After the meet I began specializing in more dynamic movement such as sprints and jumps. I incorporated them into my programming in the form of complexes along with max effort, rep effort, and dynamic effort lifting. This would be a good change of pace after the meet, and would help to restore some more of my speed and athleticism that I had lost with the injury. I also was interested in shedding some body fat and becoming leaner in this next phase of training, and complexes are an effective tool for this to accompany my diet plan.
After a few weeks of this style of training I was noticing less pain overall, and was able to perform at a higher intensity before pain or tightness set in. I continued to hammer the corrective and soft tissue work and noticed less restriction. By the end of 4 weeks I was now able to sprint at about 90 percent, and my vertical and broad jump were just about matching my previous highs. Depending on several factors I continued to have good and bad days, but overall I was now having more good days than bad.
Baseball league games also started during this time period which would be the greatest indicator of the hamstring recovery. During week 1 I had some pain and restriction with sudden bursts of movement, and had trouble getting up to a top speed. Week 2 allowed for some quick sharp movements with relatively no pain; however I was still having issue getting to a speed above 90 percent. I had week 3 off, and week 4 proved to be the best week yet. I felt some soreness throughout the game, but no pain. I felt like I was running above 90 percent, and even stole some bases along with legging out a triple. 11 months later I now finally felt like my old self!
Although there are days where I still feel some pain and restriction (especially in the morning,) I now consider myself to be relatively fully recovered. It was a long hard road, but I was able to continue training and doing the things that I love for the most part. I was able maintain most of my strength and function throughout, and even achieved some personal records.
I will continue to strengthen the weaknesses and imbalances that led to the injury in the first place. I look forward to continuing to progress forward and achieve new levels of success.
