INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE The objective of this study was to characterize hamstring muscle kinematics during sprinting, so as to provide scientific data to better understand injury mechanisms and differences in injury rates between muscles. METHODS We conducted three-dimensional motion analyses of 14 athletes performing treadmill sprinting at speeds ranging from 80 to 100% of maximum. Scaled muscu...

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has established its usefulness in diagnosing hamstring muscle strain and identifying features correlating with the duration of rehabilitation in athletes; however, data are currently lacking that may predict which imaging parameters may be predictive of a repeat strain. PURPOSE This study was conducted to identify whether any MR imaging-identifiable ...

1. The relationship between joint damage, quadriceps weakness and arthrogenic muscle inhibition was investigated in eight patients who had sustained extensive traumatic knee injury. Isometric and isokinetic quadriceps and hamstring voluntary strength, and quadriceps arthrogenic muscle inhibition during isometric contractions, were measured before and after 4 weeks (approximately 100 h) of inten...

Hamstring muscle strain injuries remain one of the most challenging issues facing sports medicine. 1 Over the past 100 years, there has been a gradual evolution in our understanding and management of hamstring injuries, but the challenge of optimising the management of the acutely injured hamstring remains. In recent years, increasingly high-quality studies have addressed the aetiology, risk fa...

The aim of this study was to describe the isokinetic thigh muscle strength profile of professional male football players in Australia. Concentric (60° and 240°·s(-1)) and eccentric (30° and 120°·s(-1)) hamstrings and quadriceps isokinetic strength was measured with a HUMAC NORM dynamometer. The primary variables were bilateral concentric and eccentric hamstring and quadriceps peak torque ratios...

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of hamstrings and quadriceps fatigue to quadriceps inhibition following lumbar extension exercise. Regression models were calculated consisting of the outcome variable: quadriceps inhibition and predictor variables: change in EMG median frequency in the quadriceps and hamstrings during lumbar fatiguing exercise. Twenty-five subjects wi...

To improve gait in children with spastic paresis due to cerebral palsy or hereditary spastic paresis, the semitendinosus muscle is frequently lengthened amongst other medial hamstring muscles by orthopaedic surgery. Side effects on gait due to weakening of the hamstring muscles and overcorrections have been reported. How these side effects relate to semitendinosus morphology is unknown. This st...

Injuries to the hamstring muscles are common in athletes. Track and field, Australian football, American football and soccer are examples of sports where hamstring injuries are the most common. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a correlation between a hamstring injury prognosis and its characteristics of imaging parameters. The literature search was performed in the ...

PURPOSE The potential mechanisms of hamstring strain injuries in athletes are not well understood. The study, therefore, was aimed at understanding hamstring mechanics by studying loading conditions during maximum-effort overground sprinting. METHODS Three-dimensional kinematics and ground reaction force data were collected from eight elite male sprinters sprinting at their maximum effort. Ma...

Hamstring injuries in sport can be debilitating. The anatomical complexity of this muscle makes uniform assessment of injury epidemiology difficult and insures that post-injury management strategies must be individually focused. This article reviews the anatomy of the hamstring, its role in athletic movement, common mechanisms of injury, and management guidelines with the goal of return into sp...