Objective: To investigate the effects of a 6-week integrated training program on the ankle joint reposition sense and postural stability in ballet dancers. Methods: Sixteen female ballet dancers participated in the study and underwent a 6-week integrated training program consisting of plyometric, proprioception and core stability exercises along with a home program involving additional ankle muscle strengthening and stretching. The ankle joint reposition tests and the parameters of the center of pressure (COP) while performing grand-plie (deep squatting) and releve en demi-pointe (standing on balls of foot) movements were measured before and after training. Results: After 6 weeks, participants showed significantly smaller absolute ankle joint reposition errors in dorsiflexion (p = 0.031), plantarflexion (p = 0.003) and eversion (p = 0.019) compared to the pre-training measurement. Furthermore, after training, a significantly slower average COP speed at pre-equilibrium during grand-plie movement (p = 0.003) and pre-equilibrium phase of releve en demi-pointe (p = 0.023) were observed. In addition, the maximum COP displacement in the medial-lateral direction was significantly smaller at pre-equilibrium phase during grand-plie (p = 0.044) and releve en demi-pointe movements (p = 0.004) after training. Conclusions: The 6-week integrated training program improved the ankle joint reposition sense and postural control in the medial-lateral direction during grand-plie and releve en demi-pointe movements.
Background Ballet is a highly technical and physically demanding dance form involving extensive end-range lumbar movements and emphasizing movement smoothness and gracefulness. A high prevalence of non-specific low back pain (LBP) is found in ballet dancers, which may lead to poor controlled movement and possible pain occurrence and reoccurrence. The power spectral entropy of time-series acceleration is a useful indicator of random uncertainty information, and a lower value indicates a greater smoothness or regularity. The current study thus applied a power spectral entropy method to analyze the movement smoothness in lumbar flexion and extension in healthy dancers and dancers with LBP, respectively. Method A total of 40 female ballet dancers (23 in the LBP group and 17 in the control group) were recruited in the study. Repetitive end-range lumbar flexion and extension tasks were performed and the kinematic data were collected using a motion capture system. The power spectral entropy of the time-series acceleration of the lumbar movements was calculated in the anterior–posterior (AP), medial–lateral (ML), vertical (VT), and three-directional (3D) vectors. The entropy data were then used to conduct receiver operating characteristic curve analyses to evaluate the overall distinguishing performance and thus cutoff value, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated. Results The power spectral entropy was significantly higher in the LBP group than the control group in the 3D vector in both lumbar flexion and lumber extension (flexion: p = 0.005; extension: p < 0.001). In lumbar extension, the AUC in the 3D vector was 0.807. In other words, the entropy provides an 80.7% probability of distinguishing between the two groups (i.e., LBP and control) correctly. The optimal cutoff entropy value was 0.5806 and yielded a sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 73.3%. In lumbar flexion, the AUC in the 3D vector was 0.777, and hence the entropy provided a probability of 77.7% of distinguishing between the two groups correctly. The optimal cutoff value was 0.5649 and yielded a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 73.3%. Conclusions The LBP group showed significantly lower lumbar movement smoothness than the control group. The lumbar movement smoothness in the 3D vector had a high AUC and thus provided a high differentiating capacity between the two groups. It may therefore be potentially applied in clinical contexts to screen dancers with a high risk of LBP.
Background: Ballet dancers are at high risk of ankle sprain. As a result, effective training programs are required for ballet dancers to minimize injury occurrence and improve their balance ability. Our purpose was to investigate the effects of a 6-week integrated training program on the ankle joint position sense and postural stability in ballet dancers.Methods: Twenty-nine female ballet dancers were recruited to the study. Sixteen of the dancers underwent a 6-week integrated training program consisting of plyometric, proprioception and core stability exercises. The remaining ballet dancers performed no additional training, but continued regular ballet practice as usual. For both groups, ankle joint position sensing tests were performed before and after training. Furthermore, for the training group, the postural stability was assessed by measuring the average speed of the center of pressure (COP) and the maximum ankle joint displacements while performing grand plie (deep squatting) and releve en demi-pointe (standing on balls of foot) movements.Results: After 6 weeks, both groups showed significantly smaller absolute ankle joint reposition errors in plantarflexion and eversion. Furthermore, the training group showed a significantly smaller ankle joint reposition error in dorsiflexion. The training group also showed a significantly slower average COP speed and smaller maximum COP displacement in the medial-lateral direction.Conclusions: The 6-week integrated training program improved the ankle joint position sense in dorsiflexion and the postural control in the medial-lateral direction while performing grand-plie and releve en demi-pointe movements. Thus, this integrated training program can be suggested for dancers in order to improve ankle position sense and postural stability during ballet movements.
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