Research and News
Posts tagged hamstring strain
Thera-Band® Exercise helps Washington Redskins Cheerleaders
May 3rd
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Research on the Washington Redskins Professional Cheerleading team found that one-third suffered from lower back and hamstring pain (Greenstein & Bishop 2006). The ballistic chorus line-like kicks and drop splits are thought to be the reason for this high injury rate. A team of researchers from the Thera-Band Research Advisory Committee (TRAC) wanted to determine if an exercise intervention targeting the hamstrings could reduce the incidence of hamstring pain. Dr. Jay Greenstein, the chiropractor for the team, developed an eccentric hamstring training program with Thera-Band band loops. Injury data was collected at 3 points in the year: team selection in June, before pre-season in June, and after the season in December.
During the season, the cheerleaders performed the exercises 2 times per week at practice, as well as at home 3 times a week. Those with hamstring pain were assigned a Red Thera-Band band loop to perform the ‘split-stance’ eccentric hamstring exercise
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Cheerleaders without hamstring pain used a Green Thera-Band loop and performed the ‘split-stance’ exercise, as well as a single-leg stance exercise.
Each exercise was performed a prescribed number of times based on the More >
Proprioceptive training reduces injury rates and recovery time in female soccer players
Oct 28th
Proprioceptive exercise training has been shown in several studies to reduce soccer injury rates. Unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band® Stability Trainers, Stability Discs, and balance boards can be part of an effective proprioceptive training program. Several studies have shown reductions in ACL tears and ankle sprains which are considered “non-contact” injuries. German researchers hypothesized that the same preventive effects of proprioceptive training may apply to other lower extremity injuries, namely hamstring, patellar tendon, and Achilles tendon injuries. They implemented a multi-station soccer-specific exercise program involving jumps and balance training on a wobble board with the Premier League female soccer team, Bayern Muenchen. Their results were published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
At the end of the 3 year intervention, non-contact hamstring injury rates were significantly reduced 64%, from 22.4 to 8.2. Patella tendon injuries were reduced by 67% (3 vs. 1) and achilles injuries reduced by 100% (1.5 to 0). The mean time lost to injury for the players also significantly decreased from 14.4 days to 1.5 days. In addition, the researchers identified a dose-effect of the training: the more time spent balance training, the lower the rate of injuries.
This study suggests that implementing soccer-specific proprioceptive training can reduce non-contact and More >
