Effects of Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Improving Hamstring Muscle Flexibility and Sprint Capacity among Collegiate Football Players

Abstract

 Introduction: Football is the most popular sport; around the world, 211 national associations are members of the
International Federation of Football Association (FIFA). The number of football players has increased drastically. As a
result, the number of injuries has also increased, and hamstring injuries are common in football due to the nature of
the game.
Methods: The study was designed as a quasi-experimental study. A total of 30 participants who are collegiate football
players were selected for this study, and they were divided into two groups by lottery method; the control group received
conventional hamstring exercises with general warm-up & cool-down exercises; the experimental group received
Nordic hamstring exercises and conventional hamstring exercises with a general warm-up and cool-down exercises.
Both groups underwent training for 5 weeks. They were assessed before and after the training using the v-sit and reach
test and repeated sprint ability test to measure their flexibility and sprint capacity.
Result: There was a significant difference in outcome measure between the conventional hamstring exercise and
conventional hamstring exercise with Nordic hamstring exercise after intervention v-sit and reached the level 0.05%
and considerable difference in rsat at 0.05%. However, traditional hamstring exercise with a Nordic hamstring shows
more hamstring flexibility and sprint capacity improvement.
Conclusion: Nordic hamstring exercise protocol in regular practice sessions may effectively improve hamstring flexibility
and sprint capacity among collegiate football players.