Research and News
Posts tagged closed chain exercise
It’s not too late to exercise years after knee arthroscopy
Feb 22nd
Meniscus tears in the knee are relatively common, particularly in middle-aged athletic individuals. Arthroscopic surgery is often performed to remove damaged cartilage. Surprisingly, some orthopedic surgeons do not prescribe physical therapy after knee arthroscopy, feeling patients can recover on their own with a few simple exercises. Unfortunately, this may lead to long-term deficits in strength, range of motion, and function. Such deficits may predispose patients to knee osteoarthritis as well.
Scandinavian researchers wanted to evaluate the effects of a functional proprioceptive-based exercise program several years after arthroscopic meniscectomy. 30 patients at 4 years after their surgery were randomly assigned to the functional training group or a non-exercising control group. Both groups were tested for functional performance, strength, and self-reported pain and quality of life before and after the 4 month study.
The exercise group was led by a physiotherapist 3 times per week. A neuromuscular exercise program was developed including foam pads, balance boards and mini-trampolines. The program emphasized closed kinetic chain exercises, muscular coactivation, reactive neuromuscular training, and functional alignment. After 4 months, the functional exercise group had significantly better function and strength than the control group.
While improvements in strength and function can be expected in an exercise group compared to a non-exercising More >
Adding elastic resistance to free weight bench press better for muscular strength and power
Feb 18th
Free weight isotonic resistance using barbells continues to be the ‘gold standard’ for strength training for power lifting. Recently, strength and conditioning professionals have added elastic resistance to free-weight exercises such as the bench press and squat to increase strength, power and speed. The additional downward force of the band during the early phases of the lift provides increased eccentric loading which may provide greater stimulus for gains in strength and power. In theory, the greater eccentric velocities may shorten deceleration time, which may increase the rate of force development with training.
Adding ‘variable resistance training’ using elastic bands is also thought to provide increased resistance where the joints have more leverage in earlier phases of the lift, with decreasing loads during periods of less leverage near later phases of the movement such as the bottom of the squat. When reviewing the literature on the benefits of adding elastic resistance bands to free weight exercises, some studies suggest it improves strength and power, while others do not.
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compared traditional bench press training with and without the addition of external variable resistance loads (elastic bands and heavy chains). 36 Division-I AA football players were More >
