Hamstring injury occurrence in elite soccer players after preseason strength training with eccentric overload

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a preseason strengthtraining programme for the hamstring muscle group -emphasizing eccentric overloading -could affect the occurrence and severity of hamstring injuries during the subsequent competition season in elite male soccer players. Thirty players from two of the best premier-league division teams in Sweden were divided into two groups; one group received additional specific hamstring training, whereas the other did not. The extra training was performed 1-2 times a week for 10 weeks by using a special device aiming at specific eccentric overloading of the hamstrings. Isokinetic hamstring strength and maximal running speed were measured in both groups before and after the training period and all hamstring injuries were registered during the total observational period of 10 months. The results showed that the occurrence of hamstring strain injuries was clearly lower in the training group (3/15) than in the control group (10/15). In addition, there were significant increases in strength and speed in the training group. However, there were no obvious coupling between performance parameters and injury occurrence. These results indicate that addition of specific preseason strength training for the hamstrings -including eccentric overloading -would be beneficial for elite soccer players, both from an injury prevention and from performance enhancement point of view.

The Efficacy of Exercise in Preventing Injury in Adult Male Football: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

“…Five trials investigated an exercise intervention group compared to a control group [50][51][52][53][54]. Two trials assessed exercise or orthotic intervention groups compared with a control group [55,56].…”

“…Most trials used supervised exercise intervention as part of or in addition to regular training [12,50,51,53,54]. One trial used four supervised and then largely independent exercise sessions [52].…”

“…Eight trials from five countries were included [12,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. Database and hand searches provided a total of 1,942 citations.…”

“…A range of exercise interventions were used, including specific targeted muscle strengthening and/or stretching [50][51][52]55], proprioceptive exercise [55,56], and multi-faceted exercise intervention regimes [12,53,54]. Most trials used supervised exercise intervention as part of or in addition to regular training [12,50,51,53,54].…”

“…Five trials [50][51][52][53][54] and 2,647 participants had no reported history of injury or increased risk of injury; 200 participants with a history of injury were recruited in two trials [55,56]. A further trial included assessment of 388 participants reported to be at high risk of injury [12].…”