Effect of Pre-training and Post-training Nordic Exercise on Hamstring Injury Prevention, Recurrence, and Severity in Soccer Players

Abstract

Hamstring strain injury is the most common noncon-tact muscle injury for soccer players, representing twothirds of thigh muscle strains [1]. Hamstring strain injury and recurrence rate were high in the past three decades.Objective To investigate the effect of adding Nordic exercise as post-training in decreasing hamstring initial, recurrent injuries rates, and their severity. Methods In this randomly controlled trial study, 34 professional football players aged 21 to 35 years were randomly assigned into two groups (17 players each) from Sporting clubs at Alexandria, Egypt. For group one, Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) was performed pre-training and post-training. For group two, NHE was only performed pre-training. The control group was the same team during the previous season. Length of the trial was 12 weeks. The Australian football association injury form was used to collect incidence of injuries for each subject in both groups. Results Pooled results based on total injuries showed that group one had significantly less hamstring initial injuries (92% less) than the previous season, while group two had 80% less initial injuries and 85% less recurrent injuries than previous season. Regarding the severity of injuries in term of mean number of absent days, it was 1 day for group one and 2.7 days for group two while it was 7.95 days for the previous season during total risk time of 116.3±13.2 and 117.6±5.7 exposure hours for group one and group two, respectively. Conclusion The use of NHE as a prevention protocol was effective in reducing all hamstring injuries with the use of NHE during pre-training and post-training having the greatest effect. ORCID: Ahmed Ebrahim Elerian (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-8933); Mohsen M. El-Sayyad (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2230-3067); Hend Adel Abdelhalim Dorgham (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7245-5336).

Hamstring Strain Injury (HSI) Prevention in Professional and Semi-Professional Football Teams: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…However, both studies showed a very satisfactory effectiveness of the FIFA 11+ protocol. In the study by Elerian et al study [62], IRR achieved a rate of 0.256, but two different interventions were examined and compared in the study: Intervention Group 1 had the lowest IRR of all interventions at a computed rate of 0.1025. Both groups performing the eccentric exercise and Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) had fewer injuries than the control group.…”

“…A total of 517 players (Elerian et al [62], Espinosa et al [65], Petersen et al [64]) performed eccentric exercise as a preventive strategy. Among them, 495 players had this session before training, while 22 players had sessions both before and after training, with a greater focus on the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE).…”

A Prática De Um Programa Preventivo Melhora a Capacidade Funcional De Membros Inferiores Em Atletas

“…Considerando que os testes funcionais aplicados no presente estudo são comumente usados como forma de triagem para identificar atletas com maior risco de lesão (GOOSSENS et al, 2015), posto que avaliam deficiências na função muscular (ERICSSON;DAHLBERG;ROOS, 2009), o presente trabalho trouxe resultados positivos da prática de um programa de prevenção de lesão sobre variáveis de desempenho funcional de membros inferiores em jovens atletas de handebol feminino. Sugere-se que a melhora obtida possa prevenir lesões futuras nessas atletas, uma vez que trabalhos ressaltam a eficácia da maioria dos exercícios utilizados neste estudo para a prevenção de lesão de membros inferiores em atletas (MAZUREK et al, 2018;SILVERS-GRANELLI et al, 2017;ELERIAN;EL--SAYYAD;DORGHAM, 2019;THOMPSON et al, 2017;WHITEHEAD et al, 2018;EUN-KYUNG, 2016).…”

The Hamstrings: Anatomic and Physiologic Variations and Their Potential Relationships With Injury Risk

“…Despite this information, eccentric actions have been emphasized by many programs for reducing injury risk of the hamstrings (van der Horst et al, 2015;Almeida et al, 2018;Elerian et al, 2019). Perhaps athletes with greater percentage of type II fibers should follow a more careful monitoring of the eccentric work they perform.…”

“…Type II muscle fibers are more easily fatigued than type I fibers ( Lievens et al, 2020 ), and more susceptible to plyometric- ( Macaluso et al, 2012 ) as well as eccentric-induced muscle damage ( Fridén et al, 1983 ). Despite this information, eccentric actions have been emphasized by many programs for reducing injury risk of the hamstrings ( van der Horst et al, 2015 ; Almeida et al, 2018 ; Elerian et al, 2019 ). Perhaps athletes with greater percentage of type II fibers should follow a more careful monitoring of the eccentric work they perform.…”