Hamstring injuries are among the most common, non contact, injuries within football. The past decade has seen an increase in hamstring injuries of 12-17%. Injuries to the hamstring now account for approximately 15-50% of all muscle injuries. This may be due to the fact that there is a large reoccurrence rate with this type of injury. However, research has shown that including Nordic Hamstring Curls in training can help reduce the risk of injury. Can including Nordics into your training help prevent injury and improve performance?
Nordic Hamstring Curls for Injury Prevention
In 2017, a systematic review of injury prevention programs including Nordic Exercises reported the following. The found that programs including Nordic Hamstring exercises had a statistically significant reduction in injuries. Some teams even recorded a reduction of 51%!
So, it’s safe to say that Nordic Hamstring Curls may well help prevent injury. If you want to read more into the exacts of the review, click here for the full article.
Nordic Hamstring Curls for Performance
When you look at a Nordic Curl and breakdown the movement, it is a single joint exercise. There are still pockets of coaches and athletes who believe single joint exercises are not as good at improving performance as multi-joint alternatives. However, recent research looked into how the inclusion of Nordic Hamstring Curls effects key performance indicators.
Amateur male athletes completed a 6 week training block which included 2-3 sets of 5-10 Nordics. When compared to a control group, who performed only their traditional training, there were a number of differences.
The group who performed Nordics, saw reductions in 10m sprint and change of direction times, which were maintained even after a 3 week detraining period. In addition, they saw large increases in eccentric hamstring strength. However, these increases declined substantially during the 3 week detraining period. These changes were all greater than those seen in the control group.
Hamstring Health and Performance
When working with a Leading Personal Trainer in Berkshire, you can guarantee we will do our upmost to keep you on the pitch AND performing to the best of your ability. If you are a team sports player, particularly football, it is likely you will see Nordic Hamstring Curls in your program. Even exposure to a small stimulus is going to put you in better state than you were last week.
If you want to try implementing them into your program. Start small, do partial range of motion or fold at the hip more to decrease your lever length. It is likely you will feel them the next day if you have never done them before, so be sensible!