Fig 1.
Schematic representation of the experimental setup.
(A) Positioning of the subject in the reference position of the knee (90°) at a mid-flexed hip position. (B) Overview of the three stretches with range of motion: high-flexed hip position (HF-110), mid-flexed hip position (HF-90) and low-flexed hip position (HF-70).
Fig 2.
Probe location on each hamstring muscle.
Fig 3.
A typical shear modulus-lengthening relationship for biceps femoris long-head during the passive knee extension.
The colored region represents the map of shear elastic modulus, during the passive stretching procedure at 110° of hip flexion.
Table 1.
Repeatability of shear modulus measurements, for the HF-90 position.
Fig 4.
Shear modulus-lengthening relationships obtained for each hamstring muscle from the study participants.
The variability was quantified using the ratio SD/mean (in %), expressed at the maximal common knee angle in HF-110 for (A) semitendinosus (ST), (B) semimembranosus (SM), (C) biceps-femoris long head (BF-lh).
Fig 5.
Comparison of hamstring responses in three positions of passive knee extensions, reported by muscle.
Shear modulus-lengthening relationships shown for (A) semitendinosus (ST), (B) semimembranosus (SM), (C) biceps-femoris long head (BF-lh), with interactions for the three same knee angles: a: between 70° and 90° of hip flexion; b: between 90° and 110° of hip flexion; c: between 70° and 110° of hip flexion. Levels of significance: * p<0.05; † p<0.001; NS: no significant at p<0.05
Fig 6.
Comparison of hamstrings responses in the three positions of passive knee extension, reported by hip positioning.
Shear modulus-lengthening relationships shown for (A) 70° of hip flexion, (B) 90° of hip flexion (C) 110° of hip flexion, with interactions for the 3 same knee angles: d: between ST and SM; e: between SM and BF-lh; f: between ST and BF-lh. Levels of significance: * p<0.05; † p<0.001; NS: no significant at p<0.05