Background: Several interventions have been used to relieve chronic low back pain (CLBP). This study aimed to compare the effects of pain neuroscience education (PNE) followed by motor control exercises (MCEs) with core stability training (CST) on pain, disability, and balance in women with CLBP. Methods: Thirty-seven women with CLBP were randomly divided into two groups of PNE/MCE (n = 18, 55.2 ± 2.6 years) or CST (n = 19, 54.6 ± 2.4 years). Eight weeks of PNE/MCE or CST were prescribed for each group, independently. Pain intensity (VAS scale), disability (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire), unipodal static balance, and dynamic balance (time up and go test) were measured at the beginning and 8 weeks after the intervention. Two-way mixed ANOVA was used to analyze the results with alpha of 5%. Results: After 8 weeks, there was a significant difference in VAS scale between groups (p = 0.024), with both PNE/MCE and CST showing 58% and 42% reductions, respectively. There were no differences for all other variables between groups. Regarding pre- to post-comparisons, both groups showed improvements in all dependent variables (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The treatment with PNE/MCE was more effective in improving pain disability and unipodal static and dynamic balance than treatment with CST. Even so, both treatments were shown to be valid and safe in improving all dependent variables analyzed in women with CLBP.

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has a higher frequency in soccer due to the rapid changes in body movement. Thus, this study compared the effects of eight weeks of a hopping protocol and a combined protocol of balance plus strength in a within-between group analysis. Thirty-six male professional soccer players participated in this study and were randomly allocated in three groups: control group (CG, n = 12), hopping group (HG, n = 12), and balance plus strength group (BSG, n = 12). Strength, static and dynamic balance, and function were assessed at baseline and eight weeks post intervention. First, Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) and FAAM sport scales were applied. Then, a dynamometer was used to measure strength of the muscles around the hip, knee, and ankle joints. The Bass stick measured static balance and the Y balance test measured dynamic balance. Additionally, functional tests were carried out by Triple Hop, the Figure 8 hop, and vertical jump. A repeated measures ANOVA [(3 groups) × 2 moments] was used to compare the within and between group differences. In general, all tests improved after eight weeks of training with both protocols. Specifically, the BSG improved with large ES for all tests, while the HG improved all test with small to large effect sizes (ES). Furthermore, HG showed higher values for vertical jump (p < 0.01, ES = 1.88) and FAAMSPORT (p < 0.05, ES = 0.15) than BSG. BSG showed higher values for hip abduction (p < 0.05, ES = 2.77), hip adduction (p < 0.05, ES = 0.87), and ankle inversion (p < 0.001, ES = 1.50) strength tests, while HG showed higher values for knee flexion [ES = 0.86, (0.02, 1.69)] and ankle plantarflexion [ES = 0.52, (−0.29, 1.33)]. Balance plus strength protocol showed more positive effects than the hopping protocol alone for soccer players with CAI.

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a widespread problem in athletes who participate in jumping, cutting, and pivoting sports. Forty-four players participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: exercise plus EMS (G1) and exercise without EMS (G2), both with 12 women and 10 men. The exercise performed was 8 weeks of a high-intensity strength program for 45-60 minutes, plus cooling and a warm-up phase. Visual analogue scale (VAS), disability (Kujala patellofemoral score), knee valgus angle (KVA) and single-leg hop (SLH) were tested before (pre-test) and after training (post-test at 8 weeks) using a within-between group analysis (ANOVA 2×2). At baseline, no differences between groups were found (p > 0.05). After the intervention, both groups improved VAS, KVA, SLH (p < 0.001), and disability (p = 0.042). G1 showed more improvements than G2 for VAS (- 63.4 vs - 51.5 %, p = 0.021, 𝜂p2 = 0.13), disability (+ 32.6 vs + 18.4 %, p = 0.001, 𝜂p2 = 0.52), KVA (+ 4.2 vs + 2.2 %, p = 0.016, 𝜂p2 = 0.214) and SLH (+ 12.3 vs + 6.0 %, p = 0.003, 𝜂p2 = 0.20) respectively. No differences were found between the sexes for each group. Despite both interventions being valid, high-intensity strength training combined with EMS improved pain, disability, knee kinematics, and lower extremity performance more than exercise alone in professional handball athletes with PFP. Keywords: Electrical muscle stimulation, Rehabilitation, Musculoskeletal, Knee, Handball players

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. This study aimed to compare the immediate effect and durability of mobilization and oscillation dumbbell (OD) training on the Joint Position Sense (JPS) and strength of rotator cuff muscles in young tennis players. Twenty-six tennis players were divided into two experimental groups. G1 only performed mobilization techniques while G2 only performed OD training, before, after and after one week of the protocols, the strength and JPS of the shoulder joint were measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Repeated analysis of variance (RMANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test were used to examine the differences between the groups. The analysis of covariance was used to examine the differences between the groups. In general, the results showed a significant effect of both mobilization techniques and OD training programs on the JPS and internal and external rotation strength of young tennis players, but only one difference was observed between the two in external rotation for the eccentric/concentric action at 120°/sec (p=0009; ƞ2p= 0.32). Moreover, the main findings showed that mobilization techniques and OD improved internal and external rotations after the protocol and after one week when compared with baseline for the concentric/concentric and eccentric/concentric at 60°/sec and 120°/sec (p < 0.05) with only one exception for the internal rotation concentric/concentric at 120°/sec for both groups (p > 0.05). Based on this, it seems that in healthy tennis players, both one-session mobilization techniques and OD training can be used to improve JPS and strength. Keywords: Shoulder, Isokinetic, Torque, Resistance, Rotator cuff.