M. biceps femoris architecture and sprint ability in youth soccer players: a cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

<p>Background. It has been proposed that muscle architecture can be associated with sprint performance and the risk of sustaining a muscle injury. During puberty, sprint performance as well as muscle injury risk increases in young soccer players. In this study, we investigated the changes in m. biceps femoris long head (BFlh) cross-sectional area (ACSA), fascicle length (FL) and pennation angle (PA) and sprint performance as well as their relationship in under 13 to 15 youth soccer players. Methods. In total, we measured 85 youth soccer players in under 13 (n=29, age=12.5 y (SD=0.1), height=155.3 cm (6.2), weight=43.9 kg (7.6)), under 14 (n=25, age=13.5 y (0.3), height=160.6 y (7.7), weight=47.0 kg (6.8)) and under 15 (n=31, age=14.4 y (0.3) , height=170.0 cm (7.7), weight=58.1 kg (8.8) ) teams of three high level soccer clubs. We used ultrasound to measure BFlh ACSA, FL and PA. We performed sprint tests to assess 10m and 30m sprint time, maximal velocity (vmax) and maximal acceleration (amax). We calculated Pearson’s r and 95% compatibility intervals to assess the relationship between sprint ability, maturity ratio, chronological age and architectural parameters. In addition, we calculated the best set of predictors for sprint ability using multiple regression models.Results. All muscle architectural parameters increased from the under 13 to the under 15 age group (BFlh ACSA: 37%, BFlh FL: 11%, BFlh PA: 8%). All sprint performance parameters improved from the under 13 to under 15 age categories (30m time: 7%, 10m time: 4%, vmax: 9%, amax: 7%). BFlh ACSA was correlated with 30m sprint time (r = -0.61 (95% CI = -0.73, -0.45)) and vmax (r= 0.61 (0.45, 0.72)). The correlation for maturity ratio with assessed parameters were larger compared to the correlation for chronological age. A combination of BFlh ACSA, FL, chronological age and height best predicted sprint parameters. Discussion. Parallel to improvements in sprint performance, muscle architectural parame-ters increase from the under 13 to under 15 age groups. BFlh ACSA seems to be related to sprint performance in youth soccer players. BFlh ACSA and chronological age are the main predictors of most sprint parameters.</p>

Implementing Ultrasound Imaging for the Assessment of Muscle and Tendon Properties in Elite Sports: Practical Aspects, Methodological Considerations and Future Directions

“…Adductors and hamstrings volume (assessed by MRI) [62] and knee extensors MT (medial side, evaluated by US) [63] correlated with sprint performance in highly trained sprinters. Furthermore, biceps femoris long head (BFlh) ACSA obtained by US was associated with 30 m sprint time in young elite football players [64]. VL volume was also found to be a strong predictor of ergometer performance (in a 2000-m time trial), sprint capacity and endurance capacity in Olympic rowers [65].…”

Hamstring muscle architecture assessed sonographically using wide field of view: A reliability study

“…We did not measure the pennation angle of BFsh or ST, as the length of the fascicles extended beyond our WFOV. [17,19,[40][41][42][43] EFOV is an ultrasound technique commonly used to image the BFlh muscle [11,15]. EFOV requires a high operator skill that stitches a series of ultrasound images together to create a composite image [35].…”

“…These extrapolation methods, which predominantly use linear approximations based upon muscle thickness and pennation angles, do not account for muscle fascicle curvature and are subsequently prone to error [11]. Indeed, most of the published literature focuses on sonographically evaluating the architecture of the BFlh muscle only [11,[14][15][16], with few studies sonographically assessing the architecture of the bicep femoris short head (BFsh), semitendinosus (ST) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles [17][18][19].…”

Semi-automated Tracing of Hamstring Muscle Architecture for B-mode Ultrasound Images

“…Such approaches may be useful for examining muscles with homogeneous architectural characteristics, such as the medial gastrocnemius [13,14], however these approaches are not suitable for the complex heterogeneous architecture found within the hamstring muscles. More recently, semi-automated tracing software techniques have been developed to measure the architectural characteristics of the BFlh muscle acquired using an EFOV [4,16]. In these studies, a segmented line tool method to trace and measure the fascicle length is utilized and has been determined to be more accurate than linear approximation methods [9].…”