I Pulled A Hamstring While Cartwheeling

What does “pull a muscle” mean in English?

When you pull a muscle, you hurt it by stretching it too far, too fast. In the clip, the speaker pulls a hamstring — the muscle at the back of the leg — after a bad cartwheel. “Pull” here does not mean “to drag.” It means “to injure.” A pulled muscle makes every movement painful, and it needs rest and time before it is strong again.

You can pull many muscles: a hamstring (back of the leg), a calf (lower leg), or your back. Doctors call this injury a “strain.” The hamstring muscles let you bend your leg, so runners and dancers use them constantly — this is why pulled hamstrings are so common in sport. In the clip: “I landed a very bad cartwheel, and then I pulled the hamstring, which means I injured the hamstring... every step I took was painful.”