Dynamic postural control and physical stress: an approach to determining injury risk in real sporting conditions

Abstract

Dynamic postural control is one of the essential factors in situations where non-contact injuries mainly occur, i.e., landing, cutting, or stopping. Therefore, testing of dynamic postural control should be implemented in injury risk assessment. Moreover, non-contact injuries mainly occur under loaded conditions when the athlete is physically stressed. Therefore, risk factors and mechanisms of these injuries should also be regarded under loading conditions and not only when the athlete is recovered. Current studies examining the influence of physical load on risk factors, such as dynamic postural control, often use cycling protocols to stress the participants. Nevertheless, most types of sports require running as a central element and the induced internal load after cycling might not be the same after running. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the influence of a running and a cycling protocol on dynamic postural control and to determine the potential injury risk under representative conditions. In total, 128 sport students (64 males and 64 females, age: 23.64 ± 2.44, height: 176.54 ± 8.96 cm, weight: 68.85 ± 10.98 kg) participated in the study. They were tested with the Y Balance Test before and after one loading protocol. A total of 64 participants completed a protocol on a cycle ergometer and the other 64 on a treadmill. A mixed ANOVA showed significant interactions of time and load type. Dynamic postural control was reduced immediately after cycling but did not change after running. These findings indicate a load type dependence of dynamic postural control that must be considered while assessing an athlete’s potential injury risk and they support the need for more representative designs.

Acute and chronic changes in postural control in response to different physiological states and external environmental conditions

“…These findings indicate that the legs were possibly stressed equally due to both types of physical load, which seems not surprising concerning the symmetric/cyclic nature of the chosen loading protocols. However, it must be considered that the normalized reach distances were only decreasing after cycling but not after running (Heil and Büsch, 2022). Therefore, future studies should also take potentially upcoming differences in the internal load between different load types into account.…”

“…The protocol was based on a study by Johnston et al (2018) that was adapted and systematically replicated. The recorded data was analyzed in different studies considering different aspects (Heil et al, 2020b;Heil and Büsch, 2022). The whole project was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the local Ethics committee approved the protocol.…”

How the multiplanar trunk resistance affects the dynamic postural control during single-leg vertical jumps in college athletes with poor movement quality

“…Studies have shown a strong relation between poor movement quality of the trunk and the lower limbs (such as misalignment, excessive movement and imbalances 2,3 ) and joint overload 4,5 . Additionally, another essential factor in situations where non-contact injuries mainly occur is the dynamic postural control 6 . Considering that the incidence of non-contact injuries in sport is high, there is a need for appropriate approaches for training and reducing injury risks.…”