12/02/2025
Hamstring injuries keep coming back?
If you've done the stretching, the strengthening, the foam rolling—maybe even multiple rounds of treatment—and that hamstring still feels tight or grabs you during activity, chances are you're working on the wrong thing.
We've assessed hundreds of recurring hamstring cases. The pattern is consistent: the hamstring itself is rarely anatomically short. Full stop.
What we find instead are restrictions in the pelvis (especially the sacroiliac joint), the knee, or the ankle. These joint dysfunctions alter how your nervous system controls the hamstring through what researchers call "afferent influences"—essentially, faulty signals from unstable or restricted joints that tell your hamstring to tighten up as a protective response.
Think of it like an alarm system. Pain and tightness tell you there's a problem, but they don't tell you where the problem actually is. Your hamstring is screaming because your pelvis or ankle isn't doing its job properly.
A case study from our clinic:
A 5'7", 155lb male sprinter came in with recurring hamstring issues. He'd suffered a grade 2-3 tear, completed proper physiotherapy, and was cleared to return to training. Standard protocol, quality care—nothing wrong with the approach. But the tightness kept coming back.
When we assessed him, we didn't find a short hamstring. We found tibial torsion and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. We treated those joint restrictions instead of continuing to hammer away at the hamstring itself.
His hamstring problems disappeared.
This happens constantly because your body is smarter than you think. If your pelvis isn't stable or your ankle is restricted, your hamstring tightens up to create the stability those joints should be providing. You can stretch that muscle religiously, but the tightness will return the second you try to perform because your nervous system needs that tension there for protection.
Here's a simple test you can try right now.
Perform a Nordic hamstring curl—kneel down, have someone hold your ankles, and slowly lower your torso forward while controlling the descent. Notice how far you can go. Now have someone compress your sacroiliac joints firmly with their hands and try again.
Most people immediately get better range and control.
That's your nervous system responding to improved joint stability by releasing protective hamstring tension it no longer needs. Not a miracle—just proper biomechanics.
If you've been stuck in the stretch-and-repeat cycle with your hamstrings, the real issue is probably hiding in the joints around them, not the muscle you keep targeting.
Getting back to my point: if a hamstring problem keeps recurring despite treatment, look to the influencers—the joints that control the muscle—and not just the injury location itself.
Like & comment if your hamstrings have been the recurring problem that just won't quit.
