The use of MRI to evaluate posterior thigh muscle activity and damage during nordic hamstring exercise.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the Nordic hamstring exercise on the biceps femoris long head (BFlh), biceps femoris short head (BFsh), semitendinosus (SMT), and semimembranosus (SMM) muscles. The Nordic hamstring strengthening exercise has been widely used in injury prevention, yet not much is known about the site-specific activation of this exercise on different muscles of the thigh. Eight male national-level referees were assigned to a Nordic hamstring exercise protocol (5 sets of 8 repetitions). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the subjects' thighs was performed before, within 3 minutes after, and repeated again 72 hours after the exercise intervention. Fifteen axial scans of the thigh interspaced by a distance of 1 of 15 right femur length were obtained from the level of 1 of 15 Lf to 15 of 15 Lf. The MRI data were analyzed for signal intensity changes. After 72 hours, significant changes in transverse (spin-spin) relaxation time signal intensity and cross-sectional area were maintained distally at BFsh cranial portion and concretely at the nondominant limb, whereas no significant changes were observed in transverse (spin-spin) relaxation time signal intensity at BFlh, SMM, or SMT. This study demonstrated that the Nordic hamstring exercise did not result in a uniform response (training stimulus) neither interhamstring (dominant vs. nondominant) nor intrahamstring muscles (same leg) and was better suited for loading proximal BFsh.

Nonuniform changes in MRI measurements of the thigh muscles after two hamstring strengthening exercises.

Although many different hamstring strengthening exercises exist, the effect on site specific activation of these exercises on different muscles of the leg is unclear. This study investigated the effects of the eccentric leg curl (LC) and lunge (L) exercises on the biceps femoris long head (BFl), biceps femoris short head (BFs), semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM), and adductor magnus (AM). Each leg of 11 male professional soccer players was randomly assigned to an LC or L exercise protocol (3 sets of 6 repetitions). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the subjects' thighs were performed before and 48 hours after the intervention. Fifteen axial scans of the thigh interspaced by a distance of 1/15 right femur length (Lf) were obtained. The fMRI data were analyzed for signal intensity changes. No significant changes were observed in absolute short tau inversion recovery values for the SM and BFs. Significant changes for the ST (∼21-45%) from sections 4 to 10, AM (∼2-13%) at section 4, and BFl (∼ -3 vs. 8%) at section 7 were noted. LC exercises load all the regions of the ST muscle. The L exercises load the proximal regions of the BFl and AM. These findings may have relevance when designing protocols for prevention and rehabilitation of hamstring injuries.