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- Issue 94
- Hamstring muscle architecture and microstructure changes…
Hamstring muscle architecture and microstructure changes following Nordic hamstring exercise training and detraining
Key Points
- The Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) is able to induce favorable adaptations within the hamstring musculature in a nine-week training period.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Hamstring injuries continue to provide the largest injury burden to a wide range of elite sporting environments, and so research continues to be undertaken to understand how to best mitigate these risks. The use of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) is one such method of injury mitigation that is well recognized within the literature as having the potential to reduce injury incidence.
Previous research has heavily focused on the assessment of adaptation to the Biceps Femoris muscle given that it is the most commonly injured of the hamstring musculature. Structural assessment has also commonly been performed utilizing ultrasound imaging, but this method has drawbacks given that imaging is two-dimensional, user dependent and with a limited field of view.
The objective of this study was to address these previous methodological limitations by analyzing the influence of a nine-week NHE intervention on the architecture and microstructure of all four hamstring muscles through MRI analysis. A secondary objective was then to review the impact of a three-week detraining period on the same outcome measures.
Architectural detraining effects may occur much earlier than markers which can routinely be obtained within clinical practice such as strength.
METHODS
- The study was completed on a group of 11 recreationally active adults (five male, six female) with no history of lower limb injury, or NHE training in the preceding 12 months.