The hypertrophy of the lateral abdominal wall and quadratus lumborum is sport-specific: an MRI segmental study in professional tennis and soccer players.
The study described investigated whether asymmetry of the lateral abdominal wall (LAW) and quadratus lumborum (QL) are present in professional tennis and soccer players.
The cross sectional area (CSA) and muscle volume of both the LAW and QL were tested with MRI in eight male professional tennis players, 14 male professional soccer players and six non-active men (control group).This study showed both a hypertrophy of the LAW in soccer and tennis compared with the control group. However an asymmetry of the volume of the LAW was present in tennis players (non dominant side > dominant side) where this was absent in soccer players and the control group. A hypertrophy of the QL is present in both tennis and soccer players with a greater hypertrophy at the dominant side.
Future studies should focus on whether the asymmetry in tennis players is a risk factor for developing low back pain or an adaptation to perform better in tennis > From Sanchis et al., Sports Biomech 12 (2013) 54-67. All rights reserved to Taylor & Francis.
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