Less pain, same gain? A randomized controlled trial comparing assisted- versus non-assisted Nordic Hamstring exercise training in elite youth football players.

Introduction: The Nordic Hamstring exercise (NHE) increases hamstring strength, but muscle soreness and excessive fatigue may hinder adoption. The assisted NHE (A-NHE), with an elastic band around the chest lowering the force in the eccentric lowering phase, may be a less demanding alternative. We investigated the effectiveness of A-NHE versus NHE on hamstring strength, muscle soreness, and perceived exertion.

Rapid Spike in Hip Adduction Strength in Early Adolescent Footballers: A Study of 125 Elite Male Players From Youth to Senior.

Purpose: To investigate the differences in hip adductor and abductor muscle strength in elite male footballers from youth to senior level.

Methods: We tested 125 players from the under-13-years (U'13) to senior squads of a Danish male professional football club in this cross-sectional design study. Hip adductor and abductor force (in newtons), torque (in newton meters), normalized torque (in newton meters per body mass), and adduction-to-abduction ratio were measured using handheld dynamometry.

Hip adduction strength and provoked groin pain: A comparison of long-lever squeeze testing using the ForceFrame and the Copenhagen 5-Second-Squeeze test.

Objectives: To compare long-lever squeeze testing using the ForceFrame and the Copenhagen 5-Second-Squeeze test (5SST) for assessment of hip adduction strength and provoked groin pain in elite male soccer players.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Pre-season testing at facilities of a Danish professional 1 tier soccer club and academy.

Hamstring and Quadriceps Muscle Strength in Youth to Senior Elite Soccer: A Cross-Sectional Study Including 125 Players.

Purpose: Increasing age, high quadriceps strength, and low hamstring muscle strength are associated with hamstring strain injury in soccer. The authors investigated the age-related variation in maximal hamstring and quadriceps strength in male elite soccer players from under-13 (U-13) to the senior level.

Methods: A total of 125 elite soccer players were included from a Danish professional soccer club and associated youth academy (first tier; U-13, n = 19; U-14, n = 16; U-15, n = 19; U-17, n = 24; U-19, n = 17; and senior, n = 30).

The Influence of Hamstring Muscle Peak Torque and Rate of Torque Development for Sprinting Performance in Football Players: A Cross-Sectional Study.

To investigate the association between hamstring muscle peak torque and rapid force capacity (rate of torque development, RTD) vs sprint performance in elite youth football players. Thirty elite academy youth football players (16.75 [1.