Cross-sectional area of psoas major muscle and hip flexion strength in youth soccer players

This study aimed to clarify the differences in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the psoas major (PM) muscle and hip flexion force (HFF) of the right (dominant) side between adolescent male soccer players and age-matched non-athletes. PM CSA at L4–L5 and HFF at 1.05 rad/s were determined in 22 early (12.8–13.6 years) and 27 late (16.1–17.9 years) adolescent soccer players and 11 early (12.6–13.5 years) and 20 late (16.0–17.7 years) adolescent non-athletes. Fat-free mass (FFM) was greater in late adolescent soccer players than in late adolescent non-athletes, but was similar between the two early adolescent groups. Without the effect of age, PM CSA and HFF were greater in soccer players than in non-athletes. PM CSA and HFF were significantly correlated to FFM (soccer players, r = 0.860, P < 0.0001; non-athletes, r = 0.709, P < 0.0001) and PM CSA (soccer players, r = 0.760, P < 0.0001; non-athletes, r = 0.777, P < 0.0001), respectively. The difference between soccer players and non-athletes in PM CSA was still significant even when PM CSA was covaried for FFM. On the other hand, HFF covaried for PM CSA was similar between the two groups. The current results indicate that, as compared to age-matched non-athletes: (1) not only late, but also early adolescent soccer players have a greater PM CSA even when the difference in FFM was adjusted, and (2) their superiority in hip flexion force can be attributed to the difference in PM CSA.