The prevalence of non-contact muscle injuries of the lower limb in professional soccer players who perform Salah regularly: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background The present study assessed the prevalence of non-contact muscle injuries of the lower limbs, including hamstring injuries, in professional Russian soccer players who regularly perform Salah, an obligatory Muslim prayer performed 5 times a day. Methods Using a retrospective cohort study design, 68 professional male soccer players (excluding goalkeepers), 34 of whom were Muslims regularly performing Salah (exposure group) and 34 were randomly chosen non-Muslim players (control group), were included in the study. The groups were similar in their playing leagues, field positions, age (27 ± 3.1 vs 28 ± 4.2 years), and body mass index (22 ± 1.2 vs 23 ± 0.92 kg/m2). Results The incidence of hamstring injury was significantly lower in the exposure group (2 vs 14, p = 0.0085). A declining trend for the number of muscle injuries (either hamstring or not) was observed in the exposure group (11 vs 27, p = 0.0562). Two players in the exposure group and 11 in the control group (p = 0.0115, OR 0.1307, 95% CI 0.0276 to 0.5698) suffered a hamstring injury, with no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of other injuries. The total amount of the training and play days missed because of hamstring and other muscle injuries was significantly lower in the exposure group (24 vs 213 days, p = 0.0043, and 200 vs 344 days, p = 0.0066, respectively). Conclusion The prevalence of non-contact muscle injuries, including hamstring injuries, was lower in professional Russian soccer players who regularly performed Salah.

Return to play after treating acute muscle injuries in elite football players with radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy

“…Of course, many other factors may have contributed to this finding—such as differences in the management of training load upon returning to team training, and other prevention strategies used such as optimizing nutrition and using screening protocols for detecting early warning signs that may allow sport medical staff to help “forecast” an impending muscle injury [ 27 – 29 ]. In a recent study regular eccentric lengthening of the muscles in the lower limbs as performed in the practice of Salah (a religious prayer amongst Muslims) was found to reduce the number of structural muscle injuries amongst professional Russian football players when compared with a control group [ 30 ]. Exercises involving the eccentric lengthening of muscles were also used as a component of the physiotherapy exercises integrated into the multimodal therapy approach used in this study.…”