If you tear a hamstring, you'll know very quickly. You won't be able to run. You won't be able to squat. You won't be able to deadlift. Even standing up from the toilet will be a challenge. In this video, John Petrenko—during a recent visit to the elitefts S4 Compound—asks Dave about what to do when hamstring injuries occur:

"During hamstring rehabilitation, what are some rehabilitation movements that should and shouldn't be incorporated? How can you get back to training heavy?"

To answer this question, Dave first seeks two pieces of information: how did the injury begin and what is the main goal of the rehabilitation?

John gives Dave greater detail and explains that, in most cases, explosive running movements have caused the injury to arise or worsen. He goes through the timeline (over two years) of the hamstring issue and shares the stretching, training adjustments, and rest periods he has utilized in attempts to rehabilitate his hamstring.

With this information, Dave walks through how to begin rehabilitation. The first step is finding the root cause of the recurring injury. Is there a kinetic chain or muscle-firing problem? Is there a problem with running technique? Is there a muscular imbalance? Dave explains how these problems will each require a unique solution. If you misidentify the cause of the injury, not only will you fail to solve the problem, but you may also make the problem worse. For instance, if there is a problem with running technique but the only rehabilitation you do is work to strengthen your hamstrings, you'll likely injure the hamstring again — and this time your hamstring will be able to pull even stronger, making the injury even worse than the first time. For this reason, Dave emphasizes the importance of finding the cause of the injury rather than simply trying to recover from it.