Abstract
In American football (AF) a desirable trait is sprint speed that leads to success such as increased touchdowns, yards gained, and number of sacks. Researchers suggest training programs can improve an athletes’ sprint speed. Considering the swing to stance phases, the hip flexors (HF) and tibialis anterior (TA) may impact an athletes’ speed. The HF initiates the swing phase, while the TA muscle dorsiflexes the foot allowing the toes to clear the ground. PURPOSE: To determine if there is a correlation between collegiate football athlete's speed and the muscle volume (MV) of HF and TA muscles. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of HAMIR data; NCAA Division I AF players who were actively rostered and uninjured at the time of data collection completed the study (n=73; age = 23.91± 1.97 year; height = 187.93 ± 6.1 cm; weight = 105.3 ± 20.3 kg). Timing gate technology was used to measure the speed of the athlete’s sprint. Sensors were placed at the 0-, 40-, and 50-yard lines as offensive and defensive linemen sprinted 40 yards, while athletes in all other positions sprinted 50 yards. MV was found by an MRI scan. Paired t-tests were performed to determine differences between the left and right sides of both muscles. RESULTS: The right and left HF muscles were not significantly different (mean= 2628.6 ± 326.8 ml, p=0.667), however right and left TA muscles were significantly different (right mean: 169.4 ± 30.9 ml, left mean: 164.6 ± 29.8; p= 0.005). Combined averaged HF MV (r = -0.364, p=0.001), and left TA MV (r = -0.303, p=0.009) were negatively correlated to sprint speed. Right TA MV also showed a negative correlation though not significant (r = -0.174, p=0.137). CONCLUSION: The negative correlation between sprint times and MV indicates that higher sprint speeds were achieved by players with smaller HF and TA muscles. This likely identifies differences between bigger players who likely had larger muscles, but slower sprint speed compared to smaller players with higher sprint speeds. The significant difference between the right and left TA is interesting and its’ possible implications on performance should be considered.
Recommended Citation
Guymon, Isaiah B.; Wilwand, Malorie; Allen, Steven P.; Mortensen, B. Brett; and Johnson, Aaron W.
(2024)
"Speed Has No Correlation to Muscle Volume of Hip Flexors and Tibialis Anterior Muscles in Division l Football Athletes,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 14:
Iss.
4, Article 51.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol14/iss4/51
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Medical Education Commons, Sports Sciences Commons