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Abstract:Background: While there is ample evidence on the effects of Nordic hamstring training (NHT)
on physical fitness in youth athletes, less is known about the effectiveness of different volumes
of this type of training. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the effects of 8 weeks of low-volume Nordic hamstring training (LNHT) performed during the warm-up, on sprints (5, 10,
and 20-m) and change of direction (CoD) with (15-m CoD Ball) and without (15-m without
Ball) the ball in young male soccer players in highly trained male youth soccer players.
Methods: Twenty-eight male youth soccer players, aged 13 to 14 years, were randomly
assigned to LNHT (n= 14) or a control group (CON, n= 14). The eight-week NMT included low
Nordic exercises with 3 sets of 4 repetitions. The CG performed a soccer-specific warm-up.
Training was performed during the warm-up with similar training volumes between groups.
Pre-, and post-training, tests were conducted to assess sprint (5, 10, and 20-m) and change of
direction (CoD) with (15-m CoD Ball) and without (15-m without Ball) the ball.
Results: Findings showed significant group-by-time interactions for all 5 (F1,26=.77, P =.38, Pη2
=.029), 10 (F1,26=2.7, P =.11, Pη2 =.095) and 20-m sprint (F1,26=14.9, P =.001, Pη2 =.364) and CoD
with (F1,26=12.9, P =.001, Pη2 =.332) and without the ball (F1,26=24.1, P =.001, Pη2 =.481) tests.
There were significant pre-post changes for all tested variables (all P<0.005) in favor of LNHT
but not CG.
Conclusions: In conclusion, LNHT was a mean tool for improving CoD speed and sprint
performance. Due to the importance of CoD and short accelerations for overall competitive
performance in soccer, our results suggest that young players should perform LNHT as part
of their warm-up soccer training if the goal is to improve sprint and CoD performance.
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Authors:Abdelkader Mahmoudi,Raouf Hammami, Halil Ibrahim Ceylan*, Mevlut Yildiz, Ali Gurel Goksel, Serdar Bayrakdaroglu, Michael Duncan, Anis Chaouachi, Rafael Oliveira, Raul Ioan Muntean, Valentina Stefanica |