Certain performance tests favor individuals of either high or low body mass.  Statistical methods can be used to remove the effect that body mass has on measures of muscular strength, that may allow for an “apples-to-apples” comparison between athletes of differing body sizes.

181 AAA hockey players completed a Nordic hamstring curl on the NordBord hamstring dynamometer and their height, weight and percentage body fat was recorded.  Statistics were complete to define the relationship between body mass and hamstring strength, and then to correct scoring so that athletes could be compared on an equivalent basis, a process called allometric scaling.

This study produced an equation that will allow coaches and clinicians to determine how a hockey player’s hamstring strength differs from their body mass predicted hamstring strength, and a method to correct strength scores to allow comparisons between athletes of differing body mass.

The information from the equations generated in this study will allow athletes to better determine how their strength level compares to their peers, and identify if their hamstring strength is lacking.