Research and News
Balance Products
ATP tour uses Thera-Band® products for their players
Aug 30th
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Thera-Band Research Advisory Committee (TRAC) member, Todd Ellenbecker, DPT, MS, SCS, OCS, CSCS was recently featured on a video demonstrating balance and agility exercises for tennis with Thera-Band products. Todd is the Director of Sports Medicine for the ATP Tour, and is the National Director of Clinical Research and Clinic Director of Physiotherapy Associates in Scottsdale. Learn more about the Thera-Band Stability Trainer, Band Loops, and Soft Weights that Todd recommends in the video.
You can also view the video at the ATP website here: Agility Training for Tennis with Thera-Band Products
For more information on purchasing Thera-Band products, contact your local healthcare distributor or visit our “Where to Buy” website to find a practitioner in your area who sells the products.
Another review supports proprioceptive training to prevent sports injuries
Jul 27th
It’s been documented in several studies that neuromuscular and proprioceptive exercises using unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band® Stability Trainers can reduce sports injuries. For example, Blue Thera-Band Stability Trainers were shown to reduce ankle injuries by 77% in football players at risk for ankle sprains (McHugh et al. 2007). More recently, a systematic review published in Medicine and Science and Sports and Exercise examined 7 high-quality studies on preventing sports injuries with neuromuscular/ proprioceptive training. Through a meta-analysis, the reviewers determined that neuromuscular training can effectively reduce sports injury risk, particularly those with a history of sprains.
The 7 studies they reviewed included both wobble board training (3 studies) and multi-intervention including strength training, stretching, balance training, and specific exercises (4 studies). Both balance exercise or multi-intervention exercise programs can reduce specific injuries in young athletes participating in basketball, volleyball, soccer, team handball, hockey and floorball. Specifically, balance training reduced the risk of ankle sprains by 36%, and multi-intervention training programs reduced ankle sprain risk by 50% and reduced acute knee injuries by 54%.
Thera-Band stability products can easily be incorporated in pre-season and in-season balance training programs for teams of young athletes to potentially prevent ankle and knee injuries; however, the best dosage (sets, More >
Neuromuscular training program reduces injury and improves performance in female athletes
Jul 20th
Balance training using Thera-Band® Stability Trainers and balance boards has been shown to prevent sports injuries in several studies. Researchers in Finland investigated the effects of an in-season neuromuscular training program in female floorball players. 27 teams were randomized into either a control group or intervention group that performed a 6-month neuromuscular exercise program. Each team was provided with an instruction book, 8 wobble boards, 8 balance pads, and 8, 1-kg soft weights. The program (download the sports neuromuscular warm-up protocol here) included balance, agility, plyometric, and stretching exercises.
After the 6-month season, participants in the exercise group significantly improved their static balance and jumping speed. There was no difference in improvement between groups in their jump height or agility running speed. In addition, the researchers found 66% lowered risk for leg injuries in the exercise group (the authors published a separate article in the British Medical Journal in 2008). These studies show that an in-season neuromuscular training program including Thera-Band stability trainers, wobble boards, and soft weights can prevent injury and improve performance in female athletes.
REFERENCE: Pasanen K, Parkkari J, Pasanen M, Kannus P. Effect of a neuromuscular warm-up programme on muscle power, balance, speed and agility: a randomised controlled study. Br J Sports More >
Functional rehabilitation of chronic ankle instability effective
Jul 12th
It’s been reported that athletes suffering an ankle sprains re-injure their ankle 70% to 80% of the time. This leads to chronic ankle instability or ‘functional ankle instability’. Rehabilitation for chronic ankle sprains often includes functional exercises including dynamic closed-chain activities. Thera-Band® products such as elastic resistance bands, stability trainers and balance boards are used for functional rehabilitation.
Researchers at the University of Toledo performed a systematic review of functional exercise interventions for their effectiveness. They identified 6 studies that met their criteria for the review, including 4 that used balance boards and elastic resistance strengthening. The researchers concluded that functional rehabilitation improves dynamic balance and self-reported function in patients with chronic ankle sprains. The exercise programs from the reviewed studies generally lasted 4 to 6 weeks and were performed 3 to 5 times a week. Finally, they pointed out that wobble board training in rehabilitation programs is “supported by the literature”; therefore, Thera-Band balance boards should be a standard component of chronic ankle instability rehabilitation program.
REFERENCE Webster KA, Gribble PA. Functional rehabilitation interventions for chronic ankle instability: a systematic review. J Sport Rehabil. 2010 Feb;19(1):98-114.
Visit the Thera-Band Academy Ankle Sprain resource center here
Progression of closed-chain gluteus medius exercises
Jun 10th
The gluteus medius muscle is an important frontal plane stabilizer of the pelvis. Although its primary function is pelvic stabilization in singe leg stance (closed-chain), many therapists and trainers continue to strengthen the gluteus medius in an open chain using hip abduction. The addition of an unstable surface such as a Thera-Band® Stability Trainer is thought to increase muscle activation due to the increased challenge of stabilizing the pelvis in the frontal plane while balancing on a labile surface.
Researchers at the Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota performed a descriptive electromyographic (EMG) study to quantify the activation of the gluteus medius during different closed-chain weight-bearing exercises. Young, healthy subjects performed 5 exercises: bilateral stance, unilateral stance, unilateral stance on foam, single leg squat, and single leg squat on foam.
The researchers found that single leg stance exercises produced significantly greater EMG activity compared to bilateral stance. In addition, single leg squats produced significantly more EMG activity than single leg stance. While not statistically significant, performing single-leg exercises on a foam pad did produce more EMG activity of the gluteus medius than a stable surface.
Below are the estimated peak muscle activation levels for each exercise. Unfortunately, the authors did not provide the actual % maximal contraction values (MVICs) of More >
