Relationships between Core Strength, Dynamic Balance and Knee Valgus during Single Leg Squat in Male Junior Athletes

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the relationships between core strength, dynamic balance and knee kinematics during single leg squat. Core strength helps to improve dynamic balance and muscle coordination between lower and upper extremities, as well as reduce injury risks and muscular strength imbalance. Dynamic balance is the ability to maintain a stable position during dynamic tasks and can be used as a predictor of injury risk factors. Thirty-two statelevel male junior athletes with a normal range of dynamic knee valgus were recruited. The participants went through a series of tests that included Modified Plank Test, Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and Single Leg Squat (SLS) test. Two-dimensional knee frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) during SLS was evaluated at a 60° knee flexion. There was a statistically significant correlation between distance reached in anteromedial direction and knee FPPA during SLS in the non-dominant leg (r = 0.374, p = 0.035). There was no significant correlation between duration of plank and knee FPPA during SLS in both dominant and non-dominant legs. The outcomes from this study are important to prevent lower limb injuries in male junior athletes. ABSTRAKKajian ini telah dijalankan untuk menilai hubungan antara kekuatan teras, keseimbangan dinamik serta kinematik lutut semasa mencangkung dengan sebelah kaki. Kekuatan teras membantu untuk memperbaiki keseimbangan dinamik dan koordinasi otot antara bahagian atas dan bawah anggota badan, di samping mengurangkan risiko kecederaan dan ketidakseimbangan kekuatan otot. Keseimbangan dinamik ialah kebolehan untuk mengekalkan posisi yang stabil semasa tugas dinamik dan boleh digunakan sebagai satu peramal faktor risiko kecederaan. Tiga puluh dua atlet junior lelaki peringkat negeri yang mempunyai lutut valgus dinamik dalam anggaran normal, telah direkrut. Peserta menjalani satu siri ujian yang merangkumi Ujian Plank Diubahsuai, Ujian Keseimbangan Pergerakan Bintang (SEBT) dan ujian Mencangkung Sebelah Kaki (SLS). Sudut unjuran lutut dua dimensi pada satah depan (FPPA) semasa SLS telah dinilai pada lutut bengkok bersudut 60°. Terdapat korelasi yang signifikan secara statistiknya antara jarak yang dicapai dalam arah anteromedial dan FPPA lutut semasa SLS pada kaki tidak dominan (r = 0.374, p = 0.035). Tiada korelasi yang signifikan antara tempoh plank dan FPPA lutut semasa SLS pada kedua-dua kaki dominan dan tidak dominan. Hasil daripada kajian ini adalah penting untuk mencegah kecederaan anggota bawah badan dalam kalangan atlet junior lelaki.Kata kunci: Atlet muda; biomekanik; lutut valgus dinamik; rantaian kinetik atas bawah

Strength and Power-Related Measures in Assessing Core Muscle Performance in Sport and Rehabilitation

“…Overall, the research in this field is mainly focused on associations of strength and/or endurance of the core muscles with different abilities, such as hand-eye coordination in non-athletes with LBP ( Reddy et al, 2017 ), knee valgus during single-leg squat in male junior athletes ( Affandi et al, 2019 ), agility in professional basketball players ( Cengizhan et al, 2019 ), scapular muscle endurance in professional athletes of basketball, football and handball ( Cobanoglu et al, 2019 ), and balance in subjects with osteoarthritis knee ( Joshi et al, 2019 ). The McGill test and double leg lowering test correlate with performance in the vertical jump, 40 yard dash, medicine ball throw and T tests significantly more than with 60-s sit-ups, indicating that core muscle endurance is important for optimal athletic performance (Shaikh et al, 2009).…”

Comparison of Knee Kinematics during Single Leg Squat across Physically Active Females with and without Dynamic Knee Valgus

“…Despite this, we manage to discover a different lower limb kinematics across physically active females with and without excessive DKV during two different SLS depths. As SLS performance is also influenced by other factors such as core strength (36), lower limb strength (37), and coordination, investigating these variables may provide a more in-depth understanding of SLS mechanics. (7,29,30).…”

Kinect Azure–Based Accurate Measurement of Dynamic Valgus Position of the Knee—A Corrigible Predisposing Factor of Osteoarthritis

“…It is well-known that the single-leg squat is not only widespread in sports medicine and sports science to assess injury risk [16,40], but also commonly applied by clinicians, physiotherapists and orthopedics [38,41,42]. Excess knee valgus is the first observable step in a chain of events that may ultimately lead to symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.…”