Research and News
Posts tagged exercise ball
New Clinical Test for Low Back Pain using Exercise Ball
Dec 2nd
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common conditions, yet the specific cause of LBP remains unknown in 85% of cases. Some researchers and clinicians postulate that LBP can be caused by neuromuscular impairments in postural and muscular coordination. Unfortunately, few clinical tests exist to quantify these impairments. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden performed a study to evaluate 3 functional tests of muscular functional control of the lumbar spine in patients with LBP. 19 subjects were evaluated during 3 tests: sitting on a 55 cm to 65 cm exercise ball with 1-leg lifted; a unilateral pelvic lift; and single leg stance. Each test looked at altered spine position or compensatory movements of the extremities.
Download a handout of the Sitting Exercise Ball test for LBP here
The researchers used the exercise ball sitting with leg lift test to create a shearing force lateral to the spine, which is thought to increase load on stabilization muscles on the contra lateral side. The authors noted that muscular stabilization capacity is often difficult between the left and right sides of the spine. The investigators found very good inter-rater reliability for the single leg stance and exercise ball leg lift tests, but the tests still need validation.
Thera-Band Exercises for Tennis Players to Prevent Injuries
Sep 13th
As with all sports, tennis injuries are all too common. The repetitive nature of tennis predispose players to many injuries as a result of muscle imbalance. Believe it or not, tennis players suffer from lower extremity injuries more than shoulder injuries. Todd Ellenbecker DPT, MS, CSCS, Director of the Physiotherapy Associates Scottsdale Sports Clinic, recently published an article in Strength & Conditioning Journal on exercises to reduce injury risk in tennis players. In the August 2009 issue, Ellenbecker and his co-authors provided a list of exercises to help reduce injury risk for the shoulder, elbow, hip, and core in tennis players. The exercises dont require expensive machines or equipment; instead, portable and inexpensive Thera-Band® products are suggested including Thera-Band bands, tubing and loops, Thera-Band Soft Weights and Exercise Balls, and cuff weights. As Director of Sports Medicine for the ATP Tour, Ellenbecker and the international team of physiotherapists regularly use Thera-Band products for testing and training professional tennis players.
Stability ball: fitness jack of all trades (Reuters)
Jul 22nd
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Call them Swiss balls, Pilates balls, physio balls, exercise balls, balance balls, yoga balls or body balls.
Stability balls by any other name would still be the same hardworking multi-taskers of the fitness world.
“They can be used for balance training, for core training, with or without weights and for resistance training,” Dr. Christina A. Geithner, of the American College of Sports Medicine, said of those big, colorful spheres that brighten the corners of workout rooms everywhere.
New book helps develop “Effective Functional Progressions in Sport Rehabilitation”
May 20th
Developing functional exercise programs for athletes is sometimes difficult, particularly for rehabilitation professionals without much experience in their patients’ sport. Human Kinetics recently released the book, Effective Functional Progressions in Sport Rehabilitation by Todd Ellenbecker, Mark De Carlo, and Carl DeRosa. The book is divided into 2 parts. Part I provides the benefits and guidelines for developing successful sports rehabilitation programs, while Part II reviews functional progressions for 3 body regions: upper extremity, lower extremity, and trunk.
Functional Exercise Progressions
Each regional chapter reviews relevant functional anatomy and describes appropriate functional tests with normative data. The normative data can be used to set goals for the athletes’ rehabilitation, which can be very helpful to practicing clinicians. Exercises are grouped into specific progressions and labeled with different stages in the progression. The exercises start with isolated, joint-specific exercises and progress to more functional movements. Some exercises also include “Pearls of Performance,” which provide additional hints on performing and progressing the exercise. The 3 chapters also include interval programs that provide specific exercise protocols for returning to sports such as tennis, baseball, football, soccer, and basketball. The exercises include easy to use and convenient equipment such as elastic tubing, dumbbells, and exercise balls, making them More >
