Kinematics and activation of hamstring muscles during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting in soccer players: A biomechanical investigation

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2976710/v1

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Kinematics and activation of hamstring muscles during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting in soccer players: A biomechanical investigation

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2976710/v1

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Purpose

Sprinting is the most common activity associated with hamstring strain injuries in soccer. However, the potential mechanisms for hamstring strain injuries during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting are unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the kinematics and activation of the hamstring muscles in soccer players to define the potential mechanism of hamstring strain injury.

Methods

Ten male soccer players with no lower-limb injuries in the past year were recruited for this study. Each participant was instructed to perform a minimum of three successful 15 m sprints. Hamstring kinematics and activations were estimated by employing musculoskeletal modeling and wireless electromyography to define potential injury mechanisms.

Results

During the initial acceleration phase, the hamstring muscles undergo great strain and high activation levels during the late swing and early stance phases. The hamstring muscles experienced great strain and overload during the late swing and foot strike of the running gait cycle. Additionally, the biceps femoris long head was significantly more stretched than the semimembranosus and semitendinosus (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Based on these results, hamstring injuries are likely to occur during the late-swing and early stance of the running gait cycle, with the biceps femoris long head being more susceptible to injuries than other hamstring muscles.

Sports Medicine and Kinesiology

Hamstring muscle strain

musculoskeletal modeling

muscle activation

elongation velocity

Muscle strain is a highly complex issue that has a direct impact on the performance of soccer players and the overall ranking of clubs in soccer leagues (Bisciotti et al., 2019; Biz et al., 2021; Danielsson et al., 2020; Ekstrand et al., 2011; Waldén et al., 2005a, 2005b; Woods et al., 2004). Hamstring muscle strain injuries (HSI) are the most common type of injury in soccer, with 12–17% of all injuries occurring during the soccer league season (Ekstrand et al., 2011; Hauge Engebretsen et al., 2010; Woods et al., 2004). Hamstring muscle strains are responsible for approximately 20–25% of all missed matches. Further, their recurrence rate is among the highest of all cases at around 13–22% (Bisciotti et al., 2019; Ekstrand et al., 2011; Waldén et al., 2005a, b). Therefore, the prevention and management of HSI are crucial to maintaining and enhancing the performance of soccer players for achieving positive club results.

To prevent HSI in soccer, it is important to consider that sprinting is the most common activity associated with these injuries in soccer players (Bisciotti et al., 2019; Danielsson et al., 2020; Freeman et al., 2021), despite being an essential skill for successful performance (Di Salvo et al., 2010; Faude et al., 2012; Hisdal et al., 2013; Andrzejewski et al., 2012; Unnithan et al., 2012). Around 80% of all recorded HSI in soccer players occurs during sprinting, while other activities, such as kicking, only accounted for approximately 20% (Bisciotti et al., 2019; Danielsson et al., 2020; Freeman et al., 2021; Kalema et al., 2021). Soccer sprints comprise three phases: acceleration, maximum speed, and deceleration (Mero et al., 1992). Several studies have found the kinematic and muscle activation demands to be significantly different for each phase (Buchheit et al., 2014; Debaere et al., 2015; Haugen et al., 2019; Higashihara et al., 2018; Macadam et al., 2019; Mero et al., 1992). These differences may lead to a nonuniformity in the mechanism of HSI among phases (Higashihara et al., 2018). Among the three, the acceleration phase, especially the initial time of this phase is particularly crucial to the short sprinting outcome and player performance because most sprinting in soccer matches is short, with a mean distance of less than 20 m (Buchheit et al., 2014; Di Salvo et al., 2010; Hisdal et al., 2013; Morin et al., 2015; Lockie et al., 2011; Wdowski and Gittoes, 2020). In addition, the hamstring muscle was demanded explosive work in the initial sprinting acceleration because it is a major contributor to generating horizontal impulse, which is necessary to quickly accelerate from a stationary position or slow running (Ishøi et al., 2019; Morin et al., 2015). Thus, preventing potential HSI in the initial sprinting acceleration phase may play an important role in soccer player performance. Nevertheless, because few studies have analyzed potential mechanisms for HSI in the initial acceleration phase, only limited evidence exists to define and predict the potential HSI mechanisms within it.

Previous studies found that HSI is caused by high levels of muscle activation and great muscle strain. Specifically, HSI occurs when the hamstring undergoes eccentric loading with peak musculotendon stretch and force at the late swing in a running gait cycle during the maximum speed phase (Chumanov et al., 2007, 2012; Schache et al., 2012; Thelen et al., 2005a), or late stance and late swing during the mid-acceleration phase of sprinting (Higashihara et al., 2015; Yu et al., 2008). A high level of hamstring activation was found to be related to the occurrence of HSI during these phases of the running gait cycle (Higashihara et al., 2018; Schache et al., 2009, 2012; Yu et al., 2008). The early stance of the running gait cycle during the maximum sprinting speed phase also was reported relating to HSI, the combination of the greatest knee flexion and hip extension overload the hamstring muscle, which was determined to be a high-risk factor for HSI (Kenneally-Dabrowski et al., 2019). For more detail in the mid-acceleration phase (after 10 or 15 m from the starting position) of sprinting, the results showed a significant rise in the forward pelvis tilt and hip flexion, which led to a sharp increase in hamstring muscle length. Additionally, the hamstring muscle strain during the mid-acceleration phase was significantly greater than that during the maximum speed phase, specifically during the foot strike and toe-off (Higashihara et al., 2015; Yu et al., 2008). However, these studies focused on the mid-acceleration phase of sprinting, so the potential mechanism of HSI may be different during the initial sprinting acceleration phase in soccer players due to the nonuniformity in sprinting kinematics (Bezodis et al., 2014; Macadam et al., 2019). To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the potential mechanism of HSI during the initial sprinting acceleration of soccer players such as in the first two or three steps. Thus, clear insight into hamstring muscle kinematics and activation during the initial acceleration phase is essential for the definition of the injury mechanism, which could be useful for the development of effective HSI prevention strategies.

Therefore, this study aimed to characterize hamstring muscle kinematics and activation during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting in soccer players to define the potential mechanisms of HSI during this phase. We hypothesized that the hamstring muscle would undergo the mechanisms of potential hamstring strain injury, which are great strain and a high level of activation during the late swing and early stance of the running gait cycle.

Musculoskeletal modeling was employed to investigate hamstring kinematics during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting. This is a useful and common platform for quantifying the movement patterns of players in sports (Bulat et al., 2019; Delp et al., 2007; Hirashima, 2011; Maniar et al., 2020; Schache et al., 2012; Thelen et al., 2005a; Thelen et al., 2005b). Specifically, it facilitates the analysis of various parameters of muscle kinematics and mechanics without invasive procedures.

Participants

Ten male soccer players in our organization having at least 60 min of playtime per week, with no history of thigh muscle injuries and lower limb joint injuries the previous year, were recruited from our organization to participate in this study (age: 22.9 ± 1.07 years, height:169.7 ± 6.1 cm, weight:64 ± 7.02 kg). All participants provided written and informed consent to participate in the study. This study conformed to the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki and had been approved by the Ethics Committee at our institution.

Experimental protocol and data collection

The experiments were performed in a motion analysis laboratory at our institution. Three-dimensional (3D), full-body kinematics data were recorded using a 3D motion capture system, which included 12 cameras at a sampling rate of 100 Hz (VICON; Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom). A set of 43 reflective markers was placed bilaterally on the body of each participant (based on the Helen-Hayes marker set).

A running track was marked using colored sticky tape through the measurement area (length: 7 m; width, 2.5 m; height: 3 m). Two different starting line positions were placed on the running track to collect kinematic data of the initial acceleration and maximum speed phases. Starting line 1 was located at the beginning of the measurement area to collect the first three running gait cycles, defined as the initial acceleration phase in this study. Starting line 2 was located 10 m from the center of the measurement area to collect one running gait cycle at the last 5 m of sprinting, defined as the maximum speed phase. Hamstring electromyography (EMG) data were recorded using a wireless electromyography system (TRIGNO RESEARCH +; Delsys Inc., United States) at a sampling rate of 1000 Hz. Trigno Avanti sensors were placed over the belly of the semimembranosus and biceps femoris on both lower limbs of each participant. The recorded kinematic and EMG data were synchronized using the Vicon Nexus system. Marker position data were filtered using a low-pass filter of Butterworth Trajectories at a cutoff frequency of 20 Hz (Hamner et al., 2010). The raw EMG data were rectified and then filtered again through a fourth-order low-pass digital filter at a cut-off frequency of 50 Hz to estimate the linear envelope EMG data.

A static standing trial was performed by each participant during the initial experiment to estimate the scaling factor in the musculoskeletal modeling. After a 10 min warm-up including stretching and low running exercises, participants were to complete at least three successful 15 m sprinting trials for each starting line position using maximum effort, with 2 min of rest between each trial. The participant was required to maintain the highest running speed until crossing the 15 m line from the starting position. In a successful trial, data on full-body kinematics and hamstring muscle EMG were collected for the entire running gait cycle of interest. The participants were asked to start sprinting from a split-stance standing start position.

Musculoskeletal modeling

A full-body generic musculoskeletal model was used to simulate sprinting in OpenSim (Delp et al., 2007; Hamner et al., 2010). The musculoskeletal system was represented by 12 segments and 29 degrees-of-freedom linkages, with 92 musculotendon structures used to activate the lower limb and back joints (Anderson & Pandy, 1999; Delp et al., 1990). Each lower limb had five degrees of freedom. A ball-and-socket joint model represented the hip, while custom joints having one degree of freedom represented the ankle and the knee (Delp et al., 1990; Luthar et al., 2000).

The model was scaled to match the anthropometric data of each participant. The scale factors obtained from the relative distance between the pairs of markers in the experiments were used to scale the segments of the musculoskeletal model. The model kinematics were computed using an inverse kinematics algorithm, minimizing the sum of the squared differences in the marker positions between the experiment and simulation (Delp et al., 2007; Hamner et al., 2010).

This study only focused on the biarticular hamstring muscles at each lower limb represented by three muscles: the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris long head. Muscle parameters include muscle length, elongation velocity, strain, and activation. Muscle length was calculated by determining the distance between the muscle origin and insertion based on musculoskeletal model kinematics. The muscle elongation velocity was calculated as the change in muscle length with respect to time. Muscle strain was calculated as the change ratio of the muscle length in dynamic trials compared with the muscle length in the static, standing posture. The Center of Mass (COM) 's anteroposterior velocity was considered the sprinting speed, while the anteroposterior acceleration of COM was calculated based on the COM velocity.

Data analysis

Hamstring muscle kinematics and activation were analyzed for each running gait cycle, which was defined as the period between two continuous foot strikes with the same leg. The stance of a running gait cycle was defined from the first frame to the last frame when the vertical coordinates of the marker placed on the heel or the head of the second metatarsal is constant. Muscle length was normalized to its value in the static, standing posture. Non-dimensional normalization based on leg length and gravity acceleration was employed to normalize the muscle elongation velocity (Hof, 1996). Muscle EMG data were individually normalized to the maximum recorded signal for each muscle, with 0 indicating no activation and 1 indicating full activation. The final results of the muscle kinematics and activation in the initial acceleration phase were the mean of the first three running gait cycles. The strain and elongation velocity of the biarticular hamstring muscles were compared between the three muscles in the initial acceleration phase by employing Bonferroni’s post hoc test, with a significance level of p < 0.05. A paired t-test was performed to compare the hamstring muscle strain and elongation velocity between the initial acceleration and maximum speed, with a significance level of p < 0.05. All statistical analyses were performed in R version 4.2.2 (R Core Team; R Foundation for Statistical Computing., Austria).

The mean speed in the maximum-speed phase for the participant was 5.97 ± 0.16 m/s, with a mean acceleration of 1.09 ± 0.60 m/s². In the initial acceleration phase, the mean speed was 4.68 ± 0.13 m/s, with a mean acceleration of 3.10 ± 0.77 m/s².

During the initial acceleration phase, all the biarticular components of the hamstring muscles lengthened during the second half of the swing and the first half of the stance, then shortened from the middle of the stance to the middle of the swing during the initial sprinting acceleration. Each of the three biarticular hamstring muscles reached the maximum length during the late swing at approximately 10% before the foot strike in a running gait cycle (Fig. 1(a, c, e)).

The pelvis anterior tilting angle in the initial acceleration phase was significantly higher than that in the maximum speed phase during the running gait cycle (p < 0.001, Fig. 2b). No significant differences were found in peak flexion angles of the hip and knee joint during the swing between the two phases, while hip and knee flexion angles in the initial acceleration phase were significantly higher than that in the maximum speed phase at the foot strike and maximum muscle strain timing (p < 0.001 for the knee flexion at the foot strike, p < 0.01 for the hip flexion at the foot strike, p < 0.01 for hip and knee flexion at the maximum muscle strain timing, (Fig. 2(a, c)).

There were no significant differences in the peak strain of the biarticular hamstring muscle between the initial sprinting acceleration and maximum speed. In contrast, the biceps femoris long head muscle undergoes significantly greater strain than the semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscle (p < 0.001, p < 0.05), with the peak strain of each muscle being approximately 10.4 ± 1.73%, 7.46 ± 1.65% and 8.35 ± 1.79%, respectively, at the late swing in the initial acceleration phase. There were no significant differences in the peak muscle strain between semitendinosus and semimembranosus at this time of the running gait cycle (Fig. 3a). Similarly, the biceps femoris long head strain at the foot strike of the running gait cycle was significantly greater than that of the semitendinosus and semimembranosus (p < 0.01, p < 0.05), with the peak strain of each muscle being approximately 6.77 ± 1.89%, 4.7 ± 1.93% and 4.14 ± 1.76%, respectively (Fig. 3b).

The biarticular hamstring muscles were shortened during the stance, the first one-third, and the last 10% of the swing (Fig. 1(b, d, f)). Meanwhile, elongation occurred only at approximately 50 to 90% of the running gait cycle. These muscles changed rapidly from lengthening to shortening contractions at approximately 10% before the foot strike. The peak elongation velocity of all biarticular hamstring muscles was reached at around 65% of the running gait cycle, whereas the highest shortening velocity occurred at the foot strike and approximately 10% after the toe off of the running gait cycle in the initial acceleration phase. The peak normalized elongation velocity of the biarticular hamstring muscle in the initial acceleration phase was significantly lower than that in the maximum speed phase (Fig. 4(a, b)). During the initial acceleration phase, the peak normalized elongation velocity of the semitendinosus and biceps femoris long head was significantly higher than that of the semimembranosus (Fig. 5a). Similarly, the semitendinosus shortened the quickest at the foot strike (Fig. 5b).

The muscle activation of semitendinosus reached its highest point at approximately 90% and the second peak at the foot strike, then slightly decreased until the last one-third of the running gait cycle (Fig. 6a). Meanwhile, the figure for the biceps femoris long head remained at a high level from the late swing to the late stance of the running gait cycle, and the highest peak also occurred at approximately 90% of the running gait cycle (Fig. 6b).

The purpose of this study was to characterize hamstring muscle kinematics and activation in soccer players during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting. The strain and elongation velocity of the hamstring muscle during the initial acceleration phase were compared with those during the maximum speed phase to assess the potential HSI mechanism. The results support our hypothesis that the hamstring muscle is exposed to the strain injury mechanism during the late swing and early stance of the running gait cycle in the initial acceleration phase.

The results of our study are consistent with those of previous studies that reported the peak hamstring muscle length during the late swing of the running gait, although previous studies investigated different sprinting phases and techniques such as the maximum speed phase in treadmill sprinting (Thelen et al., 2005a), the maximum speed and mid-acceleration phase in 100 m sprinting (Higashihara et al., 2015; Schache et al., 2012; Yu et al., 2008). Despite the lower peak strain of hamstring muscle in this study than that in the previous studies on the mid-acceleration sprinting phase from Higashihara or maximum speed phase from Schache, with the peak strain being 11.6 and 11.98 % for biceps femoris long head, 12.7 and 8.73% for semitendinosus, 12 and 9.84% for seimembranosus (Higashihara et al., 2015; Schache et al., 2012), our results also showed the great strain in the hamstring muscle. Additionally, no significant differences were found in the hamstring muscle strain between the initial acceleration and maximum speed phases of 15 m sprinting in the recent study. Thus, our results suggested that HSI may occur in soccer players even if the speed is slow at the initial sprinting acceleration because muscle damage is a strong function of muscle strain (Lieber & Friden, 1993).

The significantly wider pelvis anterior tilting and hip flexion angles found in the initial acceleration phase may cause great hamstring muscle strain in soccer players, which was consistent with the previous report about the impact of the pelvis and hip angles on the hamstring strain (Higashihara et al., 2015). Therefore, the pelvis anterior tilting and hip flexion angle could be decreased to reduce hamstring muscle strain during the initial sprinting acceleration phase in soccer players.

Among the three biarticular hamstring muscles, the biceps femoris long head experienced the greatest strain during the late swing and foot strike. This correlates to other studies that have shown that said muscle is the most susceptible to HSI (Bisciotti et al., 2019; Biz et al., 2021; Danielsson et al., 2020; Kenneally-Dabrowski et al., 2019). Thus, the present results showed that the biceps femoris of soccer players may be put at the highest risk of HIS among the hamstring muscles during the initial acceleration phase in sprinting.

The occurrence time of peak hamstring strain varied depending on the task. Our study and the study on the maximum speed phase in treadmill sprinting showed that the peak hamstring strain occurred at approximately 90% of the running gait cycle (Thelen et al., 2005a). The values for the studies on the maximum-speed and mid-acceleration phases in 100 m overground sprinting were earlier, at approximately 60% (Schache et al., 2012) and 75% (Higashihara et al., 2015) of the running gait cycle, respectively. Moreover, the hamstring muscles were demanded to produce explosive forces in the shortest duration during the late swing and foot strike to maximize the generated acceleration (Morin et al., 2015). Therefore, the potential HSI may occur during a short duration before and after the foot strike of the running gait cycle in the initial sprinting acceleration of soccer players due to the peak strain and high activation occurring at this time. The integration of the present study and previous studies suggested that soccer players could reduce the risk of HIS by effective control of factors causing the great hamstring muscle strain such as the anterior pelvis tilting and hip flexion angles during the initial sprinting acceleration.

The hamstring muscle eccentric contraction exhibited from approximately 50 to 90% before suddenly changing to concentric contraction at approximately 90% of the running gait cycle. The eccentric contraction and transferring occurred instantaneously with the peak muscle strain and the highest level of muscle activation during the late swing of the running gait cycle. After that, the hamstrings reached the highest shortening velocity, while the muscle is still in elongated and high activation conditions during the foot strike. These conditions may lead to the overload of the hamstring muscle, which was reported as the mechanism of HSI (Danielsson et al., 2020). Thus, the present result demonstrates that HSI may most likely occur during the late swing and foot strike of the running gait cycle due to the eccentric contraction and muscle overload of the soccer player in the initial sprinting acceleration. However, soccer players generally reveal a tendency to quickly and greatly accelerate the body moving forward during the initial sprinting acceleration phase, which leads to a higher demand for hamstring muscle work (Morin et al., 2015). Therefore, preventing the excessive hamstring muscle elongation velocity and strain during the late swing of the running gait cycle could be an effective strategy for both targets reducing the risk of HIS and maximizing acceleration ability.

This study showed a significant increase in the elongation velocity during the swing and the shortening velocity during the foot strike, while no significant differences were found in the muscle strain. Therefore, these results suggested the difference in the HIS mechanism between the initial acceleration and maximum speed phase may be caused by the difference in muscle contraction velocity.

This study has some limitations that need to be addressed when interpreting the results. First, the participants sprinted barefooted in the laboratory room; therefore, there may be some differences when playing with shoes on the soccer field. In addition, the limitation of the indoor running way may lead to the player cannot perform maximum sprinting ability. Second, all participants are non-professional soccer players so this may lead to differences in players with higher levels. Finally, the different models and methods used to quantify muscle kinematics may have affected the results (Kellis et al., 2021), although the model used in this study has been verified in running studies (Hamner et al., 2010).

Hamstring muscle kinematics and activation in soccer players during the initial sprinting acceleration phase were characterized using a musculoskeletal modeling approach in this investigation. The hamstring strain injury mechanism that occurred during the late swing and early stance of the running gait cycle during the initial sprinting acceleration was suggested in the present study. Among the hamstring muscles, the biceps femoris long head experienced the greatest stretching during the initial sprint acceleration. The results of this study could be useful evidence for the development of specific interventions to prevent potential HIS during the initial acceleration phase in sprinting of soccer players.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contributions of Mr. Takahiro Watanabe and all the graduate students of the Biomechanical Laboratory at Niigata University of Health and Welfare for the data collection.

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received in this study.

The authors have no conflicts of interest in this study.

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Kinematics and activation of hamstring muscles during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting in soccer players: A biomechanical investigation

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Abstract

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Introduction

Methods

Participants

Experimental protocol and data collection

Musculoskeletal modeling

Data analysis

Results

Discussion

Declarations

Acknowledgments

References

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