🎉 Sign up for the FREE PHT 5-Day Course HERE 🎉
🗓️ Book a free 20-minute Injury Chat with Brodie 📞
📄Learn more about Brodie's PHT AI Assistant 🔍

In this Q&A episode, Brodie continues answering listener questions about proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT), covering topics ranging from long-term maintenance to returning to running after rehab. He explains why the same exercises used in rehabilitation—especially deadlifts—often remain the best way to keep symptoms at bay by maintaining tendon capacity. Depending on a runner’s goals, he also discusses when to add exercises like prone hamstring curls or Nordic curls to support endurance running versus speed work. The key message: keeping the tendon strong and progressively loaded helps reduce the likelihood of symptoms returning.

The episode also addresses common frustrations during recovery, such as lingering sensations during a return-to-run program, setbacks from activities like rowing, and uncertainty about whether PHT ever truly “goes away.” Brodie outlines practical pain-monitoring rules, strategies for adjusting running variables (distance, pace, frequency), and how to identify training factors that may be slowing recovery. He also discusses scenarios such as young athletes with persistent sitting pain, older individuals starting rehab without gym access, and runners balancing rehab with race goals—emphasising that the key to long-term success is gradually building tendon capacity while carefully managing training load and recovery.

🎉 Sign up for the FREE PHT 5-Day Course HERE 🎉
🗓️ Book a free 20-minute Injury Chat with Brodie 📞
📄Learn more about Brodie's PHT AI Assistant 🔍

In this Q&A episode, Brodie answers a flood of listener questions on proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT), starting with one of the most common concerns: how to load the tendon without flaring it up. He breaks down why deadlifts are one of the most effective strengthening tools for the upper hamstring, how to manipulate range of motion, weight and frequency, and why “dosage” is the difference between progress and a setback. You’ll learn how to systematically find your sweet spot, adjust frequency as loads get heavier, and avoid the common mistake of jumping in too hard, too soon.

The episode also explores more complex cases, including persistent morning pain, uncertainty around diagnosis, and radiating symptoms that may point to something beyond classic PHT. Brodie discusses how to use loading as both a treatment and a diagnostic tool, when to consider alternative causes like lower back involvement, and how nervous system sensitisation and hypervigilance can amplify pain.

He finishes with rapid-fire answers on rehab frequency, maintenance loading, and how to modify exercises when other injuries (like low back pain) enter the picture. If you’ve been struggling to balance strengthening with symptom control, this episode offers practical, measured guidance to help you regain confidence and move forward with clarity.

🎉 Sign up for the FREE PHT 5-Day Course HERE 🎉
🗓️ Book a free 20-minute Injury Chat with Brodie 📞
📄Learn more about Brodie's PHT AI Assistant 🔍

Check out Loopi's Website here: https://www.athletetransitionlab.com/

When proximal hamstring pain just won’t settle, the conversation often turns to surgery — and that’s where confusion, fear, and mixed advice really begin.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Luise Weinrich (known as Loopi), an orthopedic and trauma surgeon with extensive experience in hamstring avulsions, surgical repair, and post-operative rehabilitation. With a background as a former elite breakdancer and years working in top German sports orthopaedic hospitals, Luise brings a rare blend of surgical insight and athlete-centred thinking.

Together, we unpack the “grey zone” — the large group of runners and athletes who don’t clearly fall into “definitely need surgery” or “definitely don’t” — and how to make smarter, more confident decisions when the path forward isn’t obvious.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why most proximal hamstring cases sit in a surgical grey zone
• The key MRI findings that matter — and the ones that don’t tell the full story
• How goals, age, chronicity, and function influence the surgery decision
• When partial tears may (or may not) warrant surgery
• Why surgery for chronic tendinopathy is often not a “winner operation”
• Common mistakes athletes make before and after surgery
• Why pre-op strength, sleep, protein, hydration, and nervous system regulation matter
• How post-op rehab should be phase-based, not timeline-based
• The biggest reasons athletes overdo or underdo rehab after surgery
• What questions you should ask your surgeon before committing
• Why post-operative protocols are essential — and often missing

🧠 Key Takeaways for Runners

• MRI findings alone shouldn’t dictate surgery — context matters
• Chronic tendon pain doesn’t automatically mean “failed rehab”
• Tendons need time, structure, and progressive loading to recover
• Surgery can remove pain drivers, but it doesn’t guarantee a “new” tendon
• Clear rehab phases + 24-hour symptom rules beat rigid timelines
• Being prepared before surgery often improves outcomes after
• If you’re unsure, a structured second opinion can prevent rushed decisions

In other words: the goal isn’t just to fix tissue — it’s to make the smartest long-term decision for your body, your sport, and your identity as a runner.