Authors : George Jacob; Cyanna Joseph Dsouza

Volume/Issue : Volume 8 - 2023, Issue 3 - March

Google Scholar : https://bit.ly/3TmGbDi

Scribd : https://bit.ly/3Zc6c9T

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7770975

Abstract : High-intensity intermittent team sports consist of frequent explosive actions including jumping which can provide significant improvements in the success graph of the athlete. Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) has been shown to increase eccentric hamstring strength more effectively than traditional hamstring exercises. Many researchers attempted to determine whether the improvements in muscle architecture and decreased muscle injury rate using NHE have an impact on jump performance in athletic individuals. Objective: To review the available evidence to determine the efficacy of NHE in improving jump performance in athletes. Methods: A comprehensive search of Pubmed, Science Direct, and Google scholar were conducted for clinical trials published between the years 2013 and 2023 that evaluated the effect of NHE on jump performance in the athletic population only. In particular, Countermovement Jump (CMJ) height was the variable examined. The PEDro scale was used to examine the methodological quality of the studies. Results: Overall, 6 clinical trials were included in the review and the results showed a moderately positive impact of the NHE on CMJ,especially in soccer and handball players. In accordance with the PEDro scale, the average methodological quality of the studies was 6.05/10. Conclusion: NHE is an easy-to-administer, time-efficient minimal equipment training method that showed improved jump performance in athletes. Further highquality studies on a larger scale are required to confirm these results.

Keywords : NHE, nordic hamstring exercise, jump height, jump performance, athletes.