Hi guys! This video is for people with high hamstring tendinopathy or proximal hamstring
tendinopathy. And I'm just going to share a few tips that you can apply to your running
style when you go back to running that will help your recovery. My name is Maryke. I'm
the physiotherapist from sports-injury-physio.com, where you can get online physiotherapy assessment
as well as treatment for your injuries. You can have a look at the description of this video if
you want to know more. So, what we're going to look at is, what you want to improve in
your running style if you've got high hamstring tendinopathy, why that is important, and then,
how you can implement it or get those changes to happen? So, if you've got high hamstring
tendinopathy and you're watching this video, you've likely already read up a lot about it,
you've watched other videos; so you probably understand by now that part of the reason why
you get this condition is because the hamstring tendon compresses too much over the sit bone,
and you use a too high force through that tendon for too long, and it becomes painful. So,
when we want to get back to running, we want to reduce how much that tendon compresses against
the sit bone. So, one of the most important things you've got to change your running style
is if you're over-striding when you run. So, what's over-stride? It's when a runner places
his foot quite far in front of his body – so, usually with a heel strike – when he runs. So,
what happens then is, you have your leg out in front, your hip is flexed, and you really load the
tendon in that position where it's closer to the sit bone. So, let me demonstrate what I mean with
that. ... Okay. So, if we think of a runner who's over-striding: They will be putting their foot
or making contact with the ground quite far in front of them. So, you've got hip flexion, which
brings the hamstring tendons closer to the sit bone, and then you're loading through your heel,
so you’re contracting the muscle to pull yourself forwards. So, that can be quite provocative for
people who have high hamstring tendon issues. Now, a better way that you can improve that is if you
keep your stride slightly shorter and you land more underneath you. So, you bring your centre
of gravity over your foot. So, what that would look like is – I'm just holding onto the bed
here that I don't fall over – that you actually, when you run, you stride but you make contact
closer to centre of gravity, closer to where you are. So, that immediately also places you in more
of a midfoot or forefoot strike. So, that's the first important thing. The other one that you can
change, is making sure that you don't give massive strides in the beginning. You can get back to
your fast running eventually, but just keep your stride slightly shorter. Because the bigger your
stride out, especially if you're gonna try and run fast, the more you'll get compression there. Now,
other ways that you can ... So, the first way to try and reduce over-stride is by literally
just thinking, “I want to try and step right underneath me,” but other ways that you can try,
or that's been shown to help for that, is if you think about landing really lightly. So,
if you listen to your steps and your footfall while you're running, how much of it can you
hear? Do you sound like an elephant, or can you hardly hear yourself? If you try to run softly,
you tend to give quicker steps, and they tend to be not that far out in front of you. And the third
is if you increase your cadence a little bit, so, slightly faster steps, so, you give more steps in
a minute; that also stops you from over-striding dramatically. So, you've got three options there:
You can either just think about landing with your foot slightly more underneath you, or you can give
lighter steps – think about running really light – or you can just think about running slightly
fast … with a faster cadence, okay. Excellent! If you've got any questions, you're welcome to
ask me in the comments or message me. And if you need more help with your injury, you're welcome
to consult me via video call – the link to my website’s in the description of this video. But
also, if you're interested in more information about hamstring tendinopathy, high hamstring
tendinopathy specifically, then I've made two other videos: one where I really explain exactly
why you get this type of condition and what type of exercise and treatment is useful for it, and
another one gives you five reasons of why runners get it and how you can change your training
programmes to try and prevent you from getting it. Excellent! Hope you have a good day! Bye-bye!