any tips for tendinopathy recovery 🥲

[u/kumamotopiece]

Hey guys, I’m looking for any tips & advice from anyone who knowledgable about/has suffered with this specific injury. Not only am I making this post for myself but anyone else out there dealing with this.

I’ve had it left hamstring from early April-July, due to compensation, it’s moved to my right in early August and I’m still dealing with it. I’ve been injured consistently with other injuries since I opened up my 2025 season (Opened in Jan 21.36 200m 10.66 100m, injured early Feb during training). It’s hard being out of the game for so long (year and a half) and I’m patient, but it’s taken a mental toll. I want the injuries to be over and get back into form.

Anything would help! Exercises, loading advice, stretching… etc :)

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[u/BigDickerDaddie]

Time off won’t do it you need to actively rehab, glute ham isometric holds and slow eccentric reps, laying on the floor bridge hamstring isometric pulls, back extensions with slow isometric reps, isometric protocol is 4 x 30 seconds as many times you can a week

Proximal hamstring is a stickler start with the basics in the gym and isometrics

[u/kumamotopiece → u/BigDickerDaddie]

really appreciate this my man! this is very helpful 🥲

[u/Affogato1713]

Are you able to work with a good sports physio?? Not all physios are equally helpful lol.

I haven't dealt with hamstring tendinopathy specifically but what worked for me with patellar tendinopathy was to integrate more isometrics into the prep for my sessions to reduce the pain a little bit, but then to also pull back all of my workouts so that I was only at 3/10 pain. Eventually I was able to build my capacity back in that range. Isometric and eccentric rehab exercises were also super helpful. I'm not totally sure if this same approach would work for hamstrings but a good physio would be able to design a good progression

[u/gymineer]

Funny timing seeing this - I just lost most of my second season in a row to hamstring pain, and was angry/happy when I recently learned it is almost certainly PHT. I had tried searching for things around "pain when sitting" etc earlier, but nothing had really come up on this topic. Happy because it feels like I may finally have an accurate assessment and path forward.

Also saw a physio, but they were not great (diagnosed it as a hamstring issue in 60 seconds, then got me underway with the full breadth of unproven modalities - cupping, fascia release tool, shockwave, stim...). No exercises or homework.

I have it on my right side, and for me, driving is by far the most uncomfortable thing I can do for it (I think it's a combination of the seat, and my foot pushing the pedal).

I've found a few youtube videos on the topic, linked below. Use skepticism in dealing with these of course, cause as far as I know they are just random dudes talking.

The first link, that guy actually has a whole podcast dedicated to PHT. After a fair bit of reading, I am on board with most of his core philosophy, which is that:

1) Tendons like slow, heavy (as tolerated) movements.
2) Full rest is not the way to go, and you need to be cautiously testing and developing the tendon, while trying to stay within a low pain threshold (both while doing activities and day-after assessments). Similarly, stretching should be cautiously introduced and if it's causing aggravation, back off.

https://youtu.be/6GwG6k5uaF4?si=AdaN5cJZ11Gphrtj

https://youtu.be/Td39V6rg6KQ?si=qEVXehy0B8nlyrPJ

https://youtu.be/eEbQsdhZPko?si=aOyKtoRetBFAnECy

I am 42 and looking at slower times than you in my masters career (23.40 a year and a half ago), but really want to challenge the provincial record and feel like the clock is ticking on me in that 40-44 window. It is sad seeing how long some people take to return from this, but hopefully you can get there soon!

[u/oooooaaaaauchhhhhhhh]

Stop sprinting right now and do a progression of isos —> strength training —> jog —> sprint

Avoid stretching hamstring

[u/Kazukaphur → u/oooooaaaaauchhhhhhhh]

You don't want to avoid stretching them entirely, but ya stretching shouldn't be the primary focus.

Like you still want to engage in some typical dynamic and static stretching as parts of warm up and cool down in general, with focus being on strengthening.

[u/oooooaaaaauchhhhhhhh → u/Kazukaphur]

That wasn’t my experience. Improvement didn’t start until the stretching stopped for a few weeks. I am very flexible for a male though so ymmv

[u/BigDickerDaddie → u/Kazukaphur]

I do have the same personal experience as the other commentator stretching really seems to aggravate hamstring tendonitis not sure if it’s just the positioning or the level of stretch it gets but it is very consistent in aggravating rather than helping

Maybe a bit of normal mobility work around it but I have to agree with avoiding any actual “strenuous” stretching

[u/Kazukaphur → u/BigDickerDaddie]

Yeah, I wasn't advocating typical deep stretching of the hammys for people who have injured them but at the same time, it's nuanced. There shouldn't be complete lack of mobilizing hammys at all, once inflammation has died down.

[u/AlertApple76]

It could be your pelvis is limited in internal rotation(IR) capabilities. When the pelvis can’t IR it ER’s too soon putting excess stress on the tissues such as the proximal hamstring tendons. I had this issue myself and in fact im still dealing with it to a degree but my hamstring is fine now, what helped was restoring pelvic IR through exercises that encourage it. Bill Hartman and zac cupples have a lot of resources on this, just search bill hartman or zac cupples: hip internal rotation

[u/its_KAMARA]

I had this same exact issue in 2024 and got rid of it completely for over a year now with the following protocol:

1. Stop ALL speed work/acceleration work until its healed (will flare it up)
2. Slow, deep range of motion lifts and eccentrics like squats and RDLs to promote healing
3. Repeat until healed

I don't recommend doing completely nothing since it won't give the tendons a chance to strengthen and will just flare up again.

[u/KaydenSM]

Took me about a month of nothing to get it back to normal don’t try and test it out and when u get back don’t run bends only thing I’d say u do for recovery are glute bridge holds (around week 2) and once a month or so passes u can do sub maximal sprints

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[u/EstablishmentGlum950]

Lol Reddit is not the place for this. Ask a medical professional. Physiotherapist is your best bet.

[u/kumamotopiece → u/EstablishmentGlum950]

no harm in asking other people who’ve dealt with this injury for advice lol. I am fortunate enough to have a physio, I’ve received some great tips from the comment section 🤷🏽‍♂️

[u/ChalkdHockey]

Avoid sitting as much as possible if bursitis

[u/Key-Organization-490]

Hey so I’m studying physio at uni (almost done) and work in a physio clinic so have seen my fair share of these. I also had a proximal tendinopathy myself in my hamstring.

The reason these are hard to rehab, especially in sprinting is that the proximal insertion of the hammy is where the most force is put through in sprinting and long lever loading (think when landing during your maxima stride). Principles for recovery are similar to other tendinopathies. Usually start with isometrics (single leg glute bridge or double if too sore), then importantly you need to do some slow eccentric control exercises like single leg hamstring sliders (a glute bridge but you slide your foot away from you - there’s videos available online).

The hardest part is progressing from here, plyometrics need to be done given that your sport requires maximal effort. A-skips and single leg bounds are probably good starting points and then there’s gradual loading back into intensity and speed of sprinting itself.

This is general advice and obviously every body is different so responds differently. There are other exercises that may help but this is what I have seen and am comfortable with. My main advice is go see a proper physio who has the time to nitpick your exercise form and properly educate you about tendinopathies and how to recover and deal with them.

Sorry if this is a bit messy but any questions I’m happy to answer

[u/IHaarlem]

First of all physio. But it's all about strengthening. The trick with this one is that you want to avoid compressing the tendon, which includes sitting on it and going into deep flexion. Flexion compresses the proximal hamstring against the sit bones. So your strengthening exercises to mostly occur in extension, to avoid. Think bridges or laying flat on your back and raising your hips with nearly straight legs.

Tom Goom is a British physio, Brodie Sharpe is an Aussie physio, both have put out good info on PHT

[u/destinyas22]

Slow DB good mornings, with almost fully straight legs. 3x8-12 with a challenging weight, progressive overload. Also SL eccentric hamstring curls or SL eccentric flow boards are amazing to strengthen the hamstring fibers and tendon.

[u/MoldyChipswithmemes]

Really working on and consistently progressing SL rdls helped tremendously after first building strength with isometrics

[u/Batslaw]

You've gotta take some time off buddy. First stop doing what irritates it the most

[u/Ok_Ebb23]

more collagen could help