Targeting associated mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injury in female community-level athletes
Abstract
This study aims to determine if biomechanically informed injury prevention training can reduce associated factors of anterior cruciate ligament injury risk among a general female athletic population. Female community-level team sport athletes, split into intervention (n = 8) and comparison groups (n = 10), completed a sidestepping movement assessment prior to and following a 9-week training period, in which kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular data were collected. The intervention group completed a biomechanically informed training protocol, consisting of plyometric, resistance and balance exercises, adjunct to normal training, for 15–20 min twice a week. Following the 9-week intervention, total activation of the muscles crossing the knee (n = 7) decreased for both the training (∆ −15.02%, d = 0.45) and comparison (∆ −9.68%, d = 0.47) groups. This decrease was accompanied by elevated peak knee valgus (∆ +27.78%, d = −0.36) and internal rotation moments (∆ +37.50%, d = −0.56) in the comparison group, suggesting that female community athletes are at an increased risk of injury after a season of play. Peak knee valgus and internal rotation knee moments among athletes who participated in training intervention did not change over the intervention period. Results suggest participation in a biomechanically informed training intervention may mitigate the apparent deleterious effects of community-level sport participation.
RAS ID
32464
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2017
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
Copyright
subscription content
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Comments
Staynor, J. M. D., Nicholas, J. C., Weir, G., Alderson, J. A., & Donnelly, C. J. (2017). Targeting associated mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injury in female community-level athletes. Sports Biomechanics, 16(4), 501-513. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2016.1246597