In episode 377 of The Physical Performance Show, Sports Physiotherapist Nick Kane joins host Brad Beer to talk all things Hamstring Strain Rehabilitation related.
Nick is the founder and director of SportsMap, one of Australia’s leading professional development platforms for sports medicine clinicians. Drawing on more than a decade working in elite sport, including ten years with the Essendon Football Club in the AFL and five years as lead physiotherapist, Nick shares practical, evidence-informed insights into managing one of sport’s most common and frustrating injuries.
This episode explores the common mistakes athletes and practitioners make during rehabilitation, the critical role of high-speed running exposure, how to assess injury severity, key risk factors for recurrence, and the practical steps required for a successful return to sport. Nick also discusses eccentric strength training, fascicle length, T-junction injuries, and the characteristics that separate great clinicians from average ones.
Whether you’re an athlete, coach, physiotherapist, or sports medicine practitioner, this episode delivers practical takeaways you can immediately apply.
Show Sponsor
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Where to find Nick:
LinkedIn – Nick Kane
SportsMap – https://sportsmap.com.au
Listen in as we delve into the following:
• The three most common mistakes in hamstring rehabilitation
• Why maximum speed exposure is essential for successful recovery
• The dangers of over-prescribing and under-prescribing sprint work
• Understanding hamstring injury pathology and injury mechanisms
• Key clinical assessment findings for hamstring strain injuries
• Risk factors including eccentric strength, fascicle length, and running mechanics
• The “push and pull of strain” concept
• Practical strength benchmarks for rehabilitation progressions
• The role of Nordic hamstring exercises and eccentric loading
• Monitoring recovery using objective clinical markers
• Criteria-based return-to-play decision making
• Preventing recurrence following return to sport
• Why regular exposure to high-speed running matters
• Understanding T-junction hamstring injuries
• What differentiates great clinicians from average practitioners
• The value of curiosity, continual learning, and athlete-centred communication
Quotes
“Preparing to sprint is preparing to play.” — Nick Kane
“The highest strain you can apply to the hamstring is sprinting.” — Nick Kane
“Consistency is key.” — Nick Kane
“If you stop training eccentrically for two weeks, those fascicles shorten.” — Nick Kane
“The person who stays curious and continues learning is the one who keeps improving.” — Nick Kane
Timeline
00:00 – Introduction and sponsor messages
01:20 – Introduction to Nick Kane and SportsMap
04:08 – The three biggest mistakes in hamstring rehabilitation
05:35 – Over-prescribing and under-prescribing high-speed running
09:16 – Why sprint exposure is critical for recovery
10:34 – Understanding hamstring injury pathology
13:54 – Key risk factors for hamstring strain injuries
16:12 – The push and pull of strain concept
18:29 – Eccentric strength and fascicle length
20:22 – Practical strength assessment benchmarks
23:13 – Essential clinical assessment tools
27:20 – Using objective markers to guide return-to-play timelines
29:21 – Sponsor messages
31:14 – Return-to-play criteria and rehabilitation progressions
34:41 – Preventing hamstring injury recurrence
37:29 – Understanding T-junction hamstring injuries
41:41 – What separates great clinicians from average clinicians
44:25 – Nick Kane’s one piece of performance advice
45:53 – The weekly physical challenge: 10 minutes of stillness
46:51 – Where to find Nick Kane and SportsMap
48:27 – Episode wrap-up and upcoming shows
Your Host
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Our goal is to get you back to your Physical Best. Find out more about Telehealth Consultations and book online.
Your Host:
🏃 Brad Beer – Instagram & X @Bradbeer and YouTube on @PogophysioAu
The Physical Performance Show can be found at:
Facebook: facebook.com/thephysicalperformanceshowpodcast
X: @tppshow1
Instagram: @physicalperforamceshow
Please direct any questions, comments, and feedback to the above social media handles.
Telehealth rehabilitation can be effective for people needing help to get back to their physical best who are geographically not able to attend appointments in person at POGO Physio (Mermaid Waters, Gold Coast).
Our team of physiotherapists routinely conduct telehealth consultations for patients who live:
There are several elements of an in person consultation that cannot be actioned when receiving a telehealth consultation. However in most instances this does not represent a barrier to an effective consultation being delivered.
Manual therapy (hands-on) treatment can also not be conducted remotely. If a patient will benefit or requires manual therapy it can be sought in the patient’s local area with guidance (if required) from a local provider.
Exercises are demonstrated and prescribed via our exercise prescription software and app TrackActive. Trackactive has viewable videos and photos, as well as detailed commentary on how to complete the exercises with accuracy at home or the gym. See below for an example series of exercises:
COLLAGEN REPAIR
Now, you've all heard me talk about Pillar Performance. They have truly led a new frontier in the sports nutrition industry through their micronutrition innovation — and as someone who has spent their career working with endurance athletes managing injury, this one really caught my attention.
You may have also recently seen Pillar launch some new product lines under the banner of Performance Health. Like all Pillar products, this expansion is designed to maximize those crucial hours outside of training and racing, helping you return to the start line in peak condition.
One of their newest releases is Collagen Repair. This has been specifically developed to address some of the most common tendon and ligament overuse injuries among endurance athletes — conditions like hamstring tendinopathy, Achilles tendinitis, shin splints, and patellofemoral pain. As a physio, these are honestly the injuries I see walk through the door most often.
This product was brought to market in collaboration with Gelita Laboratories from Germany, and features a clinically trialled collagen peptide called Tendoforte, designed to strengthen and promote collagen synthesis.
Did you know that after the age of 30, you lose 1% of your body's collagen every year? That's significant — especially if you're pounding out kilometres week after week.
All you need is one scoop — it's flavorless and pairs perfectly with your morning coffee.
So check it out. Visit PillarPerformance.shop, or for North American listeners, head to TheFeed.com and use the code PHYSICALPERFORMANCE for 15% off your first purchase.
TRIPLE MAGNESIUM
On The Physical Performance Show, we talk a lot about training load, but sleep and recovery are where the real adaptation happens — and that's something I've become genuinely obsessed with optimising.
Pillar's Triple Magnesium has become a non-negotiable part of my evening routine. Informed by leading Heart Rate Variability researcher Dr Dan Plews, I take it 30 minutes before bed every night to help my body spend as much time as possible in REM and deep sleep.
Pillar uses a high dose of Glycinate Magnesium, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system — essentially telling your body it's time to switch off, recover, and rebuild. My WHOOP data each morning tells the story: higher HRV, longer deep sleep cycles, and I genuinely wake up feeling more restored.
For anyone listening who is serious about performance — whether you're training for your first marathon or your tenth Ironman — sleep quality is the multiplier on everything else you do. This is the product that's moved the needle most for me personally.
Head to PillarPerformance.shop and use code PHYSICALPERFORMANCE for 15% off your first purchase.
