Proprioceptive training on dynamic neuromuscular control in fencers: a clinical trial

Abstract

Fencing is a sport of agility, with a higher incidence of lower-limb injuries, of which the ankle sprain is the mostprevalent. Injury prevention is very important to improve performance and decrease the withdrawal time of athletes.Proprioceptive training programs can be added to the training of athletes, since, in addition to easy application and lowcost, proprioception has the function of stabilizing the ankle joint to prevent injuries.Objective:To verify the influence of a12-week proprioceptive training program on dynamic neuromuscular control in fencing athletes.Design:The study was aclinical trial, and the athletes were allocated, for convenience, in the intervention group or in the control group.Setting:The studywas developed in 4 stages (preintervention, intervention, postintervention, and follow-up of 3). The neuromuscular controlduring the star excursion balance test was evaluated.Participants:The participants were 19 fencing athletes (intervention group:10, and control group: 9), aged 14–35 years, from a multisport club.Interventions:The athletes performed the proprioceptivetraining during 12 weeks, 3 times a week, with a duration of 30 minutes.Main Outcome Measures:Dynamic neuromuscularcontrol.Results:The data and SE were considered for statistical analysis, submitted to the generalized estimates equations testwith Bonferroni post hoc. The level of significance was .05. The distance reached in the star excursion balance test increasedsignificantly in all 8 directions evaluated in the 2 legs of the intervention group.Conclusions:The proprioceptive trainingprogram was able to improve dynamic neuromuscular control in fencing athletes.