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Introduction: Hamstring strain injuries (HSI) are one of the most common injuries for soccer players and there is a need for new clinical-based studies on the rehabilitation of these injuries. Objective: This study aimed to create a consensus on physiotherapy and rehabilitation approaches used in HSI by physiotherapists with super league experience in Turkey. Methods: Twenty-six male physiotherapists (duration of experience in professional life, on athlete health, and in the super league: 12.84 ± 6.04 years, 12.19 ± 5.96 years, 8.71 ± 5.31 years, respectively) from different institutions participated in the study. The research was carried out in three rounds using the Delphi method. Results: Data collected using LimeSurvey and Google Forms were analyzed using the Microsoft Excel and SPSS 22 software. The response rates over the three rounds were 100%, 96%, and 96%, respectively. The 10 main items that were agreed upon in Round 1 were divided into 93 sub-items. Their numbers in the second and third Rounds were 60 and 53, respectively. At the end of Round 3, the highest consensus was on eccentric exercise, dynamic stretching, interval running, and movement-enhancing field training. All sub-items at this round were classified as SUPER (S: Soft tissue restoration techniques; U: Using supportive approaches; P: Physical fitness exercises; E: Electro-hydro-thermal methods; and R: Return to sport activities). Conclusion: SUPER rehabilitation provides a new conceptual framework in terms of approaches used by clinicians in rehabilitation for athletes with HSI. Recognizing the lack of evidence for the various approaches involved, clinicians can modify their practice and researchers can explore whether these approaches are scientifically correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between elite athletes' imagery abilities and their body awareness, plank stance duration, psychological and social skills. Material and Methods: The study included 53 healthy elite athletes (female:32, male:21). The imagery abilities of the athletes were evaluated using the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3. A Body Awareness Questionnaire was used for body awareness assessment. Plank stance duration, psychological and social skill levels were evaluated using Sport Specific Core Muscle Strength and Stability Plank Test, Athletic Psychological Skills Inventory and Social Skills Inventory, respectively. Results: External and kinesthetic imagery was found to correlate with body awareness (r=0.33, p=0.02; r=0.39, p<0.01). There was a relationship between these imagery abilities and the prediction of body responses (r=0.31, p=0.03; r=0.38, p<0.01) and sleep-wake cycle (r=0.38, p<0.01; r=0.37, p<0.01) subdimensions of body awareness. Kinesthetic imagery also was associated with changes in paying attention to changes and reactions in the body process (r=0.30, p=0.03) sub-dimension. There was no relationship between imagery and other parameters (p>0.05). Conclusion: The external and kinesthetic imagery ability of elite athletes is related to the body awareness level. It should be considered in terms of holistic approach in the performance and rehabilitation processes of the athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Istanbul Gelisim University Journal of Health Sciences / İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi is the property of Istanbul Gelisim Universitesi Saglik Bilimleri Yuksekokulu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The architectural features of the hamstring muscle group are important to prevent injury or to reduce the risk of re-injury. Besides, eccentric training is often used in the rehabilitation of hamstring injuries. The aim of this systematic review was to examine changes created by eccentric training in hamstring muscle architecture and to determine the minimal values of training duration and intensity to achieve required functional changes. The research was conducted on the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, COCHRANE, CINAHL, and Pedro databases. Full-text studies examining the effect of eccentric training on at least one parameter of the hamstring muscle architecture were included in the review. Studies on cadavers and animals, and studies involving different types of training combined with eccentric training were excluded. Twelve of the 7954 studies met the set criteria. According to the results, eccentric training undoubtedly increases fiber length. However, the pennation angle tends to decrease. On the other hand, muscle thickness and crosssectional area tends to increase depending on the eccentric training. Although the frequency, number of sets and number of repetitions in sets were similar in the examined studies, muscle architecture changes were different. We think that eccentric training duration and the number of repetitions in total or per training session seem to have an impact on muscle architecture. In order to determine the minimal eccentric training program that can create these changes, quality research is needed to examine the duration, intensity and methods of eccentric training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Sports Sciences is the property of Turkiye Klinikleri and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Lower limb muscle-tendon injuries are the most common injuries in adolescent soccer players. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of motor imagery and action observation-based (MI+AO) plyometric training (PT) on the pennation angle (PA), muscle thickness (MT) and fiber length (FL) of the vastus lateralis (VL) and biceps femoris long head (BFlh). The secondary aim was to evaluate the effects of training on single leg jump performance. Methods: Thirty-six healthy adolescent soccer players (age: 13.91±1.05 years, height:162.22±10.20 cm, weight: 52.09±8.33 kg) were randomly assigned to PT (n=17) or control (n=19) groups. Athletes in both groups continued their routine training programs. PT group also participated in 3 sessions of training per week for 8 weeks. Athletes watched the prepared videos and imagined jumping. Muscle images were taken using the ultrasound probe. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Results: There was no significant change in the muscle architecture parameters in the control group during 8 weeks (p>0.05). The dominant (mean difference=2.40±3.45°, p=0.01) and non-dominant side (mean difference=3.32±3.75°, p=0.01) VL PA was higher in the PT group at week 4 compared the baseline. Similarly, there was a significant increase in dominant side VL MT (mean difference=0.15±0.19 cm, p=0.03), nondominant side VL MT (mean difference=0.24±0.23 cm, p=0.01), and dominant side BFlh MT (mean difference= 0.21±0.31 cm, p=0.03). Both sides jump performance was significantly better in the PT group at weeks 4 and 8 compared to baseline (mean difference=16.71±11.76 to 22.88±12.19 cm, p<0.01). In time x group interactions, non-dominant side VL PA (p=0.03) and MT (p<0.01), dominant side BFlh MT (p=0.04), and both side jump performance (p<0.01) were higher in the PT group. Conclusion: This research provides the first evidence that MI+AO PT improves muscle architecture. It is recommended that future research be conducted in injured athletes and using neuroimaging tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Exercise Therapy & Rehabilitation is the property of Yavuz Yakut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: There are very few studies about total knee arthroplasty biomechanical and biochemical effects in the early postoperative period. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of total knee arthroplasty on pain intensity, knee joint valgus angle, malalignment, functional status, knee joint position sense, and cytokine levels., Methods: A total of 29 patients (female/male: 24/5) who underwent total knee arthroplasty were included in the late-stage knee osteoarthritis group, and 22 patients (female/male: 13/9) with grade 4 osteoarthritis were included in the early-stage knee osteoarthritis group. The visual analog scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index were used to evaluate the pain intensity and functional status. Alignment and knee position sense measurements were also calculated. Systemic venous blood samples were taken to evaluate the interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-1 beta cytokine levels., Results: In the study group, there were positive improvements in pain intensity, functional status, valgus angle, malalignment, amount of joint position sense deviation at 70° knee flexion angle parameters, and interleukin-6 of patients at the postoperative 6th week compared to the preoperative period (p<0.05). The patients in the study group had similar or better results in pain intensity, functional status, valgus angle, malalignment, amount of joint position sense deviation at 35°, 55°, and 70° knee flexion angles parameters, and in interleukin-6, compared to the control group at postoperative 6th week., Conclusion: Total knee arthroplasty provides improvements in pain, function, valgus angle, joint position sense, and interleukin-6 in the early postoperative period.

Context: The level of body awareness, performance emotional state (PES), and demographic characteristics in different sports are subjects to be investigated. It is important to examine the concepts of PES and body awareness to better understand the body-mind relationship in different sports., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of body awareness and PES of athletes., Design: In this cross-sectional study, the independent variables are groups (4 different sports), and the dependent variables are body awareness and PES., Participants: The study was conducted on 188 licensed athletes (85 footballers, 36 basketball players, 34 handball players, and 33 swimmers). The mean age of the participants was 14.64 (1.89) years, mean height was 172.44 (11.03) cm, and mean body weight was 62.35 (13.12) kg., Settings: Four sports clubs and 2 high schools were the intervention facilities., Intervention: Body Awareness Questionnaire and Continuous Optimal Performance Emotional Status Scale-2 were used for data collection. Sociodemographic information was recorded., Main Outcome Measures: One-way analysis of variance was used for analysis of normal distribution data in 4 different groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for the analysis of data that did not show normal distribution., Results: There was no difference in body awareness among the branches (P = .17). The PES of the footballers was better than that of other athletes (P = .01). The correlation between body awareness and PES was medium (r = .47, P < .01), and the correlations between body awareness and age, licensed year, and number of weekly training sessions were weak (r = .22, P < .01; r = .19, P < .01; r = .15, P = .03)., Conclusions: The body awareness of athletes may not differ among different sports, but PES is related to many factors such as mood, age, license years, and number of training sessions. In rehabilitation and training, body awareness and PES should be evaluated together.