Top 3 Hamstring Exercises for Soccer Players to Avoid Tightness and Pain

Hi this is Dana Ranahan from Body Works Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver. I’m here today to talk to all you soccer players who are struggling with hamstring tightness, or straining your hamstrings regularly. We’re going to show you the top three hamstring exercises you can do to avoid hamstring strain.

First off, we want to look at some dynamic stretches to help you move better and warm up for the game.

Butt Kick

We’re going to demonstrate a dynamic hamstring butt kick, or heel kick-up. Little heel kick-up, then lean forward and do a little jog, turn around and come back. So usually we do a good warm up with our butt kickers to get the hamstring working. After that, we want to do more of a dynamic stretch.

Opposite Arm and Leg Kicks

We’re going to work on opposite arm and leg kicks and try to get some mobility through our hamstrings. This will make sure they’re warmed up and moving better.

Now we’re ready to play the game. After the game we’re going to do a stretch, a more prolonged stretch to actually work on lengthening the muscle after it’s exercised.

Post-game Hamstring Stretch

So we’re going to bring our foot forward, pelvis forward in front and stretching forward, keeping your back tall. What’s most important with this is to keep yourself facing your foot and your toe pointing straight up to the ceiling with your back straight.

When you’re holding these stretches, usually I’d have you hold them for about 30 to 60 seconds and repeat each side a couple times. So switch legs, point straight ahead, nice and tall, hold for 30 to 60 seconds and a couple times each side. So there’s our three quick hamstring exercises to help you hopefully avoid injury on the soccer field.

If you have any other questions give us a call or check out our website at body-works.ca