Hamstrings on Morphological Structure Characteristics, Stress Features, and Risk of Injuries: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Hamstring injury has been considered one of the most common exercise-induced injuries in sports. Hamstring injuries mostly occur proximal to the biceps femoris. However, the reasons and mechanisms remain unclear. To summarize hamstring morphological structure features and what the relationship is between their structure and risk of injury from the current literature, this review discussed the possible injury mechanism of hamstrings, from the morphological and connected pattern diversity, the mechanical properties, and the stress–strain performance, to probable changes in action control. Morphological and connected pattern diversity of hamstrings components show heterogeneous loads under muscle tension. Connections of gradient compliance between different tissues may lead to materials’ susceptibility to detachments near the tendon–bone junction sites under heterogeneous load conditions. The hamstrings muscle’s motor function insufficiency also brings the risk of injury when it performs multi-functional movements during exercise due to the span of multiple joints’ anatomical characteristics. These structural features may be the primary reason why most damage occurs near these sites. The role of these biomechanical characteristics should be appreciated by exercise specialists to effectively prevent hamstring injuries. Future work in this research should be aimed at exploring the most effective prevention programs based on the material structure and motor control to enhance the properties of hamstring muscle materials to minimize the risk of injury.