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Muscle Imbalances: Testing and Training Functional Eccentric Hamstring Strength in Athletic Populations
Published on: May 1, 2018
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Running gait biomechanics associated with hamstring and quadriceps strength profiles
Kristin E Whitney1, Patrick Couchot2, Andrea Stracciolini3
1Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Waltham, MA, United States,.
Gait & Posture
|September 27, 2025
Summary
Quadriceps and hamstring strength influence running biomechanics in athletes. Stronger muscles correlate with reduced impact forces and stance time, suggesting improved running economy and potentially injury prevention.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Sports Medicine
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Muscle strength, particularly in the quadriceps and hamstrings, is crucial for athletic performance and injury prevention.
- Understanding the relationship between muscle strength profiles and running gait kinetics can inform training and rehabilitation strategies.
- Previous research has explored muscle strength and running, but specific associations with gait parameters require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between quadriceps and hamstring strength profiles and running gait kinetics in healthy adult athletes.
- To determine how variations in muscle strength relate to parameters such as cadence, stride length, stance phase, and ground reaction forces.
- To explore the impact of hamstring to quadriceps (H:Q) strength symmetry on running biomechanics.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 554 healthy adult runners (355 female, 199 male).
- Muscle strength (quadriceps and hamstrings) was measured using hand-held dynamometry and normalized for body mass.
- Running gait kinetics, including cadence, stride length, stance phase percentage, and peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), were recorded using an instrumented treadmill.
Main Results:
- Quadriceps strength showed direct associations with cadence and stride length, and inverse associations with stance phase percentage and vGRF.
- Hamstring strength was directly associated with cadence and stride length, and inversely associated with stance phase percentage and vGRF.
- A more symmetric hamstring to quadriceps (H:Q) strength ratio was linked to longer stride lengths.
Conclusions:
- Quadriceps and hamstring strength profiles are weakly inversely associated with vertical ground reaction forces and stance phase duration in runners.
- These findings suggest that muscle strength plays a role in modulating impact loading and the time spent in the stance phase during running.
- Optimizing quadriceps and hamstring strength may contribute to more efficient and potentially safer running biomechanics.
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