The muscle strength of the knee extension and plantarflexion plays a crucial role in determining gait speed. Recent studies have shown that no-load angular velocity of the lower limb joints is essential for determining gait speed. However, no reports have compared the extent to which lower limb functions, such as knee extension strength, knee extension velocity, plantarflexion strength, and plantarflexion velocity, impact gait speed in a single study. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relative importance of maximum strength and no-load angular velocity on gait speed. Overall, 164 community-dwelling older adults (72.9 ± 5.0 years) participated in this study. We measured the gait speed and lower limb function (the strength and velocity of knee extension and plantarflexion). Strength was measured with a hand-held dynamometer, and velocity with a gyroscope. A multiple regression analysis was performed with gait speed as the dependent variable and age, sex, and lower-limb function as independent variables. Plantarflexion velocity (β = 0.25) and plantarflexion strength (β = 0.21) were noted to be significant predictors of gait speed. These findings indicate that no-load plantarflexion velocity is more important than the strength of plantarflexion and knee extensions as a determinant of gait speed, suggesting that improvement in plantarflexion velocity may increase gait speed.

Patient satisfaction is crucial in pay-for-performance initiatives. To achieve further improvement in satisfaction, modifiable factors should be identified according to the surgery type. Using a prospective cohort, we compared the overall treatment satisfaction after microendoscopic lumbar decompression between patients treated postoperatively with a conventional physical therapy (PT) program (control; n = 100) and those treated with a PT program focused on low back pain (LBP) improvement (test; n = 100). Both programs included 40 min outpatient sessions, once per week for 3 months postoperatively. Adequate compliance was achieved in 92 and 84 patients in the control and test cohorts, respectively. There were no significant differences in background factors; however, the patient-reported pain score at 3 months postoperatively was significantly better, and treatment satisfaction was significantly higher in the test than in the control cohort (−0.02 ± 0.02 vs. −0.03 ± 0.03, p = 0.029; 70.2% vs. 55.4%, p = 0.045, respectively). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients treated with the LBP program tended to be more satisfied than those treated with the conventional program, independent of age, sex, and diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio = 2.34, p = 0.012). Postoperative management with the LBP program could reduce pain more effectively and aid spine surgeons in achieving higher overall satisfaction after minimally invasive lumbar decompression, without additional pharmacological therapy.

Background: Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) is an effective method for relieving pain and improving gait function. However, THA patients demonstrate slow gait speed at discharge. Rehabilitation programs after THA require the immediate improvement of gait speed early in the postoperative period. To examine the immediate effects of seated side tapping training (SSTT), which focuses on lateral trunk movement and movement velocity, on gait function in early postoperative THA patients, the methods were as follows: The SSTT group performed five repetitions of a task in which they moved their trunks laterally to alternately touch markers to their left and right side as quickly as possible 10 times in a seated position. One set of SSTT lasted approximately 3 min. The control group rested in a seated position for 10 min. Results: Significant interactions were observed for gait speed, stride time, and stride time coefficient of variability. The SSTT group demonstrated significant pre-post-intervention improvement in gait speed, stride time, and coefficient of variability. Conclusions: SSTT improved both gait speed and gait stability and can be performed easily and safely. Therefore, single-session high-velocity trunk training may be an effective method to improve gait function immediately in early postoperative THA patients.

Faster lower-limb motion is closely related to soccer performance, but the contribution of lumbopelvic motion to achieving it remains unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether faster lower-limb motion in soccer players was accompanied by greater lumbopelvic motion. Fifty-one male high school soccer players performed a thigh-raising (hip flexion) task from a standing position at low (approximately 100°/s) and high (approximately 400°/s) speeds. Lumbopelvic motion was measured at the lumbar spinous process (L3). Rotation (LBrot, transverse plane) and flexion–extension (LBf/e, sagittal plane) were derived from the angular velocity. Motions were compared between speeds using the Wilcoxon tests. In the dominant leg, both LBrot (10.2° vs. 8.1°, r = 0.62) and LBf/e (6.4° vs. 5.0°, r = 0.57) were greater at high speed. In the non-dominant leg, both LBrot (11.2° vs. 8.6°, r = 0.49) and LBf/e (6.9° vs. 5.3°, r = 0.62) were also greater at high speed. High-speed trials exhibited consistent movement patterns, whereas low-speed trials did not. These findings suggest that minimizing lumbopelvic motion may not always be optimal for achieving faster lower-limb motion, which may inform coaching and clinical practice regarding the appropriate degree of lumbopelvic motion during lower-limb tasks across movement speeds.