Hamstring injuries. Start stretching, it works!
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Dr Maximllian Krapivsky
Like most of us, I have succumbed to the guilty pleasures of the holiday period and discovered my inner sloth. This is particularly bad news as it’s time to get back into some pre-season training. Personally I play soccer, but no matter what sport you’re doing, it’s time to dust off the cobwebs and restore some fitness. Before getting into full training I wanted to try and unwind my tight muscles by doing some stretches and flexibility exercises. I was doing some research into which stretches soccer players should do and which muscles I should try to target first, when I came across an interesting article.
The article published in 2003 focused on soccer players and poor flexibility as a risk factor for muscular injuries. The study found that soccer players with poor lower limb flexibility during the professional season training had a significantly higher incidence of both hamstring and quadriceps injuries when compared to those with good flexibility.
I’ve previously had a grade-II quadriceps muscle strain and I can vouch that they are no fun. So start stretching, get the foam rollers out and improve your flexibility before the sports season is truly amongst us!