Emami et al. (2014) found significantly greater gluteus maximus and
medial hamstring EMG amplitude levels in athletes with a history of hamstring strain injury compared to those without any history of hamstring strain injury.
Oh et al. (2007) reported that using the Abdominal drawing - in maneuver (ADIM) led to increased
medial hamstring EMG amplitude, while Lewis & Sahrmann (2009) found that using a hamstrings cue led to increased lateral hamstrings EMG amplitude.
In addition, the piriformis muscle dysfunction may overlap with a variety of other problems, such as gluteus medius dysfunction, herniated or bulging disks, pelvic stress fractures, tight adductor muscle group, limb length difference, tight
medial hamstrings and the aforementioned ineffective gluteus maximus.
Conversely when the feet are point in,
the medial hamstrings take a greater toll.
In addition,
the medial hamstrings are more strongly activated normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) than the lateral hamstrings during running (Jönhagen et al. 1996; Higashihara et al. 2010b).
Some exercises appear to target
the medial hamstrings to a greater extent (e.g. kettlebell swings and deadlifts) while other exercises target the lateral hamstrings more (e.g. leg curls and back extensions).
The increasing
medial hamstrings EMG amplitude reported by Oh et al. (2007) might not be medial - hamstring - specific, as the EMG amplitude of the lateral hamstrings was not reported.
This suggests that exercises (both strength training and plyometrics) to develop
the medial hamstrings may be particularly valuable for training track sprinters.
They are usually divided into two groups, the lateral hamstrings (biceps femoris long and short heads) and
the medial hamstrings (semitendinosus and the semimembranosus) on the basis of their locations on the rear part of the thigh.
The total volume of
the medial hamstrings is greater than that of the lateral hamstrings, the lateral hamstrings are more often injured, but
the medial hamstrings are more highly activated during high - speed running.
This study shows that one way in which we can increase the emphasis on
the medial hamstrings during several strength training exercises (including the leg curl) is to rotate the foot inwards, while rotating the foot outwards emphasises the lateral hamstrings.
Some exercises preferentially target
the medial hamstrings, while others target the lateral hamstrings.
This may lead people to the assumption that the lateral hamstrings are naturally always more active during sprinting than
the medial hamstrings.
And Handsfield et al. (2016) found that
the medial hamstrings (semitendinosus and semimembranosus) and other smaller hip muscles were proportionally larger in sprinters than in non-sprinters.
Interestingly, EMG research also shows that
the medial hamstrings may be more strongly activated in sprinting than the lateral hamstrings (Jönhagen et al. 1996; Higashihara et al. 2015), although this may differ across parts of the stance and swing phases (Higashihara et al. 2015).
Not exact matches
During the two - hour outpatient procedures, the UCL in the
medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from the same arm or from the
hamstring area.
The
hamstrings are often divided into the
medial (inside) and lateral (outside)
hamstrings.
This is another walking lunge combo that works quads,
hamstrings, glutes, abs, and
medial deltoids.
Semimembranosus is the most
medial of the three
hamstring muscles.
The ankle plantar - flexors and
hamstrings may also play a role in increasing knee stability (Besier et al. 2003 Houck, 2003) through co-contraction (Sigward & Powers, 2006), especially since activation of the
medial and lateral muscle groups seem to be dependent on the direction of the COD maneuver.
Although traditionally only deadlift and lunges are used for training the hip extensors (
medial and lateral
hamstrings, gluteus maximus, and adductor magnus), there is evidence that some exercises emphasize each of these muscle groups to a different extent, and also that some exercises target different regions within each of the muscles more than others.
Different exercises may be required to develop the
medial and lateral
hamstrings, and both groups should be trained for improving sprint running ability.
Optimal programs may therefore include a range of exercises that target both
medial and lateral
hamstrings.
This important study provides some insight into how the different regions of three of the hip extensor muscle groups (
medial and lateral
hamstrings, and adductor magnus) are worked by the leg curl and the lunge.
The
medial and lateral
hamstrings muscles are different from one another in several respects.
Schoenfeld et al. (2015) explored the EMG amplitude of the proximal (upper) and distal (lower) regions of the
medial and lateral
hamstrings during the stiff - legged deadlift and the lying leg curl exercises in resistance - trained males.
Several studies have found that the
medial and lateral
hamstrings display differences in EMG amplitude in response to common resistance training exercises (Fiebert et al. 2001; Escamilla et al. 2002; Lynn & Costigan, 2009; Simenz et al. 2012; Jakobsen et al. 2012; Zebis et al. 2013; McAllister et al. 2014).
Therefore, whether there is any difference between
medial and lateral
hamstrings EMG amplitudes in the Nordic
hamstring curl (and whether it in fact matters) remains unclear.
It was found that all of the exercises displayed > 60 % and > 50 % of peak EMG amplitude in the
medial and lateral
hamstring, respectively.
In addition, some exercises even target different regions of the
medial and / or lateral
hamstrings.
In contrast, other studies have reported that either
medial, lateral or both groups of
hamstrings display their greatest EMG amplitude at one end of the overall joint ROM.
Since strength is specific, then: strength training that focuses on the (
medial)
hamstrings or the hip extensors more generally, and / or the hip flexors should lead to superior gains than strength training that is more generally applied to the whole lower body.
McAllister et al. (2014) compared the leg curl, good morning, glute - ham raise, and Romanian deadlift and reported that the Romanian deadlift displayed similar
medial and lateral
hamstrings muscle activity to the other exercises.
The Romanian deadlift appeared to be inferior to all other exercises for both
medial and lateral
hamstrings.