thesis

Strategies to Decrease Movement Variability in the Ankle Joint in Cyclists

Abstract

Coordination variability is thought to be indicative of a cyclist’s skill level as novices have higher levels of variability than experts (Sides & Wilson, 2012). It was hypothesized that the externally focused instructions with visual feedback group would decrease coordination variability in the ankle joint to a greater extent than those in the internally focused instructions with visual feedback group. Six cyclists (30-40 years) completed a four day acquisition period and a retention test. During this time participants cycled for 10-15 minutes at a power output equal to 2.0-2.5W/kg of body mass. Participants were provided with internally or externally focused instructions and visual feedback relating to those instructions. Two separate 6 (Trial Block) X 2 (Group) Mixed Model Repeated Measures ANOVAs were used to determine if the groups’ coordination variability (via MARP and DP values) changed as a result of the intervention. Both groups responded in a similar manner with DP values increasing above pretest values because participants were asked to perform a new task. DP values tended to decrease during the intervention and at retention, DP values continued to decrease. It is believed that the intervention was not long enough to cause a lasting change in how cyclists performed

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