Wearable technology approach to determining exercise fidelity in athletes during a neuromuscular training warm-up program
Date
2019-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Introduction: Basketball is one of the most popular sports in North America, but there is a high incidence of lower extremity injuries among youth basketball players. Participation in neuromuscular training (NMT) warm-up programs can reduce injury risk by 29% with lower injury rates reported for teams with high adherence to the NMT program. The use of wearable technology will allow us to more easily and efficiently quantify the movements of athletes during these warm-up programs to potential determine the effects of exercise fidelity. Thus, this study looks to quantify the movements of youth basketball players in an NMT warm-up program.
Methods
27 male and female basketball players (ages 14-18) completed the NMT warm-up exercises prior to a practice. A Shimmer3 inertial measurement unit (Shimmer3 GSR+®, Shimmer Inc., Dublin, IE) was worn on the lower back, with concurrent video recording.
Results
Analysis of the “Side Plank” showed an 8.01% difference between Side 1 (88.15%) and Side 2 (96.16%) of Player 1, whereas Player 2 had a 32.42% difference between Side 1 (86.43%) and Side 2 (54.01%). The “One Legged Jump Over the Line” showed that Player 1 had a 17.12m/s2 difference between the forward and backward accelerations of Leg 1, with the difference being 0.80m/s2 in Leg 2. Player 2 had a difference of 0.08m/s2 and 2.62m/s2 for legs 1 and 2, respectively.
Conclusions
Preliminary results indicated that the acceleration of the Shimmer3 devices are sensitive enough to differentiate movements amongst players when performing exercises in the NMT warm-up program. Side-to-side differences were apparent amongst athletes during the “Side Plank” and the “Single Leg Jump Over the Line” exercise. Further analysis is currently in progress for other exercises in the warm-up program, as well as video analysis of the same sessions to determine exercise fidelity and its effects on injury prevention.
Description
Keywords
Wearable Devices, Injury Prevention, Epidemiology, Biomechanics, Neuromuscular Training, Sports
Citation
Chin, M. (2019). Wearable technology approach to determining exercise fidelity in athletes during a neuromuscular training warm-up program. Final report and reflection. Program for Undergaduate Research Experience (PURE), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. 1-10.