The Injury Clinic physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coaches are always staying up to date with the latest research and findings to make sure that they deliver the most effective evidence-based treatment.
Staying up to date with current research is very important for practitioners as it provides:
- Evidence-based information on the effectiveness of treatment/exercises to ensure it is always relevant.
- Their patient care is always of a high professional standard as it aids in informed clinical decisions supported by research.
Current research articles, their summaries and key findings can be found below:
Evidence-based Hamstring Injury Prevention and Risk Factor Management: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised control trials (Rudisill et al., 2022):
Summary:
- Hamstring injuries are one of the most common injuries in athletes, representing between 12% and 29% of all total injuries, and typically occur during high-speed running or stretching to extreme lengths
- The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of different types of training in reducing hamstring injury risk and managing injury risk factors
Findings:
- Eccentric hamstring training was shown to decrease injury risk by 56.8% to 70%, and was also the most effective training method at improving fascicle length, functional hamstring/quadriceps ratio and reducing limb asymmetry
- Static stretching produced greater flexibility gains than dynamic or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), but the results did not last past 4 weeks.
- This study illustrated the importance of including eccentric strength training and static stretching into hamstring injury prevention programs.
Efficacy of Improved Results in Training to Muscular Failure in Older Adults (Mayer et al., 2011):
Summary:
- The ageing process can often be accompanied by reduction in muscle strength and mass, which will often result in difficulty performing daily tasks, an increased risk of falls, and an increase in functional impairments.
- A common method for promoting improvements in muscular strength and size, is performing resistance training exercises to muscular failure.
- Training to muscular failure has proven to be very effective yet will dramatically spike blood pressure – prompting this study to explore the efficacy of ‘non failure training’ in older adults.
Findings:
- Non failure training has similar results in older adults who have had a period away from training.
- Non failure training protocols are effective when either, ending the set voluntarily, or training to a set number of repetitions.
- Large increases in overall training volume were also observed to be not necessary in early stages of training for older populations.
Multidisciplinary, Biopsychosocial Factors Contributing to Return to Running and Running Related Stress Urinary Incontinence (Moore et al., 2022):
Summary:
- Stress urinary continence is treatable, and usually manageable with a conservative treatment plan.
- Pelvic floor dysfunction should be assessed and, when appropriate, treated.
- Postpartum care should consider exercise related pain and advise females accordingly about exercise re-engagement.
Findings:
- 19-40% of ALL runners experience stress urinary incontinence, and postpartum women are at higher risk.
- On average, women return to running at 12-weeks postpartum (74%) and 84% experienced pain in the lower limb, lower back, abdomen, breasts, thoracic or coccyx while running.
- Running during pregnancy, lower fear of movement, high pre-pregnancy running columns and no vaginal heaviness increased the likelihood of returning to running postpartum.
Short-term effectiveness of high-load compared with low-load strengthening exercise on self-reported function in patients with hypermobile shoulders: a randomised controlled trial (Liaghat et al., 2022):
Summary:
- Joint hypermobility may contribute to a range of shoulder symptoms, including pain, weakness and a sensation of laxity or instability.
- This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of high-load strengthening exercises compared to low-load exercises over 16 weeks in patient outcomes relating to function, pain and strength.
- High-load exercises included 5 different dumbbell exercises that were gradually loaded to 90% of an participants’ 10 repetition maximum. These exercises were completed 3x weekly and included twice weekly supervised gym sessions
- Low-load exercises included a range of postural correction, theraband and isometric exercises completed 3x weekly under supervision.
Findings:
- Participants in the ‘heavy-load’ group reported greater improvements in shoulder function and physical symptoms.
- Clinical implications are that gym based, heavy-load exercises should be strongly considered over lighter, home based programs for patients with symptomatic shoulder instability.
Mayer, F., Scharhag-Rosenberger, F., Carlsohn, A., Cassel, M., Müller, S. and Scharhag, J., 2011. The Intensity and Effects of Strength Training in the Elderly. Deutsches Ärzteblatt international,.
Rudisill, S. S., Varady, N. H., Kucharik, M. P., Eberlin, C. T., & Martin, S. D. (2022). Evidence-Based Hamstring Injury Prevention and Risk Factor Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/03635465221083998
