Abstract

The shortening of the hamstring muscles, according to various authors (Bado, 1977; Jordà, 1971; Lambrinudi, 1934; Latorre & Hernández, 2003; López, Ferragut, Alacid, Yuste, & García, 2008; Santonja, Andújar, & Martínez, 1994; Santonja, Ferrer, & Martínez, 1995), can produce alterations in the static of the spinal column which can cause anomalies in its structure and crucial processes. These facts mean that early detection of a shortening of these muscles is important in the prevention of possible disorders. We found a reduction in the level of flexibility of the hamstring muscles-spine measured by the cube test or Finger-Floor Distance (F-F-D) of 4.2 cm in students who had studied in our school in 2007, with respect to the flexibility of students of the same age who were studying in 1991, attributing this loss to the reduction in physical activity which is typical at present (Vidal, Vidal, & Almela, 2009). But we did not know whether this shrinkage in flexibility affected the increase in the number of cases of shortened hamstring muscles. To know whether, in addition to the reduction of flexibility, it produced an increase in the number of cases of short hamstring muscles, we made a comparative evaluation of the number of students who had short hamstring muscles in 1986 as against the students who suffered it in 2008. We
found an increase in the number of cases, moving from 5.13% in 1986 to 20% in 2008. Therefore, the reduction in physical activity which is taking place in our young people, above all through the increase in time devoted to the new information and communication technology (ICT), could not only have negative repercussions in lesser flexibility but also in the increase of subjects with short hamstring muscles.