injuries such as strains, pulls and tears are quite common. These are normally associated with sportsmen, athletes, dancers, swimmers and runners but can happen to virtually any person. The causes of a pulled, torn or strained hamstring are age, lack of conditioning and muscle fatigue. However, there are a number of methods that can be adopted to prevent hamstring injuries from happening.
Instructions
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How you can avoid hamstring injuries while exercising?
Athletes and people who exercise on a regular basis are most likely to suffer from mild hamstring injuries. This happens more often if they do not do sufficient warm up before any physical activity. As a result of this, athletes and sportsmen can avoid this injury by stretching the hamstring beforehand. Fitness trainers advise to perform five minutes of aerobics followed by some stretching exercises. Nevertheless, make sure you do not overstretch or warm up the muscles beyond a certain extent as this also causes further injury and health problems. -
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Stop if you feel any sort of pain
Hamstring injuries are also caused if you suffer from muscle fatigue or soreness. In the case where you overexert your body, your muscles get tired and start losing coordination. This can cause hamstring strains or pulls, or even the more severe ruptured or torn hamstring. Therefore, you should be careful while doing the exercises and closely monitor your body’s signals and when the muscles start getting fatigued. This is high time to cool down and take a breather. This will allow the muscle to heel and will prevent further injuries. -
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How can non-athletes avoid hamstring injuries?
Individuals who do not follow any exercise routine can pull a hamstring every now and then. To prevent this from happening, you should do stretch on a daily basis. You can perform the physical activities at home without any use of gym equipment. A popular stretch is to lie down on your back and bend a leg and making sure that the foot is flat on the ground. Lift the other leg until your thigh is at a right angle to the ground. After that, gradually unbend the knee. You can also support the thigh with your hands.
