Eccentric and Trunk Stability Exercise Program Effects in Young Soccer Players

NCT ID: NCT04329273

Last Updated: 2020-07-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 21 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-02-15
• Study Completion Date: 2020-07-05

Brief Summary

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of an in-season mixed training program on several physiological parameters of soccer players. Twenty-one U19 elite soccer players recruited and randomly assigned to either an 8-week specific training experimental group or a control group. The program will include an eccentric hamstring exercise, static balance exercises and core muscles strengthening exercises. Isokinetic hamstring and quadriceps strength, single leg static balance and lumbopelvic stability will be measured prior and after the intervention.

Detailed Description

A total of 123 male Under-19 (U19) players from several soccer teams were initially invited for participation in the study after signing informed consent forms. following a second contact with the participants, questionnaire forms with inclusion and exclusion criteria were send for completion.

Based on their self-report and a clinical examination by a health professional, of the 103 players, 42 did not meet the inclusion criteria, while 12 players did not participate for personal reasons. Of the remaining 69 players, 48 players were excluded, including 3 players reporting an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, 14 because of lower extremity injury led to more than two weeks absence from training and 10 players because of secondary injuries or health problems that led to loss of training the past 3 months.

A neutral, blinded investigator with no further involvement in the study was responsible for randomized allocation of participants in two groups. All training sessions in the training group will be supervised by a fitness coach, who will ensure that the exercises are performed according to protocol.

Conditions

Muscle Strength; Postural Balance

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Training group

For the balance exercise the participants will perform one-legged stance of certain duration, on a stable surface.

For the sliding leg curl exercise the participants lay supine on a mat, wearing only socks in order to create a slippery surface between their heels and the gym floor. The player begins by extending the hip and having the working leg on knee flexion. The contralateral limb is on hip flexion and knee flexion. The base of support is the shoulder blades, the elbows and the heel of the working leg. After assuming this position, the player begins to extend the knee, as slowly as possible, resisting the low friction properties of the ground.

The core stability program consists of front plank, side planks, supine bridge, leg lowering and superman exercise. These exercises will be performed at the end of the training session, in contrast to the balance and hamstring exercises which will be executed before the training session.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Sliding leg curl

Intervention Type: OTHER

The exercise protocol consists of the following sets and repetitions Week 1- 2 sessions with 2 sets of 6 repetitions Week 2- 2 sessions with 3 sets of 6 repetitions Week 3- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 6 repetitions Week 4- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions Week 5- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 10 repetitions Week 6- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 10 repetitions Week 7- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions Week 8- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions

Balance training

Intervention Type: OTHER

The exercise protocol consists of 2 sessions/week with 4 sets of 30'' single stance.

Week 1 and 2- 1 set of 30'' single leg stance and 3 sets of 30'' single leg stance and ball kicks with contralateral foot Week 3 and 4- 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance while moving the ball around the leg with the contralateral foot and 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance, moving a ball around the knee with hands and kicking a ball with contralateral foot Week 5 and 6- 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance while giving and receiving hand passes with medicine ball (in couples) and 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance with perturbations (in couples) Week 7 and 8- Same as week 5 and 6 with extra 15" in each repetition

Core stability

Intervention Type: OTHER

The exercise protocol consists of the following sets and repetitions Week 1 and 2- 3 sets of 30'' front plank, 3 sets of 20'' side plank, 2 sets of 30'' superman, 2 sets of 30'' supine bridge and 2 sets of 10 repetitions leg lowering exercise Week 3 and 4- increasing difficulty in 2 of the sets Week 5 and 6- adding 1 more set at each exercise Week 7 and 8- adding 15" in each repetition

Control group

The participants in this group will follow only the usual training program

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Sliding leg curl

The exercise protocol consists of the following sets and repetitions Week 1- 2 sessions with 2 sets of 6 repetitions Week 2- 2 sessions with 3 sets of 6 repetitions Week 3- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 6 repetitions Week 4- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions Week 5- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 10 repetitions Week 6- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 10 repetitions Week 7- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions Week 8- 2 sessions with 4 sets of 8 repetitions

Intervention Type: OTHER

Balance training

The exercise protocol consists of 2 sessions/week with 4 sets of 30'' single stance.

Week 1 and 2- 1 set of 30'' single leg stance and 3 sets of 30'' single leg stance and ball kicks with contralateral foot Week 3 and 4- 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance while moving the ball around the leg with the contralateral foot and 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance, moving a ball around the knee with hands and kicking a ball with contralateral foot Week 5 and 6- 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance while giving and receiving hand passes with medicine ball (in couples) and 2 sets of 30'' single leg stance with perturbations (in couples) Week 7 and 8- Same as week 5 and 6 with extra 15" in each repetition

Intervention Type: OTHER

Core stability

The exercise protocol consists of the following sets and repetitions Week 1 and 2- 3 sets of 30'' front plank, 3 sets of 20'' side plank, 2 sets of 30'' superman, 2 sets of 30'' supine bridge and 2 sets of 10 repetitions leg lowering exercise Week 3 and 4- increasing difficulty in 2 of the sets Week 5 and 6- adding 1 more set at each exercise Week 7 and 8- adding 15" in each repetition

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 16 to 19 years old soccer players
• Trained at least 3 times and played 1 match weekly, the past 4 years
• Healthy
• Free from muscle injuries in the 6 months prior to the study

Exclusion Criteria

• History of anterior cruciate ligament rupture
• History of ankle, hip or knee injury with duration at least 1 week, in the 3 months prior to the study
• Muscle injury with duration at least 1 week, in the 3 months prior to the study
• Any reason resulting in 2 weeks loss of training the preceding 6 months
• Involvement in hamstring strengthening, core stability or balance training program in the 6 months prior to the study

• Minimum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 19 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Konstantinos Dafkou

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Konstantinos Dafkou

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Konstantinos Dafkou

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Laboratory of Neuromechanics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Locations

Laboratory of Neuromechanics, Department of physical education and sport sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Serres, , Greece

Countries

Greece

Other Identifiers

ERC-005/2020

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id