Research and News
Thera-Band Loops
ATP tour uses Thera-Band® products for their players
Aug 30th
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.
Abduction exercise after hip replacement: is there an optimal progression?
Aug 23rd
Patients undergoing total hip replacement often have weak hip abductor muscles before and after surgery. One of the most common hip exercises is sidelying hip abduction using an ankle weight. While this may be an effective exercise to activate the gluteus medius muscle, open-chain, non-weight bearing hip abduction is not specific to the function of the gluteus medius as a pelvic stabilizer in single-leg stance. Resisted lateral walking with a Thera-Band® Band Loop or Tubing with Cuffs is an example of such a closed-chain exercise as the patient steps away from the involved leg.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky evaluated electromyographic (EMG) levels of 4 exercises in total hip patients between 7 and 32 weeks post-operative. Dr. Cale Jacobs and colleagues were interested to see if there was a progression of muscle activation to guide clinical decisions about hip abduction exercise prescription. They published their findings in the Journal of Arthroplasty. The 4 exercises included 2 non-weight bearing and 2 weight-bearing exercises:
- Standing hip abduction with cuff weight at 1% of bodyweight, lifted to 30 degrees
- Sidelying hip abduction with cuff weight at 0.5% of bodyweight, lifted to 50% of leg length
- Standing hip abduction with uninvolved leg to 30 degrees
- Lateral walk with Thera-Band resistance band attached with More >
Balance training program effective for basketball players
Apr 15th
Several studies have shown that balance exercises and “neuromuscular training” are effective at reducing injuries in athletes. Neuromuscular exercises typically incorporate products such as Thera-Band® Stability Trainers, Stability Discs, balance boards, and exercise balls. Athletic training researchers wanted to determine if a neuromuscular training program was effective at improving balance in high school athletes.
Two groups of female basketball players were assigned to either a 6-week neuromuscular exercise program or a control group (the subjects weren’t randomized; they were assigned to a group based on their school). Athletes were tested for their static balance and dynamic balance; the static balance test (BESS) used foam pads to create an unstable surface to evaluate postural stability.
The exercise group completed a twice a week, 6-week program that included 4 training stations: functional strengthening, plyometrics, agility training, and balance training. Each session lasted about 1.5 hours. The functional training station utilized elastic band loops and exercise balls, and the balance station utilized foam rolls.
After analysis of the 50 athletes completing the study, the authors found significant improvements in both static and dynamic balance. While these results may sound intuitive, other studies have shown no increase in balance with more simple balance exercises, possibly due to a More >
Thera-Band® program helps improve lower extremity strength and biomechanics in female athletes
Feb 1st
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears occur in about one in every 3000 Americans; 80% of these injuries are non-contact, often requiring surgical reconstruction. Female athletes have a higher incidence of ACL injury, likely due to biomechanical differences compared to males. Research has focused on exercise programs that help improve these biomechanics in order to prevent ACL injuries. Dr. Dan Herman MD, PhD received a research award from Thera-Band Academy to investigate the effects of a strengthening program on jump-landing biomechanics of female athletes at the University of North Carolina. The protocol utilized Thera-Band® elastic bands and exercise balls.
Initially, Dr. Herman published a study concluding that while the protocol was effective at improving strength, the biomechanics of the athletes remained unchanged. He concluded that strengthening alone was not sufficient, and set out to find what needed to be combined with the training program. His subsequent study combined the Thera-Band strengthening protocol with video-assisted feedback, and he compared the combined intervention to a group receiving feedback only. Dr. Herman and his colleagues found that the group receiving both feedback and strengthening improved their biomechanics more than the feedback-only group. The paper won the 2008 O’Donoghue award from the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, given to the best More >
Thera-Band Loop Exercise Videos
Oct 13th
Check out these videos using the Thera-Band Loop for shoulder and lower extremity exercises with 3 of the nation’s top physical therapists and performance enhancement specialists:
Todd Ellenbecker, DPT, Physiotherapy Associates, Phoenix AZ
Sue Falsone PT ATC, Athletes Performance, Tempe AZ
Bart Bishop DPT, Sport & Spine Rehabilitation, Washington DC
