Research and News
Posts tagged exercise prescription
Thera-Band exercise program can improve lower limb biomechanics in females
Jan 30th
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our email updates for new blog posts. Thanks for visiting!
Female athletes are particularly susceptible to anterior knee pain and injury to their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This increased risk is thought to result from poor dynamic control of the hip and knee, particularly when the foot hits the ground. The inability to control hip adduction, knee valgus, and internal rotation in the transition from an open- to closed-chain position of the leg may result from weakness of the hip abductor and external rotator muscles.
Researchers have suggested that females have weakness of their hip abductors, extensors, and external rotators (Prins et al. 2009). Exercise programs using Thera-Band® elastic resistance for females with anterior knee pain have been successful and featured previously in the Academy blog. These programs include core stabilization, as well as hip and knee strengthening exercises.
In the January 2012 journal, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Brazilian researchers published a study of 28 healthy female athletes. They wanted to determine if their exercise program could improve lower limb biomechanics, which theoretically may help reduce injuries. The subjects were assigned to either an 8 week training group or non-exercising control group.
The More >
Announcing the Thera-Band® Resistance Intensity Scale for Exercise (RISE)
Dec 15th
Thera-Band RISE
Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is commonly used during exercise to indicate the intensity of exercise. Originally developed and used in cardiac rehab and aerobic exercise, more recently, RPE is also being used to regulate exercise intensity during resistance exercises. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends using RPE to dose resistance training exercises. The OMNI scale is a popular RPE scale that uses a 1 to 10 point scale with visual representation of the exercises performed.
Dr. Juan Colado of the University of Valencia in Spain has validated the use of perceived exertion during Thera-Band® resisted exercises using the OMNI-RES (resistance) scale. He has shown that using the scale is an effective method of dosing elastic resistance exercises for significant gains in strength and muscle mass (Colado & Triplett 2008). At the TRAC 2011 meeting, Dr. Colado presented a new scale specific to Thera-Band resistance bands.
20 healthy subjects performed frontal and lateral raises with Thera-Band elastic bands while rating their perceived exertion on the OMNI-RES scale, and then on his new RISE (Resistance Intensity Scale for Exercise) scale – for exertion rating of both the active muscles and the overall body. Using a regression analysis, Dr. Colado demonstrated high validity More >
Exercises after Achilles tendon reconstruction: an EMG-based progression
Oct 13th
Post-operative rehabilitation depends on 3 people: the surgeon, the patient, and the therapist. Obviously, the surgeon must be technically proficient, the patient must be compliant, and the therapist must promote healing without damaging the surgical repair. Orthopedic surgeons often have therapists follow specific rehabilitation protocols, usually based on tissue-healing timeframes.
Tim Tyler PT ATC
Prescribing therapeutic exercise at the appropriate dosage is essential since some tissue stress is necessary to facilitate proper healing; however, too much stress can damage the repair. Little is known about the stresses to tissues during Achilles tendon exercises. Thera-Band® Academy Scientific Advisory Board member Tim Tyler, PT ATC presented EMG analysis data on common Achilles exercises at the 2011 TRAC Annual Meeting.
Ten healthy subjects performed several common exercises, including Thera-Band resisted plantar flexion. The EMG activation levels are reported as a percentage of a maximal contraction:
-
Thera-Band Plantar Flexion
Seated toe raise : 11%
- Single-leg balance on Wobble Board : 25%
- Prone ankle pumps : 38%
- Plantar flexion with red Thera-Band exercise band : 45%
- Walking : 47%
- Lateral Step-up : 60%
- Single leg heel raise : 112%
- Single leg jump : 112%
While EMG levels are not a direct measure of tissue stress, they can help establish an appropriate progression of high to low intensity activities. For example, Thera-Band ankle More >
A better way to prescribe shoulder rehab exercise intensity?
Aug 31st
OMNI-RES Scale
Physical and occupational therapists often use both elastic and dumbbell resistance during shoulder rehabilitation exercises. Unfortunately, many therapists arbitrarily assign resistance levels to patients during their exercises based only on clinical experience. In the fitness setting, RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) scales have been used successfully in dosing the intensity of both isotonic and Thera-Band® elastic resistance exercises (Colado & Triplett, 2008). In addition, RPE has been shown to be similar between Thera-Band and isotonic resistance of similar EMG activation during shoulder exercise in healthy subjects (Andersen et al, 2010). Most recently, as discussed on the Academy Blog, the OMNI-RES scale for perceived exertion was shown to be valid when used to prescribe elastic resistance exercise in healthy individuals.
Todd Ellenbecker DPT
Scientific Advisory Board memberTodd Ellenbecker, DPT from the Physiotherapy Sports Clinic in Scottsdale Arizona wanted to see if he could use RPE during rehabilitation exercises for his shoulder patients. He presented the results of his pilot study at the 13th annual TRAC meeting in San Francisco.
31 shoulder patients including 21 post-operative and 10 non-operative patients were in the study. They were asked to rate their perceived exertion using the OMNI-RES scale during several common shoulder exercises that were performed with both Thera-Band More >
Can we use perceived exertion to dose elastic exercise intensity?
Aug 30th
Several studies have suggested that Thera-Band® resistance is as effective as isotonic resistance (Andersen et al. 2010, Colado & Triplett 2008) with regard to muscle strengthening, power, endurance as well as its’ impact on body composition. One of the difficulties in comparing elastic and isotonic training programs is ensuring each group exercises at the same intensity level. While isotonic strengthening programs are usually dosed using a percentage of maximal strength (% repetition maximum), elastic resistance is often dosed by color progression without clinicians necessarily having a clear understanding of the resistive properties of bands and tubing. For a true comparison between groups using different types of resistance, the intensity must be similar.
Juan Carlos Colado, PhD
In 2008, Scientific Advisory Board member Dr. Juan Carlos Colado from the University of Valencia in Spain used the OMNI-RES scale to solve this disparity between 2 groups using isotonic or elastic resistance, proving that both Thera-Band elastic bands and isotonic resistance machines used at similar intensities can successfully improve strength and muscle mass in middle-aged women (Colado & Triplett 2008). This study first gave some validity to the use of the OMNI scale in prescribing elastic resistance exercise intensity.
OMNI-RES Scale
At the TRAC 2011 meeting, Dr. Colado presented More >
