Muscle forces and fascicle behavior during three hamstring exercises

Hooren, Bas Van; Vanwanseele, Benedicte; Rossom, Sam Van; Teratsias, Panayiotis; Willems, Paul; Drost, Maarten R.; Meijer, Kenneth

doi:10.1111/sms.14158

Cited by 29 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Thus, the force exerted by the pennate hamstrings’ components should vary depending on contraction load, and this may impact the reported force-length properties of the hamstrings as described in the present review. The magnitude of this effect, however, has yet to be described and is worth investigating in the future; although fascicle behaviors have recently been examined in BFlh [ 36 , 83 , 84 ], muscle or region-specific length changes have not been monitored in order to determine the muscle’s gear during contraction.…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hamstrings force-length relationships and their implications for angle-specific joint torques: a narrative review

Kellis

Blazevich

2022

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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Temporal biomechanical and physiological responses to physical activity vary between individual hamstrings components as well as between exercises, suggesting that hamstring muscles operate differently, and over different lengths, between tasks. Nevertheless, the force-length properties of these muscles have not been thoroughly investigated. The present review examines the factors influencing the hamstrings’ force-length properties and relates them to in vivo function. A search in four databases was performed for studies that examined relations between muscle length and force, torque, activation, or moment arm of hamstring muscles. Evidence was collated in relation to force-length relationships at a sarcomere/fiber level and then moment arm-length, activation-length, and torque-joint angle relations. Five forward simulation models were also used to predict force-length and torque-length relations of hamstring muscles. The results show that, due to architectural differences alone, semitendinosus (ST) produces less peak force and has a flatter active (contractile) fiber force-length relation than both biceps femoris long head (BFlh) and semimembranosus (SM), however BFlh and SM contribute greater forces through much of the hip and knee joint ranges of motion. The hamstrings’ maximum moment arms are greater at the hip than knee, so the muscles tend to act more as force producers at the hip but generate greater joint rotation and angular velocity at the knee for a given muscle shortening length and speed. However, SM moment arm is longer than SM and BFlh, partially alleviating its reduced force capacity but also reducing its otherwise substantial excursion potential. The current evidence, bound by the limitations of electromyography techniques, suggests that joint angle-dependent activation variations have minimal impact on force-length or torque-angle relations. During daily activities such as walking or sitting down, the hamstrings appear to operate on the ascending limbs of their force-length relations while knee flexion exercises performed with hip angles 45–90° promote more optimal force generation. Exercises requiring hip flexion at 45–120° and knee extension 45–0° (e.g. sprint running) may therefore evoke greater muscle forces and, speculatively, provide a more optimum adaptive stimulus. Finally, increases in resistance to stretch during hip flexion beyond 45° result mainly from SM and BFlh muscles.

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Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hamstrings force-length relationships and their implications for angle-specific joint torques: a narrative review

Kellis

Blazevich

2022

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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“…However, most exercises involve a mix of different velocities and contraction types, and researchers and practitioners should keep this simplification with classifying exercises in mind when interpreting our findings. For example, the NHE has been shown to exhibit the highest peak fascicle lengthening velocity compared with other exercises (43), even though it is typically classified as low velocity. Similarly, although the NHE is typically classified as eccentric, the majority of this exercise involves quasi-isometric hamstring fascicle behavior (43), with primarily the part after the break point being eccentric.…”

Section: Methodological Quality Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Training Interventions on Modifiable Hamstring Strain Injury Risk Factors in Healthy Soccer Players: A Systematic Review

Schneider

Hooren

Cronin

et al. 2022

Strength &Amp; Conditioning Journal

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Despite promising research on various soccer-specific injury prevention programs, hamstring strain injuries (HSIs) persist in being a major problem in the sport. Therefore, in an attempt to expand the current knowledge on the prevention of HSIs, this systematic review aimed to identify how modifiable risk factors for HSIs (hamstring strength, hamstring:quadriceps [H:Q] strength ratios, biceps femoris long head fascicle length, and hamstring angle of peak torque) were altered following various training interventions. The protocol was preregistered on PROSPERO (CRD42020177363). The literature search was conducted on PubMed, SportDISCUS, and Web of Science. Following the search process, 20 studies were included in the systematic review, and the methodological quality of these studies was reported. Interventions were categorized based on exercise characteristics (movement velocity and contraction type), and the effects of each intervention subgroup were analyzed separately for all proposed risk factors for HSIs. Our findings show that a broad variety of exercise types (i.e., high- and low-velocity movements, eccentric only and traditional exercises) improves all risk factors for HSIs compared with fewer exercise types. Therefore, these findings suggest that hamstring injury risk factors can best be modified using a wide variety of exercises compared with, for example, only 1 or 2 specific exercises.

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“…In Biomechanics and Motor Control , the paper by Van Hooren et al 3 provided new insights into muscle fascicle behavior during three different hamstring exercises (Nordic hamstring curl, single‐leg Roman chair, and single‐leg deadlift), by integrating a combination of full‐body kinematics, ground reaction forces, surface muscle activation, and ultrasonography of the biceps femoris.…”

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confidence: 99%

SJMSS paper of the year 2022

Harridge

2023

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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Muscle forces and fascicle behavior during three hamstring exercises

Cited by 29 publications

References 71 publications

Hamstrings force-length relationships and their implications for angle-specific joint torques: a narrative review

Hamstrings force-length relationships and their implications for angle-specific joint torques: a narrative review

The Effects of Training Interventions on Modifiable Hamstring Strain Injury Risk Factors in Healthy Soccer Players: A Systematic Review

SJMSS paper of the year 2022

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