Exercise with TENS does not augment gains in balance and strength for dancers

Effects of training protocols on dancers' balance: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Balance is an essential skill for dancers, it helps reduce the risk of injury, and is related to quality of performance. This systematic review aims to investigate the effects of training protocols on the balance of dancers when compared to control groups.

METHODS

Interventional studies, published until January 2023, assessing balance in all levels of ballet, modern, and contemporary dancers were identified in the PubMed, Cochrane, Lilacs, Scielo, Embase, and SPORTDiscus databases. Publications in English, Spanish and Portuguese were considered. In two selection phases, using a standard protocol, two reviewers independently selected and extracted the data. The Downs & Black checklist was used to assess risk of bias.

RESULTS

Of the nine intervention studies included, most were classified as either "fair" or "poor" quality. Three-hundred and seventy-two dancers aged 9.6 ± 0.5 to 25.7 ± 3.7 years were analysed. The majority was female (94%), with the years of experience of ballet (35%) or ballet and modern (49%) training ranging from 4.6 ± 1.4 to 12.0 ± 7.5 years. Numerous training protocols of varying durations were found. However, neuromuscular training proved the most effective at improving balance.

CONCLUSION

Most of the studies are classified poor quality. Future studies should consider interventions lasting at least four weeks, two to three times a week, sessions between 30 and 60 min. More high-quality studies, randomized control trials using validated balance tests, as well as new validation studies for dance-specific balance tests are needed.

Improved Physical Health in Middle-Older Aged Golf Caddies Following 24 Weeks of High-Volume Physical Activity

BACKGROUND

The physical demands of golf caddying, including walking while carrying a golf bag, may potentially affect body composition, and markers of metabolic, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal health. Therefore, this study examined the impact of 24 weeks of caddying on physical health in middle-older aged males.

METHODS

Eleven full-time experienced male caddies (age: 59 [8] y; caddying experience: 14 [12] y) were recruited from a local golf course. The following were assessed at preseason and after 24 weeks of caddying (March-September 2022): body composition, heart rate, blood pressure, blood lipids, and performance tests (static and dynamic balance, strength, and submaximal fitness). Physical activity (PA) levels were assessed at preseason and at the mid-point of the caddying season. Across the caddying season, participants completed a monthly average of 24.0 (3.8) rounds.

RESULTS

Following the caddying season, improvements in static balance (Δ = 13.5 s), dynamic balance (Δ = -1.8 s), and lower back absolute strength (Δ = 112.8 N), and muscle quality (Δ = 2.0 N·kg-1) were observed (all P < .05). Additionally, blood lipids, including total cholesterol (Δ = -0.6 mmol·L-1), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Δ = 0.1 mmol·L-1), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Δ = -0.6 mmol·L-1) (all P < .05), and body composition, including body mass (Δ = -2.7 kg), fat mass (Δ = -1.9 kg), fat percentage (Δ = -1.4%), fat-to-muscle ratio (Δ = -0.03), and body mass index (Δ = -0.9 kg·m-2) (all P < .05) improved. Caddying did not offer beneficial changes to cardiovascular variables or cardiorespiratory fitness (P > .05), while coronary heart disease risk score decreased (Δ = -3.3%) (P < .05). In relation to PA, light- (Δ = 145 min) and moderate-intensity (Δ = 71 min) PA, moderate to vigorous PA (Δ = 73 min), and total PA (Δ = 218 min) between preseason and the mid-point of the caddying season increased, while sedentary time (Δ = -172 min) decreased (all P < .05).

CONCLUSION

Golf caddying can provide several physical health benefits such as improvements in various markers of cardiometabolic health, lower back absolute strength, and static and dynamic balance. The physical health improvements that caddying offers is likely contributed to by increased PA volume and intensity through walking on the golf course. Therefore, caddying may represent a feasible model for increasing PA volume and intensity and achieve physical health-related benefits.

Combined Use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Short Foot Exercise Improves Navicular Height, Muscle Size, Function Mobility, and Risk of Falls in Healthy Older Adults

Electrical stimulation is an established method that is used to improve muscle strength. The present study compared changes in the navicular drop test (NDT), muscle size, the five times sit to stand (5TSTS) test, the timed up and go (TUG) test, and the risk of falls in response to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) plus short foot exercise (SFE) and SFE alone in 68 healthy elderly participants aged 65−75 years. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: TENS plus SFE and SFE alone (with sham TENS). Measurements of NDT, muscle size, 5TSTS, TUG, and risk of falls were made before and after 4 weeks of training. The NDT was significantly improved by a median of 0.31 mm in the TENS plus SFE group and 0.64 mm in the SFE alone group (p < 0.001). Similarly, there was a significant improvement in Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I), 5TSTS, and TUG for both groups (p < 0.001). The abductor hallucis muscle size increased by 0.23 cm2 in the TENS plus SFE group and 0.26 cm2 in the SFE alone group (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the two groups for any variables (p > 0.05) except TUG, which showed a greater improvement in the TENS plus SFE group (p = 0.008). Our findings demonstrated that TENS plus SFE and SFE alone improved intrinsic foot muscle size. However, TENS plus SFE tended to improve NDT more than SFE alone, particularly in cases of severe muscle weakness. Thus, the combined use of TENS plus SFE could be recommended for muscle strengthening and balance programs for fall prevention in older adults.