Analysis of the effect of athletes' ACL injury on hamstring strength and symmetry

Abstract

Athletes from all kinds of sports undergo intense training and prevention programs that are aimed at improving performance and preventing injuries that might set back players. Although injury prevention programs are essential for athletes, avoiding them might not always be possible. One of the most occurring injury; for almost all sports, is related to the knee, specifically the anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL). Studies have shown that athletes with ACL injuries have many complications that affect stability, connected muscles and overall function of the knee. These complications increase the risk of injury factor to any related limb. The hamstring muscle is one of the largest muscles connected to the knee that can be affected easily in occurrence of ACL injury. Weakening of the muscle can affect total knee recovery as well as increase the risk of future hamstring injury. This research paper will test the functionality of Hamstring muscle in relation to knee status. Athletes of different sports, ages and gender will undergo specific hamstring strength tests that will show how knee injury affects hamstring strength and whether they have completely recovered. Three hamstring strength tests were recorded on the isoinertial cone machine and later compared. The tests include lying leg curl (LC), straight leg pull-down (SLPD) and yo-yo flywheel front lunge (FL). Results collected include the eccentric and concentric muscle actions that can be used to compare risk factors, instability and power differences between limbs and joints.