Bullet Proof Your legs Like Tommy Turbo
You may have read in the press recently about the “revolutionary” sprinting program Manly and NSW Origin star Tom Trbojevic has been using to rehab and strengthen his hamstrings after a number of significant injuries in recent seasons. In very basic terms, he runs a targeted amount of sprinting a week to condition his legs to high speed movement. The good news is that we’ve been using this approach for a number of years, and it’s not actually all that new to Physios who stay up to date with the research. Returning to full speed sprinting is a vital part of strengthening your legs for return to play, there’s no way to simulate the demands of sprinting in the gym and you just have to get on the field and get up to speed in a safe way.
You CAN do too much high-speed running, which is why NRL teams use GPS and modify training if players have run a long way at near max speed in a game, and also the main reason why players are rested AFTER an origin game.
But, you can ALSO under-expose your hamstrings to sprinting and do too little, such as when having time off for injury, illness or the off season. This leaves you vulnerable to injury in the first six weeks back after a layoff.
So, our current lockdown is a perfect recipe for this increased risk of muscle injury when returning to sprinting sports.
Here’s what you can do to get your sprinting muscles stronger, get your sprinting load up safely and help reduce the risk of an injury in the business end of the season when we’re allowed back out there.
Download our 9 stage run program here
We use this protocol specifically for return to sprinting after muscle injury. If you haven’t run for a month, or are recovering from injury, start from stage 1. If you’ve been keeping in shape including a small amount of faster running, try starting from Stage 4.
If you’ve got any questions, or have an ongoing problem you’d like our help with, we’re open for face to face consultations and also helping you out via telehealth over the phone or Zoom.
