Running-based hamstring injuries are among the most common soft tissue injuries in sport. They typically involve the biceps femoris and have a notorious tendency to recur if rehab fails to prepare the tissue for the true demands of high-speed running and change of direction.

At Elevate, our REBUILD Hamstring (Running) Programme was created to break the re-injury cycle for non-significant hamstring strains i.e. non-surgical cases and/or strains without significant tendon involvement. Rather than following a purely time-based approach, or only chasing isolated strength numbers, the programme systematically rebuilds capacity through six clearly defined phases, each aligned with tissue healing and neuromuscular preparedness.

In this blog, we’ll walk through the programme phase by phase, outlining the key training headlines, progression criteria, weekly structure logic, and a standout exercise from each stage.

Programme Overview

The REBUILD Hamstring (Running) Programme consists of 3 stages (early, mid and late), with 2 phases per stage, for a total of 6 phases. The training content derives from our three REBUILD “big-rocks”:

✅ Loading – gym-based work to restore and improve maximal force and rate of force development qualities.
✅ Resilience – exercises selected to train capacity within key synergists as well as develop injury-specific aspects of motor control.
✅ Fast > Fit – combines movement efficiency training for: acceleration, deceleration, change of direction & upright running, as well as our: jumping, plyometric and on-feet progression streams.

Each of these components contains training content designed specifically to tackle running-based hamstring injuries. For example, within our loading we select isometric and isolation exercises with a bias towards training the biceps femoris, within our resilience content we include “posterior knee control” exercises, which target the synergy between calf and hamstring in controlling the shank during the swing phase of upright running, and within our fast → fit we include rotational running to provide multi-planar tissue stress and prepare the hamstrings for the chaotic, multi-directional nature of returning to sport.

Within each of the 6 phases, we provide simple KPIs to ensure a level of competency-based progression, whereby athletes earn the right to move forward by demonstrating tolerance, capacity and quality.

Phase 1 – Return to Loading

Training Headlines

Phase 1 coincides with the early post-injury period. It is important to note that we advise athletes to only commence phase 1 at 48-72 hours post-the inciting injury event, we refer to this as the “Acute stage”. This is to allow sufficient time for acute pain to settle and initial tissue healing to occur. Once the athlete has completed the “Acute stage”, the goal is not to further avoid load, but to reintroduce it safely and purposefully.

Athletes are provided guidance around how to manage pain during their sessions, with pain levels in excess of 4/10 on a subjective self-report pain scale requiring the athlete to stop & regress their current activity or, in the case of significant or extreme pain, seek medical support. Whilst this remains relevant throughout the entire rehab process, it is particularly pertinent within phase 1 due to the relative proximity to the injury event.

Key focuses during Phase 1 include:

• Yielding isometric holds within our injury-specific isometric stream.
• Capacity-based loading i.e. higher rep ranges at lower intensities, for primary i.e. compound lifts.
• Predominantly isometric resilience work targeting:
  Tri-planar trunk control.
  Posterior knee control.

Across all of our soft tissue series programmes and phases, we deliberately select exercises for our Loading sessions that are low in technical demand, allowing us to achieve good levels of activation and mechanical tension within the target tissue, to drive adaptation.

Progression Criteria

Weekly Structure

Key Exercise: Wall Bridge

The wall bridge is a resilience exercise from our posterior knee control stream. It helps to train the ability of the calves and hamstrings to work synergistically to control the shank during running. This double leg variation is the entry point but this exercise can be easily progressed as athletes progress from phase 1 through to phase 6.

Phase 2 – Return to Jumping

Training Headlines

In Phase 2, we continue to drive strength-capacity as well as introducing controlled ballistic & elastic exercises to start exposing the hamstrings to higher contraction/movement velocities.

Key focuses during phase 2 include:

• Capacity-based loading for key isolation exercises.
• Introduction of the single-leg dumbbell hamstring bridge to target biceps femoris adaptation.
• Basic landing, jumping and rebounding drills.

This marks the first step towards restoring stretch–shortening cycle function.

Progression Criteria

• Equal or baseline hamstring range of motion.
• Single-leg hamstring bridge capacity of 10+ reps.
• Competent & confident completion of ALL phase 2 content.

Weekly Structure

Structurally, the week is laid out in the same way as Phase 1. The key difference here is the inclusion of ballistic and elastic exercises within Fast → Fit sessions.

Key Exercise: Single-Leg Dumbbell Hamstring Bridge

This exercise offers high biceps femoris bias with low technical demand, making it far more reliable in rehab than exercises such as single-leg RDLs where tissue-specific tension are potentially limited due to instability and/or movement competency. Athletes are advised to externally rotate their foot (turn it away from their midline) to further bias the biceps femoris whilst performing any bridging exercise.

Phase 3 – Return to Running

Training Headlines

Phase 3 represents a major milestone for most rehabilitating athletes: the reintroduction of running. This is achieved initially through low speed running drills, such as the dribble. The dribble offers multiple advantages within the context of hamstring rehab. The front-side dominant action and upright torso/neutral lumbopelvic position helps to reduce the stress placed on the hamstrings during locomotion.

Key progressions include:

• Advancement along the loading ladder to strength-based loading i.e. lower rep ranges at higher intensities.
• Introduction of isometric ramps i.e. athlete builds force over 3-5s before then pushing hard for the remaining time within each rep.
• Initiation of running drills, starting with dribbles, alongside plyometric and ballistic progressions.

This phase carefully balances increasing force demands with controlled on-feet exposure.

Progression Criteria

• 8RM load for SL DB hamstring bridge at ≥80% LSI
• Pain-free Fast → Fit exposure
• Single-leg hamstring bridge capacity of 20+ reps
• Competent & confident completion of ALL phase 3 content.

Weekly Structure

Key Exercise: Dribble

Dribbles introduce running mechanics at low intensity, reinforcing upright posture and cyclical hamstring loading, without aggressive speed demands.

Phase 4 – Return to Change of Direction

Training Headlines

During phase 4 we continue to advance through our Fast → Fit stream advancing from shuffle drills in Phase 3 to cutting drills in Phase 4. In terms of Loading, the emphasis begins to shift to exposing tissue to high magnitudes of force and increasing rates of force development within our isometric stream.

Key progressions include:

• Introduction of rotational running drills.
• Return to multi-directional speed-change work.
• Progression up the loading ladder to isometric pushes.

Progression Criteria

• 6RM load for SL DB hamstring bridge at ≥90% LSI
• Pain-free Fast → Fit sessions
• Competent & confident completion of ALL phase 4 content.

Weekly Structure

As our Fast → Fit content progresses we theme sessions to emphasise different high intensity field actions. Fast → Fit on days 1 & 5 have a linear focus, including accelerations, decelerations and upright running content. The Fast → Fit session on day 3 has a bias towards change of direction as well as providing the opportunity to return to low intensity skills.

Key Exercise: Rotational Running

Rotational running drills expose the biceps femoris to frontal- and transverse-plane demands commonly seen in sport, bridging the gap between straight-line running and chaos.

Phase 5 – Return to Speed and Agility

Training Headlines

This phase marks the transition to high-speed running demands.

Key progressions include:

• Introduction of catch-type isometrics.
• 2:1 accentuated eccentric loading for hamstring bridges.
• High-speed running exposure at 80–85%.
• Advanced rotational running drills (e.g. scissor twist).

Progression Criteria

• Pain-free Fast → Fit sessions.
• Equal or baseline Askling H-test.
• Competent & confident completion of ALL phase 5 content.

The Askling-H test is an important progression criteria before commencing to Phase 6, where we return to sprinting. This test allows athletes to assess their competency, confidence and comfort to lengthen the hamstrings at high-speed.

Weekly Structure

Key Exercise: Plate Scissor Twist

This drill introduces rapid rotational demands and tissue-specific jerk, preparing the hamstrings for the reactive multi-planar forces seen experienced late-stage sprinting and cutting.

Phase 6 – Return to Game-Speed and Conditioning

Training Headlines

The final phase prepares the athlete for the realities of competition.

Key progressions include:

• High-level eccentric exercises with rotation.
• Sprint exposure at 90–95%.
• Game-speed and reactive agility drills.
• Mixed-mode, multi-directional conditioning drills.

Progression Criteria

• Exposure to ≥90% sprint speed.
• Pain-free tolerance to all Fast → Fit content.
• Competent & confident completion of ALL phase 6 content.

Weekly Structure

As the intensity of Fast → Fit sessions increases, the day-on, day-off, structure allows for dedicated recovery days to limit the carry-over of fatigue across sessions. Day 1 is where we complete our rotational running work, Day 3 features our game-speed drills and Day 5 contains our speed work after a full day’s recovery on day 4. It also comes 4-days post our AEL hamstring loading on Day 1.

Key Exercise: Roll & Reach

The roll & reach challenges eccentric hamstring control under rotation, mirroring the demands of sprinting and late-swing phase loading.

Final Steps

Upon completion of Phase 6, athletes are advised to complete a progressive return to training and play over 3 weeks. Week 1 involves returning to full training +/- the conditioning top-ups included within our sports specific conditioning guide. Week 2 sees athletes return to competitive game-play, capped at 50% of full-game volume. This progresses in Week 3, before returning to full unrestricted training and match-play in Weeks 4+.

The REBUILD Hamstring (Running) Programme is not about rushing athletes back to playing – it’s about earning the right to return. By progressively rebuilding force capacity, rate of force development, coordination and fatigue tolerance, we reduce re-injury risk and restore confidence.

With our approach, athletes don’t just return ready to play, but to perform. That is what makes REBUILD different.

Want to Learn More?

Check out our full soft tissue injury workshop video here: Workshop
Our Soft Tissue Series programmes are now available to purchase here: Programmes

About The Author

About Us

At Elevate: Speed & Rehab, we specialise in Performance Rehab for athletes dealing with ACL, hamstring, calf, ankle, hip & groin injuries; helping you reduce recovery time and get back performing at your best, and beyond. Whether you’re an athlete looking for expert sports rehabilitation, or a coach or physio wanting to develop your practice, we’ve got you covered. Find out more by clicking here