Cross-sectional plantographic study in men and women artistic gymnasts
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Purpose: Artistic gymnastics is a sport which positively affects human locomotion system on one hand, on the other hand at a professional level the early specialisation has negative effects. A longlasting specialised gymnastic training may result in permanent changes in the structure of musculoskeletal system. Dueto specific load, mainly landings, the changes are expected in lower extremities and feet. The aim of this work was to examine the condition of longitudinal plantar arch in artistic gymnasts and find differences in the condition between men and women as well as among different age categories. Methods: The group consisted of 84 probands, 52 girls and 32 boys aged 6 - 25 years, all at higher performance levels. After documenting the basic anthropometric data, we examined the condition of longitudinal plantar arch using sensor platform Emed and theacquired data were processed using Novel software. The acquired plantogram data were evaluated using Chippaux-Šmiřák method. To evaluate the observed relations we used non-parametric tests, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman Correlation, at 5 % level of significance. Results: In most of the tested persons one of the stages of high arch was diagnosed, concretely in 87.5%. We found out no statistically significant difference in condition of foot arch between men and women of matched age groups. When comparing longitudinal foot arch among different age categories, atendency of foot arch to lower with increasing age was observed. Conclusion: We assume that higher longitudinal foot arch in gymnasts may be one of the causes of frequent injuries of ankle and foot. We recommend to add more compensatory exercises focusing on plantar flexors stretching into the training process. |
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