Stacey strained her hamstring during an errant burpee workout just weeks before her race.
Those who have had a hamstring injury, know how difficult they can be to manage.
Luckily, Stacey is a yoga teacher and is well educated on the body and the mechanics of her injury.
She was already modifying her practice, avoiding stretching, and staying active before she came in for the eval. These are 3 early components that are essential to overcoming the acute phase.
At the initial evaluation we discovered her non-injured side displayed some weakness and that her hamstring injury was specific to eccentric contractions and hip flexion.
She felt better after manual therapy and the proper dosage of specific hamstring strengthening.
But it wasn’t until the second visit when we discovered that activating her core during hip flexion resolved the pain.
This was a key piece in the complexity of her movement patterns.
Maybe this lack of core stability was “destabilizing” her pelvis and causing her synergistic core muscles (hamstrings) to have to work harder to compensate?
Regardless of the narrative—integrating core exercises into her hamstring exercises and hip flexion exercises led to an improvement of her movement and her symptoms.
With her hard work and PT plan Stacey was able to finish 3rd in her group at the race!
Stacey Bast teaches yoga at Weavervill Yoga. She is well versed in modifying this practice for injuries and is a very skilled practitioner. I highly recommend her class!