More on Russian/Nordic Hamstring Exercise

This is an email I got from Dr. Dan Cipriani, a great PT and a professor at San Diego State. I think he explains the shortcoming of the exercise l quite well from a more scientific perspective than.

I completely agree with you on the Russian exercise - not at all reproducing the normal forces of the hamstrings...the hamstrings are a "hip" muscle much more than they are a "knee" muscle...their moment arm at the hip is greater for producing torque. In addition, the hamstrings are generally injured during the late swing phase of running/walking just prior to foot contact, when the muscle is at its longest position (extended knee, flexed hip)...and also right at heel contact, when it is working first eccentrically control hip flexion followed by concentric hip extension to propel us forward. Lunges would be a better choice as would be theraband eccentrics, replicating the swing phase of gait (let the band pull the swing leg into hip flexion with the knee extended, while the hams slow this down).

The argument that the hamstrings are necessary for ACL reconstruction is based on misinterpretation of research related to the role of the hamstrings as a knee stabilizer. Research showed that the hams can control anterior tibial shear by producing a posterior shear force to the tibia. The problem with this finding is the fact that the hamstrings is only effective at producing this significant posterior shear when the knee is flexed at least 70 degrees from full extension (this aligns the distal tendon attachment at the tibia closer to the horizontal plane)...when the knee is near full extension, the hams are not effective at producing a posterior force - and the ACL is at greatest risk when the knee is at near full extension...not flexion.

Daniel Cipriani, Ph.D., P.T. Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/ens/ens_web/faculty/cipriani.htm