Effects of a 4-week neuromuscular training on contralateral pelvic drop in female runners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 4-week neuromuscular training programs on contralateral pelvic drop (CPD) in recreational female runners. Thirty-two female runners who experienced CPD volunteered for the study. The participants were divided into 4 groups with eight participants in each group. The first group received part correction training (PCT), where the participants received audio and visual feedback during step single leg squat (SSLS) exercises; while the second group performed whole correction training (WCT), where the participants received audio and visual feedback during running. The third group performed part correction training followed by whole correction training (PWCT), where the participants began the training with SSLS for 2 weeks followed by running for the last two weeks. The last group performed whole correction training followed by part correction training (WPCT), where they began their training by running before doing SSLS. The participants were assessed for contralateral pelvic drop angle (CPDA) during midstance using 3D motion analysis. A mixed model ANOVA was performed to investigate the effects of the four neuromuscular training approaches. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The obtained results showed that the group × time interaction was statistically significant in CPDA, F (6,56) = 18.177, p < 0.000, η 2 = 0.661. Further analysis suggested that WPCT was the most effective program in addressing CPDA during 4-week neuromuscular training. The findings showed that the participants utilized WCT to internalize the concept of whole movements and capitalized on part correction by increasing the interaction of synchronization for simplifying and coordinating muscle activities to mechanically control unstable joints.