Prevention of hamstring strains in elite soccer: an intervention study

Abstract

The purpose was to test the effect of eccentric strength training and flexibility training on the incidence of hamstring strains in soccer. Hamstring strains and player exposure were registered prospectively during four consecutive soccer seasons (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) for 17-30 elite soccer teams from Iceland and Norway. The first two seasons were used as baseline, while intervention programs consisting of warm-up stretching, flexibility and/or eccentric strength training were introduced during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. During the intervention seasons, 48% of the teams selected to use the intervention programs. There was no difference in the incidence of hamstring strains between teams that used the flexibility training program and those who did not [relative risk (RR) 5 1.53, P 5 0.22], nor was there a difference compared with the baseline data (RR 5 0.89, P 5 0.75). The incidence of hamstring strains was lower in teams who used the eccentric training program compared with teams that did not use the program (RR 5 0.43, P 5 0.01), as well as compared with baseline data for the same intervention teams (RR 5 0.42, P 5 0.009). Eccentric strength training with Nordic hamstring lowers combined with warm-up stretching appears to reduce the risk of hamstring strains, while no effect was detected from flexibility training alone. These results should be verified in randomized clinical trials.Hamstring strains are common injuries in sports characterized by maximal sprinting, kicking and sudden accelerations like sprinting

Soccer-Specific Fatigue and Eccentric Hamstrings Muscle Strength

“…Hagglund et al, 22 following an elite group of soccer players over a 2-year period, documented that athletes returning from hamstrings injuries were almost 3 times as likely to experience an identical injury the next season. 22 Using a prospective approach, others 1,5,23,24 have shown decreased rates of hamstrings strain after implementing multimodal intervention programs. The principal focus of the resistance exercises should be to impose an increased eccentric demand on the knee flexors and, after attaining sufficient strength, to incorporate a speed component (ie, power and endurance) into the progression.…”

“…The principal focus of the resistance exercises should be to impose an increased eccentric demand on the knee flexors and, after attaining sufficient strength, to incorporate a speed component (ie, power and endurance) into the progression. 23,24 Specific examples, such as Nordic hamstrings curls, which require an individual to resist a forward-falling motion by using the hamstrings, 5 potentially induce near-maximal neuromuscular involvement during the eccentric phase of contraction. Additionally, performing these exercises after a series of short-sided games would maximize the practical application of soccer-specific fatigue, as these drills have been shown to assimilate both match-related fatigue and soccer-specific movement patterns.…”

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Asian badger Meles leucurus (Mustelidae) from Korea

“…Genomic DNA extraction, PCR, and gene annotation were conducted according to the previous studies (Yoon et al 2013;Jeon and Park 2015;Rahman et al 2016). Previously published mitogenomes of the Eurasian M. meles (AM711900) (Arnason et al 2007) and Japanese M. anakuma (AB291075) (Yonezawa et al 2007) were used as references for gene annotation and primer design for PCR amplification of the Korean M. leucurus. Phylogenetic tree was constructed using maximum likelihood (ML) procedures implemented in MEGA6 (Tamura et al 2013).…”

Incidência de lesões nos jogadores de futebol masculino sub-21 durante os Jogos Regionais de Sertãozinho-SP de 2006

“…Alguns fatores são variantes importantes que, quando irregulares, predispõem o atleta a lesões; podem ser intrínsecos (idade, sexo, capacidade física) ou extrínsecos (material utilizado, treinamento, locais de jogos) (8)(9)(10)(11) . Diante dessa realidade, a fisioterapia vem se mostrando a cada vez mais presente nesse esporte, atuando na reabilitação e/ou prevenção (12)(13)(14)(15)(16) .…”