Hamstring muscle injury is preceded by a short period of higher running demands in professional football players

Victor Moreno-Perez; Víctor Sotos-Martínez; Alejandro Lopez-Valenciano; Roberto Lopez Del-Campo; Ricardo Resta; Juan Coso

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2024.127387

eISSN: 2083-1862
ISSN: 0860-021X

Biology of Sport

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1/2024
vol. 41

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abstract:

Original paper

Hamstring muscle injury is preceded by a short period of higher running demands in professional football players

Victor Moreno-Perez

^{1, 2}

,

Víctor Sotos-Martínez

²

,

Alejandro Lopez-Valenciano

³

,

Roberto Lopez Del-Campo

⁴

,

Ricardo Resta

⁴

,

Juan Del Coso

⁵

Sports Research Centre, Miguel Hernandez University of Elche, Alicante, Spain
Center for Translational Research in Physiotherapy. Department of Pathology and Surgery. Miguel Hernandez University of Elche, San Joan, Spain
Department of Education Science, School of Humanities and Communication Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Calle Grecia 31, 12006 Castellon de la Plana, Spain
Department of Competitions, La Liga, Madrid, Spain
Centre for Sport Studies, Rey Juan Carlos University, Fuenlabrada, Spain

Biol Sport. 2024;41(1):227–233

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2024.127387

Online publish date: 2023/08/08

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The aim of this study was to examine match running patterns before a hamstring muscle injury occurs during a match in male professional football players. A total of 281 male professional football players belonging to 7 teams from LaLiga were prospectively monitored over three seasons. Among these, 36 players suffered a non-contact hamstring muscle injury during an official match. The injuries were recorded by the medical staff, including the minute when the injury occurred. Running distances at different speed thresholds for 5 min and 15 min before the injury were compared to mean values of the previous 5 matches for the same time points. There were a total of 44 non-contact hamstring muscle injuries, which represents a hamstring muscle injury incidence of 3.34 injuries/1000 h of match exposure. The average time loss for these injuries was 33±28 days (range 7 to 117 days). In the 15 min prior to the injury, players ran a similar distance as in control matches (p from 0.22 to 0.08). However, players ran a greater distance in the 5-min period before the injury than in control matches at 21.0–23.9 km/h (p < 0.001) and at ≥ 24 km/h (p < 0.001). The odds ratio for a hamstring muscle injury was 7.147 for those players who ran > 30.0 m at ≥ 21 km/h in a 5-min period (p < 0.001). Hamstring muscle injuries during competition were preceded by 5 min of higher running demands at > 21 km/h, compared with control matches. This suggests that a short period of unusual running increases the risk of hamstring muscle injury in professional football players.

keywords:

Hamstring muscle injury is preceded by a short period of higher running demands in professional football players

Victor Moreno-Perez 1, 2 , Víctor Sotos-Martínez 2 , Alejandro Lopez-Valenciano 3 , Roberto Lopez Del-Campo 4 , Ricardo Resta 4 , Juan Del Coso 5

muscle injury, motion analysis, match load, soccer, injury incidence

Victor Moreno-Perez

^{1, 2}

,

Víctor Sotos-Martínez

²

,

Alejandro Lopez-Valenciano

³

,

Roberto Lopez Del-Campo

⁴

,

Ricardo Resta

⁴

,

Juan Del Coso

⁵