Research and News
Stability Trainer
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 >
Exercise with Thera-Band® Stability Trainers helps improve dynamic balance in patients with hip osteoarthritis and replacement
Jun 1st
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, there are over 200,000 hip replacements performed each year in the United States. The most common reason for hip replacement is osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. “Hip School,” an exercise program for patients with osteoarthritis and hip replacement was developed in Germany in 1995 by orthopedic surgeon Thomas Horstmann and physiotherapist Georg Haupt. In the program, small groups of patients (10-15) exercise under the supervision of a physical therapist. Home exercises are also performed 3 to 4 times per week. The exercises focus on strength and balance exercises for 20 minutes, including:
- 1-leg balance, 15-30 seconds for 5 reps on each leg
- 1-leg balance with opposite leg movement for 1 to 3 sets of 15-25 reps
- Hip lift for 3 sets of 15-25 reps
- 2-leg calf raise with 2-second hold, 1 to 3 sets for 15 to 25 reps.
- Patients progress from a stable surface to Thera-Band Stability Trainers.
In a paper published in the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, German researchers wanted to compare their Hip School participants with a non-exercising control group of hip patients. Each group was tested before and after 3 months using an oscillating platform (Posturomed®) to measure their static and dynamic balance. More >
Is resistance training on unstable surfaces effective?
May 6th
Instability training, or exercising while on unstable surfaces, has become both popular and controversial. Performing resistance training on unstable surfaces such as exercise balls, balance boards, stability disks, and foam pads has been shown to reduce force output, but increase activation of “core” muscles of the trunk (Behm and Anderson 2006). No studies, however, have directly compared training outcomes on stable and unstable surfaces.
In a paper published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers performed a 7 week study of resistance training exercises in 2 groups: one using unstable surfaces and the other on stable surfaces. The researchers hypothesized that the instability resistance training group would demonstrate significantly greater gains in functional testing after the program.
Forty, college-aged, healthy untrained subjects volunteered for the study. Subjects performed squats and vertical jumps, as well as 3 machine-resisted upper body exercises: lat pull down, butterfly, and bench press. Both groups performed upper body exercises at 70% of 1RM. The stable surface training group performed squats at 75% 1RM, and the instability group performed squats at 50% 1RM while balancing on wobble boards, stability discs, or a BOSU ball. The instability group also performed 4 trunk stabilization exercises on an exercise ball. Subjects More >
Stable vs. Unstable: Using Exercise Balls with the Overhead Press Exercise
Apr 29th
“Functional Training” has become increasingly popular in both rehabilitation and fitness. “Core training” has often been considered a component of functional training because of the transfer of force through the trunk to the extremities. Unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band® Exercise Balls and Stability Trainers are often used with traditional exercise movements to integrate training of the trunk and extremities.
Canadian researchers Anderson and Behm have shown that instability training can provide similar muscle activation levels at lower resistance levels compared to training on stable surfaces. Unfortunately, however, unstable surface training also results in a decrease force output of prime movers. California State University researchers set out to evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of prime movers and core stabilizers during a seated overhead press exercise. 30 healthy, resistance-trained subjects performed an overhead press with dumbbells and barbells while sitting on a stable surface and on an exercise ball. The investigators were interested in looking for differences in EMG levels between the stable load (barbell) and unstable load (dumbbell), on both stable (bench) and unstable surfaces (exercise ball). Subjects used a 10RM resistance (maximum amount of weight lifted for 10 repetitions) for each of the 4 conditions; thus, each condition had a slightly different absolute load.
As expected, More >
