Have you ever suffered from hamstring injury or weakness? I personally have. In fact, it is one of the reasons I became a chiropractor. I first started seeing a chiropractor when I was in junior high. I would periodically have sports injuries related to wrestling and football. 

When my chiropractor would evaluate me, he often found that one hamstring that was weaker upon strength testing.  As an athlete, it was obviously important for me to have muscle strength. He would adjust me and re-test my strength.   To my amazement, I would be stronger.  To this day I don’t know where he learned about this relationship, but I never forgot there was one. 

Since that time, I have seen run across research papers discussing this relationship.  A 2021 study was recently published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. This study found that there was an immediate increase in the hamstring strength after spinal mobilization. 

Action Point- 

So, what is practical application? 

• Maybe you have had pulled hamstring muscles in the past and want to work on prevention. 
• Possibly you are an athlete and concerned about performance. 
• Maybe your legs just don’t feel as strong as they should. 

Have a chiropractor perform an evaluation. They should look for mechanical problems particularly in the low back and pelvis. They should be able to help you improve your mechanics and strength. 

Reference

Paul Chesterton, Will Evans, Matthew Wright, Lorenzo Lolli, Mark Richardson, Greg Atkinson: Influence of Lumbar Mobilizations During the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Measures of Knee Flexor Strength, Failure Point, and Muscle Activity: A Randomized Crossover Trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2021;44(1):1‐13