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Related Experiment Videos

Predicting hamstring strain injury in elite athletes.

Camilla L Brockett1, David L Morgan, Uwe Proske

  • 1Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|April 13, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Previously injured hamstrings have shorter optimal muscle lengths, increasing susceptibility to eccentric exercise damage and reinjury. A combined eccentric exercise and muscle testing program is recommended to reduce strain injuries.

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Area of Science:

  • Sports Medicine
  • Biomechanics
  • Exercise Physiology

Background:

  • Eccentric exercise causes muscle damage and soreness, which usually resolves within a week.
  • Muscle strains, a more severe injury, can occur during eccentric contractions.
  • Previous hamstring strain injury is a significant risk factor for reinjury.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that previously injured hamstrings have shorter optimal muscle lengths, making them more susceptible to eccentric damage.
  • To investigate if shorter optimal muscle length is a predictor of hamstring strain susceptibility.

Main Methods:

  • Compared the optimum angle for peak torque in previously injured hamstrings versus uninjured hamstrings.
  • Utilized isokinetic dynamometry to determine optimum muscle length.

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  • Included nine athletes with unilateral hamstring strains and 18 uninjured athletes.

    • Main Results:

    • Previously injured muscles exhibited peak torque at significantly shorter lengths compared to uninjured muscles.
    • No significant differences were found in peak torque or quadriceps:hamstrings torque ratios.

    Conclusions:

    • Shorter optimal muscle length in previously injured hamstrings increases their vulnerability to eccentric exercise damage, potentially explaining high reinjury rates.
    • This shorter optimal length may be a pre-injury characteristic or a result of the healing process.
    • Recommends a combined program of eccentric exercise and muscle testing to mitigate strain injury incidence.