Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• zahra shirmohammadi ¹
• Mostafa Zarei ²

¹ Shahid Beheshti University

² Shahid Beheshti University, velengak, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Purpose: Muscle injuries are one of the most common reasons for missed playing time in the football, and the hamstring muscle is one of the most common injures. The role of this muscle in supporting ligaments is also important. In spite of different structural and kinematic features of the hamstring in men and women, a few studies have investigated these differences; therefore, The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of six weeks of Nordic hamstring training on the isokinetic strength of the hamstring muscle of elite female and male soccer players.
Methodology: 24 soccer players (12 female and 12 male) from youth first division league in Tehran province participated in this study. The isokinetic strength of the hamstrings and quadriceps muscles at various angular velocities was measured. After the pre-test, the subjects performed six weeks of Nordic exercise as part of their warm-up.
Result: Performing Nordic hamstring exercises caused a significant difference in the isokinetic strength of the hamstring muscle after the test and at angular speeds of 60, 180 and 300 degrees per second, as well as a significant difference in the ratio of the isokinetic strength of the hamstrings to the quadriceps at a speed of 60 degrees per second between of elite female and male soccer players (P=0.001).
Conclusion: It is concluded that Nordic hamstring exercise improve isokinetic strength of the hamstring muscles and reducing the risk of injury in the knee joint.

Keywords

• Nordic hamstring exercise
• isokinetic strength
• gender difference

Main Subjects

• Sports injuries and corrective exercises