Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Main content of the page

Information about project titled 'Effects of High and Low Training Volume with the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Strength, Jump Height, and Sprint Performance in Female Football Players: A Randomised Trial'

Effects of High and Low Training Volume with the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Strength, Jump Height, and Sprint Performance in Female Football Players: A Randomised Trial

Details about the project - category Details about the project - value
Project status: Published
Project manager: Roar Amundsen
Supervisor(s): Roald Bahr, Merete Møller
Coworker(s): Solveig Thorarindsdottir

Description

Background: Hamstring injuries are common in both male and female elite football. A 10-week training program of the Nordic hamstrings exercise have proven effective in increasing eccentric hamstring strength and reducing the risk of hamstring injuries among male football players. Still, few elite teams are compliant to the full program, possibly because of long duration and high training volume. Recent studies indicate shorter programs and lower training volumes of Nordic hamstrings lead to the same improvements in strength as longer programs with higher training volumes. There is currently no research on the effect of the Nordic hamstring exercise on strength among female football players. In addition, there is low correlation between two of the most common methods to evaluate hamstring strength and the relationship between these methods should be investigated further.

Aims: The primary aim of this study is to examine the difference and time course of changes in muscle strength among female football players using a low- or high-volume protocol of the Nordic Hamstring exercise. A secondary aim of our study is to compare the results from two of the most common methods to evaluate hamstring strength.

Methods: Two elite female football teams will take part in an 8 week Nordic hamstrings training intervention during the pre-season. Players will be randomized within teams to a high volume or low volume training group. Knee flexor strength, jump height and sprint times are tested before and after the intervention, and knee flexor strength is also tested during training week 4 and 6.