Activity Distribution Among the Hamstring Muscles During the Nordic Hamstring Exercise: A Multichannel Surface Electromyography Study

This study assessed activity distribution among the hamstring muscles during the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE). The objective was to compare muscle activity between and within muscles during the NHE to add insights in its underlying protective mechanism. Through multichannel electromyography, we measured muscle activity in male basketball players during the NHE. Electromyography was assessed at 15 locations: 5 for biceps femoris long head, 4 for semitendinosus, and 6 for semimembranosus. For each percent of the eccentric phase of the NHE, muscle activity was calculated for each electrode location within each hamstring muscle individually. To quantify whole muscle head activity, means and variances across electrodes within each muscle were calculated. Thirty-five noninjured participants were included (mean age, 18 [2] y; mass, 87 [12] kg; height, 192 [9] cm). Heterogeneous muscle activity was found between 38% and 62% and over the whole eccentric contraction phase within the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus, respectively. Muscle activity of the semitendinosus was significantly higher than that of the biceps femoris long head. During the NHE, the relative contribution of the semitendinosus is the highest among hamstring muscles. Its strong contribution may compensate for the biceps femoris long head, the most commonly injured hamstring muscle head.