Abstract
Purpose
Hamstring muscle strains are one of the most common injuries in sports practice, for both men and women. However, sex disparities in the rate of muscle injuries have been observed. As these muscular injuries usually occur at long muscle length, this study aimed to determine the effect of sex on hamstring muscles’ resting rigidity under different stretching conditions.
Methods
The shear wave speed (SWS) of resting hamstring muscles was measured in 12 men and 12 women in different hip and knee positions (hip extended with knee flexed, hip flexed with knee extended, both joints extended and both joints flexed).
Results
Combining all the positions, the SWS of the semitendinosus was higher in men than in women (2.96 vs. 2.71 m.s−1). Regardless of sex, a significant rise in SWS was systematically observed when the semimembranosus was stretched (1.86, 2.37, 2.76 and 4.39 m.s−1) but it was neither the case for the semitendinosus (p = 0.82) nor for the biceps femoris (p = 0.50). Finally, differences in SWS among the hamstring muscles were only observed at the longest muscle length, with greater SWS values for the semimembranosus and semitendinosus in comparison with the biceps femoris (4.39 and 4.12 vs. 3.38 m.s−1 respectively).
Conclusion
In conclusion, a sex difference was only observed in the resting semitendinosus rigidity. Independently of sex, the increase in resting hamstring muscles SWS with stretch was muscle specific.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of Variance
- BF:
-
Biceps Femoris long head
- BMI:
-
Body Mass Index
- CV:
-
Coefficient of Variation
- ECM:
-
Extracellular Matrix
- H120 K180:
-
Position with hip at 120° and knee at 180°
- H180 K180:
-
Position with hip at 180° and knee at 180°
- H180 K90:
-
Position with hip at 180° and knee at 90°
- H90 K90:
-
Position with hip at 90° and knee at 90°
- ICC:
-
Intraclass Correlation Coefficient
- MDD:
-
Minimal Detectable Difference
- MRI:
-
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- ROI:
-
Region of Interest
- SEM:
-
Standard Error of Measurement
- SM:
-
Semimembranosus
- ST:
-
Semitendinosus
- SWE:
-
Shear Wave Elastography
- SWS:
-
Shear Wave Speed
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Acknowledgements
We thank Emily Erlenbach and Jean-Baptiste Bouvier for the English editing.
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J.B., C.M., A.F. conceived and designed the research, J.B., A.F. performed the experiments, analysed the data, and interpreted the results of experiments. J.B., C.M., A.F. prepared the figures and drafted the manuscript. J.B., C.M., A.F. edited and revised the manuscript and approved the final version of it.
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Supplementary Information
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421_2022_5023_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Supplementary file1 OR.1 Bland-Altman plots of the shear wave elastography test-retest assessment in the Biceps Femoris long head for the four positions (H180 K90: hip extended and knee flexed at 90°; H180 K180: hip and knee extended; H90 K90: hip and knee flexed at 90°; H120 K180: hip flexed at 120° and knee extended | full extension = 180°) (PDF 211 KB)
421_2022_5023_MOESM2_ESM.pdf
Supplementary file2 OR.2 Bland-Altman plots of the shear wave elastography test-retest assessment in the Semitendinosus for the four different positions (H180 K90: hip extended and knee flexed at 90°; H180 K180: hip and knee extended; H90 K90: hip and knee flexed at 90°; H120 K180: hip flexed at 120° and knee extended | full extension = 180°) (PDF 212 KB)
421_2022_5023_MOESM3_ESM.pdf
Supplementary file3 OR.3 Bland-Altman plots of the shear wave elastography test-retest assessment in the Semimembranosus for the four different positions (H180 K90: hip extended and knee flexed at 90°; H180 K180: hip and knee extended; H90 K90: hip and knee flexed at 90°; H120 K180: hip flexed at 120° and knee extended | full extension = 180°) (PDF 210 KB)
421_2022_5023_MOESM4_ESM.pdf
Supplementary file4 OR.4 Shear wave speed measured in the belly and proximal part of the Biceps Femoris long head (BF), Semitendinosus (ST) and Semimembranosus (SM) in four positions for the experimental population (N=24) (PDF 38 KB)
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Bouvier, J., Martin, C. & Fouré, A. Effect of hip and knee joint angles on resting hamstring muscles rigidity in men and women. Eur J Appl Physiol 122, 2375–2383 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-022-05023-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-022-05023-0