Nurse your hamstrings back to health
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A literal “pain in the butt” (injury to the hamstring tendon) is one of the most common yoga injuries. Often in yoga classes we stretch, pull and tug on our hamstrings mercilessly, which can lead to hamstring injury. I know, I had three of them over the years. The funniest (or saddest, however you choose to look at it) thing is that in our efforts to heal the hamstring injury (by stretching it), we end up re-injuring it again. This sort of cycle can go on for a very lo-o-ong time. Let’s stop the madness!
Yoga for hamstring pain
Below is a short 3-stage yoga practice that you can use to gradually heal your injured hamstrings. It takes time and patience. You can also use this practice to release chronic tension in your hamstrings.
HOW TO USE IT: When the injury happens, first you need to leave your hamstrings alone (for at least a week). After that you can begin the recovery process.
Stage 1: Begin to engage. Here you will gently engage your hamstrings and surrounding musculature (especially the glutes) to increase circulation to the injured area. Once you become comfortable with those movements, you can add stage 2.
Stage 2. Begin to stretch. Here you will continue to work with increasing circulation to your hamstrings and glutes, and will also add some mild stretching. Don’t get too ambitions, please, it’s counterproductive. It might take weeks to become comfortable with those movements. Once it happens, add stage 3.
Stage 3. Begin to restore the range of motion. Here the movements become stronger, so proceed with caution. Take your time, breathe deep and don’t force anything. Once you become comfortable with those movements, you should be able to resume your normal exercise/yoga routine.
Please keep in mind – there is no magic bullet! Watch closely how this practice affects your body, modify if necessary. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Join Sequence Wiz to customize this practice to your liking. Choose your poses, enter the instructions and you are done! See it in action >
Dear Olga
I’m a big fan of your work. I love the topics you write about and what you write
Thank you Yvonne! Happy to hear it.
I really enjoy your blogs. They are so well done. Just curious – are you trained in the Viniyoga tradition? Joanne Thompson
Hi Joanne! Yep, I did both my teacher and therapist trainings with Gary Kraftsow and AVI. How about you?
I thought so :=) I did my 500 with Gary and 200 with River Cummings before I trained with Gary. Both are wonderful – I actually started my Viniyoga journey years ago in the 1990’s with Margaret and Martin Pierce and Mary Lou Skelton. I love this tradition.
I’ve decided to go to Yoga Therapy Training starting this May – a huge step – and plan to take Robin Rothenberg’s course. She’s in Washington – don’t know if you know her. I really like her small class size and the location.
Keep up the good work – your presentation is excellent. If you ever need a guest blogger, please let me know… Joanne
Hi Joanne, I am excited to hear that you will be taking Robin’s Therapist program. I used to live in Portland, OR and always sent my teacher-trainees to her program 🙂 I will send you an email regarding guest blogging. Thank you for your kind words about my site – it means a lot!
That’s wonderful confirmation about Robin. Some of my AVI classmates took her therapy training and just raved about it. I’m getting really excited.
Just send the email whenever you get a moment. And, keep up the good work – it’s definitely needed! Joanne
Hi Joanne,
I see, in the above comment, you took the Yoga Therapy Training through Robin. How did you like it? I am a relatively new yoga teacher with 1 year of teaching experience and am considering taking this training next year to be a therapist (inspired by Olga:). Would you recommend this program? I understand it is quite expensive, do you feel the program is of the 15000$ value?
Hi Olga, this was so helpful! Thank you for the informative post. I injured my left hamstring tendon in karate class while doing a side kick. This was the second time it happened. The first time I injured my right side doing the splits in gymnastics class when I was a teen. My experience was very similar to the one you described, I heard a loud crack, and after that I could barely lift my leg off the floor for a long time. I will try the exercises you demonstrated and take it easy on that leg for a while. Judit
Hi Judit, sorry to hear about your injury. Those are not fun at all. So now both of your legs had that experience? 🙁 Please try the practice whenever you are ready and be sure to progress gradually – re-injuring the area slows down the recovery process. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Thanks Olga! No, they are not fun. Yes, I guess both legs had the experience. 🙁 The right side, where I had the injury years ago is good now, and the recent one on the left wasn’t quite as bad as the injury with the splits. There was no crack, just a strain. Hopefully, it will get better faster. Thanks for the good wishes and advice! 🙂
“There was no crack, just a strain” – something to take comfort in 🙂 All jokes aside, I hope you feel better soon!
That felt so good thanks!
Happy to hear that Nate! Speedy recovery!
thank you for the exercises. i was performing utthita parsvakonasana and i was trying to strengthen my front knee while having the bind. then i heard a sound from my hamstring. after 2 days i found your exercises and start performing. i also make ice compression. after 10 days i start to walk comfortably. i am still not flexible as before but i can start my exercises slowly. thank you very much
Hi Muge, so sorry to hear about your injury, but it’s great that the practice is helping. Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Hi Olga,
I am an active bowler and musician. I just started getting the pain in my right butt cheek about week and a half or so. It is hindering my bowling efforts however I am not experiencing ant pain while performing. I play the Accordion and I stand during the entire show. I was wondering if I should go to the Chiropractor to speed up the healing process which will cost me money or do you think I can follow your program to get rid of the pain? Bowling is the only sport I participate in I am pretty good bowler. I have done the program twice with good results. I know it won’t be overnight but how long do you think it will take? I am not in constant pain. I do also do regular Yoga and may have injured it during one of the stretches. I do Therapeutic Hahta Yoga. Please help!!!
Hi,
Awesome blog you have here. Very useful topic for me at this moment. I injured my left hamstring while practising sitting forward bend. I heard a popping sound from below the left thigh. I had pain in the sitting bone. I went through Physio and practised the same kind of poses u have mentioned. Now I am almost (90%)relieved from pain. Still feel a pull in my left thigh while doing forward bends. Should I avoid forward bends and surya namaskar for some more time ?? Its been a month after I injured my hamstring.
Thank you for this. Quick question. Is it recommended to ice after song these exercises? I have been practicing yoga in/off for about 17 years. Was off the wagon and my 48 year old body decided to take an adult gymnastics class. Their warmup left me squeeling in butt pain and then driving was ouch! Also pain behind the knees. Have been to a chiro who does active release technique which maybe? helped a little bit feel this routine is what I actually need. Thank you. Oh, ice??
Ouch Gregor, sorry to hear that! Ice could certainly help when the area is inflamed; hopefully it will calm down soon so that you could give this yoga practice a try and begin your recovery.
Thanks a lot!! This sequence really helped me a lot. I wasn’t able to sleep due to my lower butt pain. After practicing this sequence, its a great relief.
So happy to hear that Teejay! Wishing you speedy recovery!
Great sequence! Is it possible to print this sequence?
Dear Olga,
This sequence has helped me tremendously! I tore my hamstring back in July, and after lots of rest and physical therapy I am beginning to feel like myself again. I am so thankful for a way to strengthen my hamstring back on the mat. I appreciate your gentle guidance and integrated practice. Thank you so very much!
Warmly,
Laura
Hi Laura! I am so happy to hear that! Wishing you speedy recovery and happy holiday season!
I wanted to print the instructions but don’t I can’t. Could you let me know where i may get the printable version? Its nice of you to include the video, but I don’t have access to internet so that’s why I need the printable version. Also, I have had a pelvis ruptured bursitis of my left leg. I have been experiencing pain on my right and left lower butt. Besides the stretches what else can i do? thank you
This is absolutely delicious!!
I did the very same thing (I was in the splits and heard a “Crrkkhh”). I went to a physio and was really not satisfied.
Definitely going to give this a go. My regular yoga practice has helped my butt feel better, but I’m quite excited for a practice which is specifically constructed for that purpose. I hope it isn’t too late.
Thank you so much!
Hello Olga,
I have been doing your butt hamstring exercises every day, because I have a sore right hamstring.
I am training for a 10 km race, can I still train while I am recuperating from my hamstring.
Thank you so much.
Danielle
Hi Olga,
I have suffered pain in the buttock (both buttocks) for last 3 years seeing our article it appears that i have an injured my tendons. I also have realized I might have made it worse because i have constantly try to flex by Ham string to relieve the pain and also my forward bend Yoga practice might have actually prevented my healing. Currently I get burning pain in my both my buttocks ( sit bones) only when i sit and this worsens as i sit longer hours. I am going to try the techniques you have suggested and Week-1 I am going to focus on resting my tendons.
My question –
1. Can i do some walking to ensure i do some exercise during this week or should i fully rest
2, Should I use cold and hot packs to the area of pain during the week or rest ?
Please advice.
Regards,
Raj
Hi.very glad to come across your website? was suffering from the pulled hamstring pain in buttocks.really annoying.I will do the yoga steps you recommended.can I still continue doing my suryanamaskar?
I’m just starting to try yoga to fix the near innumerable issues i have. I used to dance ballet and now I cycle competitively. I have always paid attention to good form and left/right balance, but alas it has not saved me from messing tons of stuff up…chronically.
So I want to try yoga because nothing else works and nothing else seems as comprehensive, but what intensity does one need to practice at? As in, should I do this routine every day to heal my hamstrings? Or will once per week be enough? And do I really *squeeze* in the positions?
Maybe this is too much to ask in an internet comment thread, but it would be informative.
Hi Pinkie! As a former ballet dancer and a competitive athlete you are probably used to pushing yourself physically. When this is the case, I usually recommend that you ease off on the effort in your yoga practice to provide balance to your other activities. It means that you don’t need to “squeeze” anything in the positions, but think more about gently “hugging” your bones (so to speak). If you do my videos, just follow the instructions to “press the foot down” or whatever and not tighten anything else. The most important thing throughout is to pull your waist in as if trying to make it smaller with every exhalation to create stability in the center, but that, too, needs to have a “hugging” quality. In yoga we talk about “appropriate effort” and it might take few times to find just the right effort, but you can try to approach it with curious mind and watch how your body responds. You can try one practice every other day for a week or two and see how it makes you feel (on and off the mat). Then you can try something else. The good thing is that being an athlete you probably have good body awareness so you will be able to tell more easily how your body responds. I hope this helps!
It helps super much! You are a very knowledgeable lady! Thank you for making all of this available on the interwebs!
This didn’t help me at all?
Hi Olga,
I am so relieved at finding your article. I have suffered pain in the buttock for the last 6 months. It started during training for a marathon in the lower bum cheek and it was very painful to the point I struggled walking up the stairs. I went to see an osteopath who told me a had a trapped nerve in my lower back but I soon realised after several treatments, that this was not the case as the pain did not improve. I then went to see a physio who said I had imbalanced glutes/pelvis and gave me lots of glute exercises to do. I followed these exercises every day for several weeks until I started having burning sensations down the sides of my legs and my hamstrings were very painful. It was so bad I struggled walking on flat surfaces for several weeks. A friend recommended myofacial therapy which helped ease the tension in my muscles. I also realised that my pain in the buttocks had developed down the sides as well as at the cease of the buttock. I feel really down at the moment with it all. I felt really happy after reading your article as it does make sense about all the pain I’ve been experiencing and that I made everything worse by doing the glute exercises. I also have been trying to constantly stretch my Hamstrings to relieve the pain. Would you mind me asking for your advice? If i follow the yoga demonstrations on healing my hamstrings, how often should I be carrying out the exercises as I don’t want to over do it again and make things worse! How long roughly do your hamstrings take to heal if I follow your advice correctly? months – years? Also, sorry another thing from the article, i looks like the pain down the side of my glutes is caused by weak abductors. Would it be o.k to do the yoga to strengthen these up at the same time as trying to heal my hamstrings? many thanks sarah
I have a question about pose #8 (warrior). In the pose, you say to squeeze the buttocks of the back leg. This confuses me because it makes my leg try to rotate outward and takes the stretch out of my calf and also the front of my leg. I feel much better just doing the corset contraction that you describe in a different sequence, and focusing on grounding the back heel. But should they feel so different? And is it ok if I find it feels better this other way?
Hi Pinkie! Excellent point. If the ‘buttock squeeze” instruction takes the stretch out of your hip flexors area, then it’s not a good instruction for you. Instead focus on the corset with slight tailbone tuck and grounding through the back heel – that should do the trick. Different instructions work for different people. Great job paying attention to your body’s response!
I’ve been trying really hard! I keep discovering new things even though I practice using the same video.
Glad to hear there’s room for “interpretation” here. I definitely find the heel-grounding/tailbone tuck to be a much more appropriate-feeling image.
I’m glad to see that there is something to do for the pain in my butt crease. It started in November while I was doing my teacher training. I came across your website (which I now depend upon) while searching for ‘yoga butt’. I have had cortisone and PRT injections, nothing has helped. I haven’t stayed away from my normal exercise and yoga practice. At this point I am willing to take a break if that is what is necessary and to do your sequence religiously. None of the doctors I have seen can give me an answer as to what I need to stay away from. Is it necessary to stop my regular yoga practice if I do it with modifications?
im pregnat.is it okay to do the stretching?tnx
Hello,
I have the exact problem, Im a dancer and I injured my left hamstring while trying to do a split. And ive been constantly pushing since then while suffering from pain, trying to improve my flexibility which has deteriorated :/ I guess its been a year now. And Ive been trying to find a remedy on internet and sites I came across to mostly recommend stretching the hamstring for the pain… and like you wrote, even the simplest stretch causes a pain. Im very happy to come across your article and as of today I will follow your suggestions. Hopefully they will help. Thank you!
me too 🙁
I hope you have healed now 🙂
Great sequence and verbal/ visual instructions. I’d recommend giving a verbal clue that you are fmoving into stage 2 & 3. I was wrapped up in following the verbal cues & missed the transition into stage 2. Your recommendation to stay in each stage until your body is ready for the next stage is a good idea but it’s easy to miss the titles if not looking at the screen. I have pain in both my legs. These movements really make me aware if where the related muscle tension is seated. Thank you for the guidance.
Hi Olga, I have been following your youtube classes while being on lockdown for issues I’ve had for years with butt pain.
I love your class for piriformis stretches. Although I’m still feeling my way to self diagnose, your explanations are by far the most comprehensive. I’m going to try the three step hamstring advice as I’m still trying to pinpoint the actual issue. it’s a between piriformis syndrome, iscial bursitis, or damaged hamstring.
But I feel confident that you have the answer somewhere on your youtube channel.
very nice article, useful information.
Very helpful vlog
Hi
I am 14 and I do ballet.
I did the same thing as you said by going into your splits and hearing a krrrrrk
It was so sore but I decided to leave the pain and keep on stretching because I had a ballet exam.
It has been about… since September, so it has been like 3 painful months since then
I will try your tips 🙂
I really really hope it works
because I had worked so hard to achieve my splits but I haven’t been able to do them since and I really don’t want to lose them to an injury 🙁
Hello, This is a wonderful video. I have been struggling with a hamstring tear, not completely torn, for over a year!! Gluteus minimus & gluteus medius tears.
Physical therapist stretched and stretched me and hurt my pre existing low back disc injuries. I had surgery at 28 yrs old & I am now 65 yrs. I can’t walk half a block without hamstring pain which then hurts my back from limping. I will start this yoga slowly. I hope it helps as I am very depressed about this. Gaining weight from inactivity. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank You.