Publications
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Cowell I, O'Sullivan P, O'Sullivan K, et al., 2019, The Perspectives of physiotherapists on managing non-specific low back pain following a training programme in Cognitive Functional Therapy: a qualitative study, Musculoskeletal Care, Vol: 17, Pages: 79-90, ISSN: 1478-2189
Background: It has long been acknowledged that nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is associated with a complex combination of biopsychosocial (BPS) factors, and recent guidelines advocate that the management of back pain should reflect this multidimensional complexity. Cognitive functional therapy (CFT) is a behaviourally oriented intervention that targets patients' individual BPS profiles. Although the efficacy of CFT has been demonstrated in primary care, little evidence exists about the training requirements of this approach.Methods: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 physiotherapists working in primary care, who had undergone a formal training programme in CFT. A purposive sampling method was employed to seek the broadest perspectives. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts and capture the emergent themes.Results: Five main themes emerged: (i) the learning challenge; (ii) self‐reported changes in confidence; (iii) self‐reported changes in communication practice; (iv) self‐reported changes in attitudes and understanding; (v) the physiotherapists felt that CFT was more effective than their usual approach for NSCLBP but identified barriers to successful implementation, which included a lack of time and difficulties in engaging patients with strong biomedical beliefs.Conclusions: The study suggested that training in CFT has the capacity to produce self‐reported changes in physiotherapists' attitudes, confidence and practice. The provision of such training has implications in terms of time and costs; however, this this may be warranted, given the physiotherapists' strong allegiance to the approach compared with their usual practice.
Kaufmann J, Phillips A, McGregor A, 2019, Investigating bone health in lower-limb amputees, ISB/ASB 2019
Sperry MM, Phillips ATM, McGregor AH, 2019, Lower back pain and healthy subjects exhibit distinct lower limb perturbation response strategies: a preliminary study, Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Vol: 32, Pages: 27-35, ISSN: 1053-8127
BACKGROUND: It is hypothesized that inherent differences in movement strategies exist between control subjects and those with a history of lower back pain (LBP). Previous motion analysis studies focus primarily on tracking spinal movements, neglecting the connection between the lower limbs and spinal function. Lack of knowledge surrounding the functional implications of LBP may explain the diversity in success from general treatments currently offered to LBP patients. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study evaluated the response of healthy controls and individuals with a history of LBP (hLBP) to a postural disturbance. METHODS: Volunteers (n= 26) were asked to maintain standing balance in response to repeated balance disturbances delivered via a perturbation platform while both kinematic and electromyographic data were recorded from the trunk, pelvis, and lower limb. RESULTS: The healthy cohort utilized an upper body-focused strategy for balance control, with substantial activation of the external oblique muscles. The hLBP cohort implemented a lower limb-focused strategy, relying on activation of the semitendinosus and soleus muscles. No significant differences in joint range of motion were identified. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that particular reactive movement patterns may indicate muscular deficits in subjects with hLBP. Identification of these deficits may aid in developing specific rehabilitation programs to prevent future LBP recurrence.
Papi E, Bull A, McGregor A, 2019, Spinal segments do not move together predictably during daily activities, Gait and Posture, Vol: 67, Pages: 277-283, ISSN: 0966-6362
Background: Considering the thoracic, lumbar spine or whole spine as rigid segments has been the norm until recent studies highlighted the importance of more detailed modelling. A better understanding of the requirement for spine multi-segmental analysis could guide planning of future studies and avoid missing clinically-relevant information.Research question: This study aims to assess the correlation between adjacent spine segments movement thereby evaluating segmental redundancy in both healthy and participants with low back pain (LBP).Methods: A 3D motion capture system tracked the movement of upper and lower thoracic and lumbar spine segments in twenty healthy and twenty participants with LBP. Tasks performed included walking, sit-to-stand and lifting, repeated 3 times. 3D angular kinematics were calculated for each spine segment. Segmental redundancy was evaluated through cross-correlation (Rxy) analysis of kinematics time series and correlation of range of motion (RROM) of adjacent spine segments.Results: The upper/lower lumbar pairing showed weak correlations in the LBP group for all tasks and anatomical planes (Rxyrange:0.02–0.36) but moderate and strong correlations during walking (Rxy _frontalplane:0.4) and lifting (Rxy _sagittalplane:0.64) in the healthy group. The lower thoracic/upper lumbar pairing had weak correlations for both groups during lifting and sit-to-stand in the frontal plane and for walking (Rxy:0.01) in the sagittal plane only. The upper/lower thoracic pairing had moderate correlations during sit-to-stand in sagittal and transverse plane in patients with LBP (Rxy _sagittalplane:0.41; Rxy _transverse plane:−0.42) but weak in healthy (Rxy _sagittalplane:0.23; Rxy _transverseplane:−0.34); the contrary was observed during lifting.The majority of RROM values (55/72) demonstrated weak correlations.Significance:The results suggest that multi-segmental analysis of the spine is necessary if spine movement characteristics are to be
Cowell I, O'Sullivan P, O'Sullivan K, et al., 2018, Perceptions of physiotherapists towards the management of non-specific chronic low back pain from a biopsychosocial perspective: a qualitative study, Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, Vol: 38, Pages: 113-119, ISSN: 2468-8630
BackgroundPhysiotherapists have been urged to embrace a patient-oriented biopsychosocial (BPS) framework for the management of non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP). However, recent evidence suggests that providing broader BPS interventions demonstrates small differences in pain or disability compared to usual care. Little is known about how to integrate a BPS model into physiotherapy practice and the challenges it presents.ObjectiveTo explore the perceptions of physiotherapists' in primary care in England adopting a BPS approach to managing NSCLBP patients.MethodQualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten physiotherapists working in primary care. A purposive sampling method was employed to seek the broadest perspectives. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts and capture the emergent themes.ResultsThree main themes emerged: (1) physiotherapists recognised the multi-dimensional nature of NSCLBP and the need to manage the condition from a BPS perspective, (2) addressing psychological factors was viewed as challenging due to a lack of training and guidance, (3) engaging patients to self-manage their NSCLBP was seen as a key objective.ConclusionAlthough employing a BPS approach is recognised by physiotherapists in the management of NSCLBP, this study highlights the problems of implementing evidence based guidelines recommending that psychological factors be addressed but providing limited support for this. It also supports the need to allocate more time to explore these domains in distressed individuals. Engaging patients to self-manage was seen as a key objective, which was not a straightforward process, requiring careful negotiation.
Wong JKL, McGregor AH, 2018, Spatiotemporal gait changes in healthy pregnant women and women with pelvic girdle pain: a systematic review, Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Vol: 31, Pages: 821-838, ISSN: 1053-8127
INTRODUCTION: Gait is affected in women with pelvic girdle pain (PGP), a musculoskeletal condition affecting 20% of pregnant women. Whilst there is evidence of spatiotemporal changes in gait during healthy pregnancy, less is known in relation to women with PGP. Appreciating gait characteristics during healthy pregnancy could inform our understanding of the role of gait in PGP. PURPOSE: The purpose of this review was to systematically analyse differences in the spatiotemporal parameters of gait in healthy pregnant women and those with PGP, and to make recommendations to improve research methods in investigating gait in PGP women. METHODS: The review was undertaken following the PRISMA guidelines. Three databases and pre-existing literature were electronically and manually searched. Study selection and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers. Quality assessment was performed using the NHLBI tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional Studies. RESULTS: The search returned 2925 results. Fourteen studies were selected for data extraction. Twelve studies investigated gait in healthy pregnant women and two in PGP women. Studies employed either a cohort or cross-sectional design and used various methods to assess gait. Three, nine and two studies were high, medium and low in quality, respectively. Direct comparisons between studies were impeded due to incomparable gestational time-points investigated, in addition to variations in gait parameters and definitions used. CONCLUSION: Evidence from studies on healthy pregnant women could inform future research on PGP women, for which current evidence is scarce. We recommend the standardisation of critical factors to allow inter-study comparisons for a meta-analysis.
Kaufmann J, Phillips A, McGregor A, 2018, Investigating bone health in lower-limb amputees, 2018 Blast Injury Conference
Favier C, McGregor A, Phillips A, 2018, Subject specific multiscale modelling of the lumbar spine, 14th Annual Bath Biomechanics Symposium
Kaufmann J, Phillips A, McGregor A, 2018, Investigating bone health in lower-limb amputees, 14th Bath Biomechanics Symposium
Rawson T, Sivakumaran P, Lobo R, et al., 2018, Development of a web-based tool for undergraduate engagement in medical research; the ProjectPal experience, BMC Medical Education, Vol: 18, ISSN: 1472-6920
BackgroundWe report the development and evaluation of a web-based tool designed to facilitate student extra-curricular engagement in medical research through project matching students with academic supervisors.UK based university students were surveyed to explore their perceptions of undergraduate research, barriers and facilitators to current engagement. Following this, an online web-based intervention (www.ProjectPal.org) was developed to support access of students to research projects and supervisors. A pilot intervention was undertaken across a London-based university in January 2013 to February 2016. In March 2016, anonymised data were extracted from the prospective data log for analysis of website engagement and usage. Supervisors were surveyed to evaluate the website and student outputs.ResultsFifty-one students responded to the electronic survey. Twenty-four (47%) reported frustration at a perceived lack of opportunities to carry out extra-curricular academic projects. Major barriers to engaging in undergraduate research reported were difficulties in identifying suitable supervisors (33/51; 65%) and time pressures (36/51; 71%) associated with this. Students reported being opportunistic in their engagement with undergraduate research. Following implementation of the website, 438 students signed up to ProjectPal and the website was accessed 1357 times. Access increased on a yearly basis. Overall, 70 projects were advertised by 35 supervisors. There were 86 applications made by students for these projects. By February 2016, the 70 projects had generated 5 peer-review publications with a further 7 manuscripts under peer-review, 14 national presentations, and 1 national prize.ConclusionThe use of an online platform to promote undergraduate engagement with extra-curricular research appears to facilitate extra-curricular engagement with research. Further work to understand the impact compared to normal opportunistic practices in enhancing student engagement is now
Favier C, McGregor A, Phillips A, 2018, Combined musculoskeletal and structural finite element modelling of the lumbar spine, 8th World Congress of Biomechanics
Papi E, Bull A, McGregor A, 2018, Is there evidence to use kinematic/kinetic measures clinically in low back pain patients? A systematic review, Clinical Biomechanics, Vol: 55, Pages: 53-64, ISSN: 0268-0033
BackgroundCurrently, there is a widespread reliance on self-reported questionnaires to assess low back pain patients. However, it has been suggested that objective measures of low back pain patients' functional status should be used to aid clinical assessment. The aim of this study is to systematically review which kinematic /kinetic parameters have been used to assess low back pain patients against healthy controls and to propose clinical kinematic/kinetic measures.MethodsPubMed, Embase and Scopus databases were searched for relevant studies. Reference lists of selected studies and hand searches were performed. Studies had to compare people with and without non-specific low back pain while performing functional tasks and report body segment/joint kinematic and/or kinetic data. Two reviewers independently identified relevant papers.FindingsSixty-two studies were included. Common biases identified were lack of assessor blinding and sample size calculation, use of samples of convenience, and poor experimental protocol standardization. Studies had small sample sizes. Range of motion maneuvers were the main task performed (33/62). Kinematic/kinetic data of different individual or combination of body segments/joints were reported among the studies, commonest was to assess the hip joint and lumbar segment motion (13/62). Only one study described full body movement. The most commonly reported outcome was range of motion. Statistically significant differences between controls and low back pain groups were reported for different outcomes among the studies. Moreover, when the same outcome was reported disagreements were noted.InterpretationThe literature to date offers limited and inconsistent evidence of kinematic/kinetic measures in low back pain patients that could be used clinically.
Kaufmann J, Phillips A, McGregor A, 2018, Investigating bone health in lower-limb amputees, Virtual Physiological Human 2018 Congress
Papi E, Bo YN, McGregor A, 2018, A flexible wearable sensor for knee flexion assessment during gait, Gait and Posture, Vol: 62, Pages: 480-483, ISSN: 0966-6362
Background:Gait analysis plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of patients with movement disorders but it is usually performed within a laboratory. Recently interest has shifted towards the possibility of conducting gait assessments in everyday environments thus facilitating long-term monitoring. This is possible by using wearable technologies rather than laboratory based equipment.Research questionThis study aims to validate a novel wearable sensor system’s ability to measure peak knee sagittal angles during gait.Methods:The proposed system comprises a flexible conductive polymer unit interfaced with a wireless acquisition node attached over the knee on a pair of leggings. Sixteen healthy volunteers participated to two gait assessments on separate occasions. Data was simultaneously collected from the novel sensor and a gold standard 10 camera motion capture system. The relationship between sensor signal and reference knee flexion angles was defined for each subject to allow the transformation of sensor voltage outputs to angular measures (degrees). The knee peak flexion angle from the sensor and reference system were compared by means of root mean square error (RMSE), absolute error, Bland-Altman plots and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) to assess test-retest reliability.Results:Comparisons of knee peak flexion angles calculated from the sensor and gold standard yielded an absolute error of 0.35(±2.9°) and RMSE of 1.2(±0.4)°. Good agreement was found between the two systems with the majority of data lying within the limits of agreement. The sensor demonstrated high test-retest reliability (ICCs>0.8).Significance:These results show the ability of the sensor to monitor knee peak sagittal angles with small margins of error and in agreement with the gold standard system. The sensor has potential to be used in clinical settings as a discreet, unobtrusive wearable device allowing for long-term gait analysis.
Karia M, Masjedi M, Duffell L, et al., 2018, Comparison of gait biomechanics in patients with and without knee osteoarthritis during different phases of gait, Journal of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Rehabilitation, Vol: 25, Pages: 11-15, ISSN: 2210-4917
Background: This study aimed to characterise knee adduction angles (KAA) and knee adduction moments (KAM) and compare this with foot centre of pressure (COP) in volunteers with and without knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A total of 108 participants were recruited; 84 had no known pathology, 18 had medial knee OA, and six had lateral knee OA. Linear regression was used to determine correlations between the normalised COP, KAM, and KAA during each phase of gait for all participants. Results: The first phase of gait demonstrated significant differences between groups for all measures: KAA in all phases, COP in phases one and two, and KAM in phase one only. Conclusion: The largest mechanical changes are seen in the first phase of gait in osteoarthritic patients. Although COP is an easy to measure tool, it is not as sensitive as KAA and did not demonstrate a significant difference between healthy and medial OA patients.
Green A, Salman M, Yentis S, et al., 2018, Staff perceptions of activity on labour ward, Winter Scientific Meeting (WSM) of the Association-of-Anaesthetists-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland (AAGBI), Publisher: WILEY, Pages: 73-73, ISSN: 0003-2409
Papi E, Koh WS, McGregor AH, 2017, Wearable technology for spine movement assessment: A systematic review, Journal of Biomechanics, Vol: 64, Pages: 186-197, ISSN: 0021-9290
Continuous monitoring of spine movement function could enhance our understanding of low back pain development. Wearable technologies have gained popularity as promising alternative to laboratory systems in allowing ambulatory movement analysis. This paper aims to review the state of art of current use of wearable technology to assess spine kinematics and kinetics.Four electronic databases and reference lists of relevant articles were searched to find studies employing wearable technologies to assess the spine in adults performing dynamic movements. Two reviewers independently identified relevant papers. Customised data extraction and quality appraisal form were developed to extrapolate key details and identify risk of biases of each study. Twenty-two articles were retrieved that met the inclusion criteria: 12 were deemed of medium quality (score 33.4-66.7%), and 10 of high quality (score> 66.8%). The majority of articles (19/22) reported validation type studies. Only 6 reported data collection in real-life environments. Multiple sensors type were used: electrogoniometers (3/22), strain gauges based sensors (3/22), textile piezoresistive sensor (1/22) and accelerometers often used with gyroscopes and magnetometers (15/22). Two sensors units were mainly used and placing was commonly reported on the spine lumbar and sacral regions. The sensors were often wired to data transmitter/logger resulting in cumbersome systems. Outcomes were mostly reported relative to the lumbar segment and in the sagittal plane, including angles, range of motion, angular velocity, joint moments and forces.This review demonstrates the applicability of wearable technology to assess the spine, although this technique is still at an early stage of development.
Favier C, McGregor A, Phillips A, 2017, Development of a combined MSK and FEA model of the lower back, 13th Annual Bath Biomechanics Symposium
Green A, Salman M, Yentis S, et al., 2017, Trainer/trainee trainer training, Association-of-Anaesthetists-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland (AAGBI) GAT Annual Scientific Meeting, Publisher: WILEY, Pages: 81-81, ISSN: 0003-2409
Duffell LD, Jordan SJ, Cobb JP, et al., 2017, Gait adaptations with aging in healthy participants and people with knee joint osteoarthritis, Gait and Posture, Vol: 57, Pages: 246-251, ISSN: 0966-6362
The relationship between age and gait characteristics in people with and without medial compartment osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. We aimed to characterize this relationship and to relate biomechanical and structural parameters in a subset of OA patients. Twenty five participants with diagnosed unilateral medial knee OA and 84 healthy participants, with no known knee pathology were recruited. 3D motion capture was used to analyse sagittal and coronal plane gait parameters while participants walked at a comfortable speed. Participants were categorized according to age (18–30, 31–59 and 60+ years), and those with and without OA were compared between and within age groups. In a subset of OA patients, clinically available Computed Tomography images were used to assess joint structure. Differences in coronal plane kinematics at the hip and knee were noted in participants with OA particularly those who were older compared with our healthy controls, as well as increased knee moments. Knee adduction moment correlated with structural parameters in the subset of OA patients. Increased knee moments and altered kinematics were observed in older participants presenting with OA only, which seem to be related to morphological changes in the joint due to OA, as opposed to being related to the initial cause of medial knee OA.
Long MJ, Papi E, Duffell LD, et al., 2017, Predicting knee osteoarthritis risk in injured populations, Clinical Biomechanics, Vol: 47, Pages: 87-95, ISSN: 1879-1271
BackgroundIndividuals who suffered a lower limb injury have an increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis. Early diagnosis of osteoarthritis and the ability to track its progression is challenging. This study aimed to explore links between self-reported knee osteoarthritis outcome scores and biomechanical gait parameters, whether self-reported outcome scores could predict gait abnormalities characteristic of knee osteoarthritis in injured populations and, whether scores and biomechanical outcomes were related to osteoarthritis severity via Spearman's correlation coefficient.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with asymptomatic participants, participants with lower-limb injury and those with medial knee osteoarthritis. Spearman rank determined relationships between knee injury and outcome scores and hip and knee kinetic/kinematic gait parameters. K-Nearest Neighbour algorithm was used to determine which of the evaluated parameters created the strongest classifier model.FindingsDifferences in outcome scores were evident between groups, with knee quality of life correlated to first and second peak external knee adduction moment (0.47, 0.55). Combining hip and knee kinetics with quality of life outcome produced the strongest classifier (1.00) with the least prediction error (0.02), enabling classification of injured subjects gait as characteristic of either asymptomatic or knee osteoarthritis subjects. When correlating outcome scores and biomechanical outcomes with osteoarthritis severity only maximum external hip and knee abduction moment (0.62, 0.62) in addition to first peak hip adduction moment (0.47) displayed significant correlations.InterpretationThe use of predictive models could enable clinicians to identify individuals at risk of knee osteoarthritis and be a cost-effective method for osteoarthritis screening.
McGregor AH, 2017, Injury prevention, performance and return to sport: How can science help?, Chinese Journal of Traumatology, Vol: 20, Pages: 63-66, ISSN: 1008-1275
Kotti M, Duffell LD, Faisal AA, et al., 2017, Detecting knee osteoarthritis and its discriminating parameters using random forests, Medical Engineering and Physics, Vol: 43, Pages: 19-29, ISSN: 1350-4533
This papertackles the problem of automatic detection of knee osteoarthritis. A computer system is built that takes as input the body kinetics and produces as output not only an estimation of presence of the knee osteoarthritis,as previouslydone inthe literature, but alsothe most discriminating parameters along with a set of rules on how this decision was reached.This fills the gap of interpretability between the medical and the engineering approaches. We collected locomotion data from 47 subjects with knee osteoarthritis and 47 healthy subjects.Osteoarthritis subjects were recruited from hospital clinics and GP surgeries, and age and sex matched heathy subjects from the local community. Subjects walked on a walkway equippedwith two force plates with piezoelectric 3-component force sensors. Parameters of the vertical, anterior-posterior, and medio-lateral ground reaction forces, such asmean value, push-off time, and slope,were extracted. Then random forest regressors map thoseparameters via rule induction to the degree of knee osteoarthritis.To boost generalisation ability,a subject-independent protocol is employed.The 5-fold cross-validated accuracy is 72.61%±4.24%. We show that with 3 steps or lessa reliable clinical measure can be extractedin a rule-based approachwhen the dataset is analysed appropriately.
Green A, Salman M, Yentis S, et al., 2017, Ergonomics and posture of midwives, obstetricians and anaesthetists on labour ward, Anaesthesia, Vol: 72, Pages: 82-82, ISSN: 0003-2409
Awkward body postures and the progressive accumulation of muscle fatigue are known risk factors for the development of injury, with most work-related musculoskeletal disorders developing over time [1]. Work-related disorders can develop while carrying out normal physical work activities and are associated with fixed or constrained body positions and continual repetition of movements [1]. Heavy workloads on the maternity unit often require staff to perform physically demanding activities under pressure and adopt suboptimal postures. Simple ergonomic intervention such as providing suitable adjustable seating and the appropriate layout of equipment can reduce injuries, reduce sickness absence and improve productivity [2].
Green A, Salman M, Yentis S, et al., 2017, Musculoskeletal aches and pains reported by labour ward staff, Anaesthesia, Vol: 72, Pages: 82-82, ISSN: 0003-2409
Awkward body postures and the progressive accumulation of muscle fatigue are known risk factors for the development of injury, with most work-related musculoskeletal disorders developing over time [1]. Work-related disorders can develop while carrying out normal physical work activities and are associated with fixed or constrained body positions and continual repetition of movements [1]. Heavy workloads on the maternity unit often require staff to perform physically demanding activities under pressure and adopt suboptimal postures. Simple ergonomic intervention such as providing suitable adjustable seating and the appropriate layout of equipment can reduce injuries, reduce sickness absence and improve productivity [2].
Deane JA, Mcgregor A, 2016, Current and Future Perspectives on Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease: a UK survey exploring specialist multidisciplinary clinical opinion., BMJ Open, Vol: 6, ISSN: 2044-6055
Objectives: Despite lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDDD) being significantly associatedwith non-specific low back pain and effective treatment remaining elusive, specialistmultidisciplinary clinical stakeholder opinion remains unexplored. The present studyexamines the views of such experts.Design: A reliable and valid electronic survey was designed to establish trends usingtheoretical constructs relating to current assessment and management practices. Cliniciansfrom the Society of Back Pain Research (SBPR) U.K. were invited to take part. Quantitativedata was collated and coded using Bristol On-line Surveys (BOS) software, and contentanalysis used to systematically code and categorise qualitative data.Setting: Specialist multidisciplinary spinal interest group in the U.K.Participants: 38/141 clinically active, multidisciplinary SBPR members with specialistspinal interest participated. 84% had greater than 9 years postgraduate clinical experience.Interventions: NoneOutcome Measures: Frequency distributions were used to establish general trends inquantitative data. Qualitative responses were coded and categorised in relation to each themeand percentage responses calculated.Results: LDDD symptom recurrence, in the absence of psychosocial influence, wasassociated with physical signs of joint stiffness (26%), weakness (17%), joint hypermobility(6%), while physical factors (21%) and the ability to adapt (11%) were postulated as reasonswhy some experience pain and others do not. No one management strategy was supportedexclusively or with consensus. Regarding effective modalities, there was no significantdifference between AHP and Medic responses (p= 0.1-0.9). The future of LDDD care wasexpressed in terms of improvements in patient communication (35%), patient education(38%) and treatment stratification (24%).
McGregor AH, 2016, Sports innovation in the journey towards rowing gold: Enhancement of performance and well being, Sports Innovation, Technology and Research, Pages: 31-38, ISBN: 9781786340412
Bates AV, Mcgregor AH, Alexander C, 2016, Comparison of prolonged unconstrained standing behaviour in people with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and people who have normal flexibility, ESMAC, Publisher: Elsevier, ISSN: 1879-2219
Buckeridge EM, Weinert-Aplin RA, Bull AM, et al., 2016, Influence of foot-stretcher height on rowing technique and performance, Sports Biomechanics, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1752-6116
Strength, technique, and coordination are crucial to rowing performance, but external interventions such as foot-stretcher set-up can fine-tune technique and optimise power output. For the same resultant force, raising the height of foot-stretchers on a rowing ergometer theoretically alters the orientation of the resultant force vector in favour of the horizontal component. This study modified foot-stretcher heights and examined their instantaneous effect on foot forces and rowing technique. Ten male participants rowed at four foot-stretcher heights on an ergometer that measured handle force, stroke length, and vertical and horizontal foot forces. Rowers were instrumented with motion sensors to measure ankle, knee, hip, and lumbar–pelvic kinematics. Key resultant effects of increased foot-stretcher heights included progressive reductions in horizontal foot force, stroke length, and pelvis range of motion. Raising foot-stretcher height did not increase the horizontal component of foot force as previously speculated. The reduced ability to anteriorly rotate the pelvis at the front of the stroke may be a key obstacle in gaining benefits from raised foot-stretcher heights. This study shows that small changes in athlete set-up can influence ergometer rowing technique, and rowers must individually fine-tune their foot-stretcher height to optimise power transfer through the rowing stroke on an ergometer.
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