Eric Cressey recently put together his best articles from the year and this hamstring article was one of them.  He does a nice job of explaining five different reasons why our athletes/clients might have tight hamstrings.  We must remember that when assessing our clients, we have to look at the whole body of work and not just focus on the hamstrings.  Eric talks about how the client may truely have tight hamstrings but he urges us to consider other reasons why the hamstrings are tight, such as protective tension of the hamstrings due to excessive APT.  He acknowledges that injury may play a role in tight hamstrings and gives specific suggestions on ways to begin incorporating hamstring exercise back into the routine without further injuring the tissue.  Whether you are a physical therapist, athletic trainer, strength coach, or any other health care professional working with a client dealing with hamstring "tightness", consider other reasons for why they feel tight.  It goes back to the theory of the kinetic chain ripple effect which suggests that joints surrounding the primary complaint may be contributing to the impairment at hand.     

Band training has been gaining popularity over the past several years. In this post, Christian Thibaudeau discusses how using bands can help your strength increase dramatically.  He speaks to some of the major benefits of band training such as how the resistance can be overloaded over the entire range of motion of an exercise. Furthermore he breaks down the different types of bands, resistances progression, and specific ways to incorporate them into your routine.  If you are interested in using band training or want more knowledge in this area, this article is for you!

Eric Cressey really understands the importance of a complete strength training program.  He studies from all different schools of thought and works closely with PT's like Mike Reinold.  This webinar is a great resource for both beginners and advanced individuals.  Learning about some of the components that Eric has found to be most beneficial to structuring strength programs can be very beneficial to add to your toolbox.  In this video he breaks down variables and how to begin manipulating these variables to get the most out of creating program designs.  With his vast experience in program design he really has a proven record which is why his advice is so valuable.  Check it out!