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Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Sprinting can be described as the ability to cover a short distance in the fastest possible time. It requires enormous stability, strength and speed to achieve this goal. Any improvements in technique or speed can be the difference between winning and losing and ultimately gold or silver. Many coaches focus their training on improving the mechanics of the lower limb in order to achieve their goal. They often neglect to consider the effect the upper limb, head, neck and trunk has on the sprinters technique. This study aimed to determine the effect the muscles that assist in stabilising the head and neck namely the deep neck flexors, has on sprinting technique. A systematic review was conducted to determine the factors that influence the acquisition of the correct and most efficient sprint technique. Thereafter assessments were done to determine the prevalence of neck discomfort and how it impacts the athlete’s life by use of the Disability Neck Index. In addition, the endurance of the participant’s deep neck flexors using the Craniocervical Flexion Test and an analysis of their sprinting technique through video analysis were conducted. Variables for each assessment were coded and analysed with Chisquared tests to determine statistically significant relationships. Results show that there was to prevalence of neck pain among participants and although the participants have poor deep neck flexor endurance and an inadequate sprinting technique, no statistically significant relationships could be found between these two variables. Thus poor endurance in the deep neck flexors has no effect on sprinting technique. The results of the study was limited due to a small sample size and lack of equipment, thus further research is required in order to completely reject the possibility that the deep neck flexors effects a sprinters ability to acquire an efficient sprinting technique.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the evidence-based research recommendations on injury prevention methods against hamstring injuries among Swedish men's elite team in football. The research-based recommendations was then to be compared with the way Swedish elite football teams work to prevent hamstrings injuries. Method First a literature search of PubMed and SPORTDiscuss was made to find the most evidence-based training methods to hamstring injuries. Then an Internet questionnaire regarding injury prevention training methods against hamstring injuries was sent to all Swedish elite football teams. The answers off the questionnaire was then compared with the research that had the most evidence based training methods to hamstring injuries. Results Research shows that the method with the most evidence is eccentric strength training. Flexibility, static stretch and core stability training is research methods that can be used to prevent hamstrings injuries but these methods lack a large validated research basis. 8 of 32 (25 %) teams answered the questionnaire. All teams indicated that they were working with injury prevention methods but the methods varied from the eccentric strength training to periodization and flexibility training. 2 of 8 teams indicated that they worked with eccentric strength training that is recommended by science as the most evidence-based training method. Conclusion The study shows that the teams partly work after what the research recommends as the most evidence-based training methods against hamstring injuries. However, the study lacks validity and further research is needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn. / Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva vilka evidensbaserade forskningsrekommendationer som finns kring skadeförebyggande träningsmetoder mot hamstringsskador hos svenska herrelitlag i fotboll. De forskningsbaserade rekommendationerna ska sedan jämföras med arbetssättet hos herrelitlagen i svensk fotboll. Metod Först gjordes en litteratursökning på databaserna PubMed och SPORTDiscuss för att hitta de mest evidensbaserade träningsmetoderna mot hamstringsskador. Sedan skickades en webbenkät angående skadeförebyggande träningsmetoder mot hamstringsskador ut till alla svenska herrelitfotbollslag. Svaren på enkäten speglades sedan mot vad forskningen rekommenderade som de mest effektiva träningsmetoderna mot hamstringsskador. Resultat Forskning visar att den metoden med mest evidens är excentrisk styrketräning. Rörelse/stretch samt bålstabilitetsträning är enligt forskningen metoder som kan användas för att förebygga hamstringsskador men dessa metoder saknar ett stort validerat forskningsunderlag. 8 av 32 (25%) föreningar besvarade enkäten. Alla föreningar angav att de arbetade med skadeförebyggande åtgärder men metoderna varierade från excentrisk styrketräning till periodisering och rörlighetsträning. 2 av 8 föreningar angav att de arbetade med excentrisk styrketräning som forskningen rekommenderar som den mest evidensbaserade träningsmetoden. Slutsats Studien visar att föreningarna delvis arbetar efter vad forskningen rekommenderar som evidensbaserade träningsmetoder mot hamstringsskador. Dock saknar studien validitet och ytterligare forskning behövs för att slutgiltiga slutsatser ska kunna dras.

published_or_final_version / Sports Science / Master / Master of Science in Sports Science

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Exercise Sciences, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Exercise Sciences, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Humans generally use two modes of locomotion as adults. At slow speeds we walk, and at fast speeds we run. To perform either gait, we use our muscles. The central questions in this dissertation were: (1) Why do humans run the way they do, and (2) How do the mechanical properties of muscle influence running performance? Optimal control simulations of running were generated using a bipedal forward dynamics model of the human musculoskeletal system. Simulations of running and sprinting were posed as two-point boundary value problems where the muscle excitation signals were optimized to maximize an optimality criterion. In the first study, minimizing the dimensionless muscle activations rather than the cost of transport generated the simulation that most closely agreed without experimental kinetic, kinematic, and electromyographic data from human runners. In the second study, sprinting simulations were generated by maximizing the model’s horizontal speed. Adjustments in the parameters of the muscle force-velocity relationship, in particular the shape parameter, increased the maximum speed, and provided support for previous theories on limitations to maximum human sprinting speed. In the third study, virtual aging of the model’s muscles induced changes in the running biomechanics characteristic of older adults, and increased the stresses and strains of muscles where older runners are more frequently injured than young runners. Strengthening these muscles reduced their loading while still maintaining an economical gait with a relatively low joint contact force at the knee. The studies provide a framework for testing hypotheses on human movement without a strong dependency on experimental data, and provided new evidence on the validity of the simulation approach for studying human running, and on optimality criteria in human running, limitations to maximum sprinting speed, and relationships between aging, muscular properties, and running injuries.

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