Journal of strength and conditioning research
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J Strength Cond Res · Nov 2013
Acute Effects of contract-relax stretching vs. TENS in young subjects with anterior knee pain: a randomized controlled trial.
The aim of this study was to examine the immediate effects on pressure point tenderness, range of motion and vertical jump of contract-relax stretching versus transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) therapy in individuals with anterior knee pain (AKP). Eighty-four subjects with AKP were randomly assigned to one of three different intervention groups: a contract-relax stretching group (n=28), a TENS intervention group (n=28) and a control group (n=28). The participants included in the sample were both sex (37.5% men vs 62.5% women) at mean age of 21 years old, with mean values of height and weight of 169 cm and 64 kg. ⋯ A significant increase pre to post treatment in ROM (p<0.001) was also observed in both treatment groups. In VJ measures, TENS and stretching groups showed significant differences between pre and all post-intervention values (p<0.05), while no significant differences were found in the control group. In conclusion, the results show significant pre-to-post-treatment effects in PPT, ROM and VJ from both contract-relax stretching and TENS in young subjects with AKP.
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J Strength Cond Res · Nov 2013
Pressure pain mapping of the wrist extensors after repeated eccentric exercise at high intensity.
The purpose of this study was to investigate adaptation mechanisms after 2 test rounds consisting of eccentric exercise using pressure pain imaging of the wrist extensors. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were assessed over 12 points forming a 3 × 4 matrix over the dominant elbow in 12 participants. From the PPT assessments, pressure pain maps were computed. ⋯ A lack of hyperalgesia, i.e., no decrease in PPT underlined adaptation after the second test round of eccentric exercise performed 7 days after the initial test round. The present findings showed for the first time that repeated eccentric exercise performed twice over 2 weeks protects the wrist extensor muscles from developing exacerbated pressure pain sensitivity. Thus, the addition of eccentric components to training regimens should be considered to induce protective adaptation.