Muscle guarding during Kt-1000 testing as measured by electromyography

Twelve anterior cruciate deficient ACL-D participants volunteered for the study to compare muscular activity before and during two different protocols of KT-1000 knee arthrometer testing (KT-1000). Muscular activity was measured by the amount of electrical activity in specific muscles which cross the injured knee by an electromyogram (EMG). The muscles being tested are the Semimembranosis (SM), the Rectus femoris (RF), the Biceps femoris (BF), the lateral head of the Gastrocnemius (LG), and the medial head of the Gastrocnemius. The resting test (Zero Newtons) involved placing the KT-1000 on a participant but not applying any force. The 89 Newton (89N) test involved pulling the KT-1000 anteriorly with 89 Newtons of pressure. The Manual Maximal (MM) test involves the examiner applying a maximal anterior force to the posterior calf KT-1000 testing was performed at 20{dollar}\beta{-}30\beta{dollar} of knee flexion. EMG recordings were taken 100 times per second. An analysis of variance was performed for each muscle providing information as to which muscles if any are active during testing. Initial results indicate there is evidence that there is no increase in muscular activity during KT-1000 testing on subjects that are ACL-D

Cupping Therapy Does Not Influence Healthy Adult\u27s Hamstring Range of Motion Compared to Control or Sham Conditions

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(3): 216-224, 2020. Cupping therapy, a form of traditional Chinese medicine, has recently gained popularity as a therapeutic modality among sports medicine clinicians. While the use of cupping therapy to decrease musculoskeletal pain is supported by recent research findings, evaluations on the use of cupping therapy to influence range of motion (ROM) are limited. The purpose of the study was to identify if cupping therapy applied passively for 10 minutes increases flexibility compared to sham treatment or control conditions. Twenty-five participants with hamstring ROM less than 80° and no previous cupping therapy experience completed the study. Participants reported to the laboratory on three occasions for one of three randomly assigned treatment conditions (cupping, sham, or control) for 10 minutes while prone. Hamstring flexibility was evaluated three times (pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 10-minutes post-treatment) via ROM measured during an active straight leg raise. Participants returned on two other occasions to receive the remaining treatment conditions. A 3 (treatment condition) x 3 (time) repeated measures analysis of variance was utilized for statistical analysis. There was no interaction between condition and time (p= 0.78). Within-subjects effects for time (p= 0.76) was not significant. Post hoc pairwise comparison of treatment conditions found no differences between control and cupping (p= 0.36), cupping and sham (p= 0.35), or control and sham (p=0.98) conditions. Cupping therapy applied statically for 10 minutes does not increase hamstring flexibility compared to a sham treatment or control condition

Assessing the Validity of Several Heart Rate Monitors in Wearable Technology While Mountain Biking

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(7): 1440-1450, 2023. Purpose: This study sought to assess the validity of several heart rate (HR) monitors in wearable technology during mountain biking (MTB), compared to the Polar H7® HR monitor, used as the criterion device. Methods: A total of 20 participants completed two MTB trials while wearing six HR monitors (5 test devices, 1 criterion). HR was recorded on a second-by-second basis for all devices analyzed. After data processing, validity measures were calculated, including 1. error analysis: mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE), mean absolute error (MAE), and mean error (ME), and 2. Correlation analysis: Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). Thresholds for validity were set at MAPE \u3c 10% and CCC \u3e 0.7. Results: The only device that was found to be valid during mountain biking was the Suunto Spartan Sport watch with accompanying HR monitor, with a MAPE of 0.66% and a CCC of 0.99 for the overall, combined data. Conclusion: If a person would like to track their HR during mountain biking, for pacing, training, or other reasons, the devices best able to produce valid results are chest-based, wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors, secured by elastic straps to minimize the movement of the device, such as the Suunto chest-based HR monitor

The Acute Effect of Hip External Rotator Stretches on Hip Internal Rotation Range of Motion

The effects of static stretching on range of motion have been widely studied. However, most of the research has focused on hamstring stretching. The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effect of two commonly used static stretches on hip internal rotation passive range of motion (HIR-PROM). Participants (N=30, 15 male, 15 female; 22±1.8 yrs.; 173.5±8.5cm; 73.8±12.7 kg) were randomly assigned (with gender controlled) to one of three groups: control, figure 4 stretch and modified lunge stretch. Pre-test and post-test HIR-PROM was measured on each subject’s non-dominant hip. HIR-PROM was measured with a goniometer from the prone position. The knee was flexed to 90° and the hip was passively internally rotated. Each subject completed a 10 minute warm-up on a cycle ergometer. Upon completion of the warm-up the two stretching groups completed the respective stretching protocol while the control group rested on a table. A mixed method factorial ANOVA was used to analyze main effects (group, time) and if a significant interaction occurred. There was no interaction or group main effect (p\u3e0.05). However, there was a time main effect regardless of group assignment (F1,27=33.151, p\u3c0.001). There appears to be no enhanced acute effect on HIR-PROM when a figure 4 or modified lunge stretch is implemented in addition to a 10 minute warm-up on a stationary bike. In an effort to improve efficiency clinicians may choose to forgo post-cycle ergometer warm-up figure 4 or modified lunge stretching when attempting to acutely increase HIR-PROM