komeil dashti rostami

Diastasis of Rectus Abdominis (DRA) is a frequent problem that affects women during pregnancy and postpartum. The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of static and dynamic plank exercise on Inter-Recti Distance (IRD) in postpartum women. This semi-experimental study included 30 postpartum women with DRA who were randomly divided into static plank (N=10), dynamic plank (N=10) and control group (n=10). Exercise groups implemented the plank exercise three times weekly for six weeks in Sari, Iran from April to May 2023. Ultrasound imaging was recorded to measure IRD in three locations, center of umbilicus (reference point), three cm above and three cm below umbilicus. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the effect of static and dynamic plank exercise on IRD. IRD significantly decreased in static (29 mm vs 27/4 mm, P=0.001) and dynamic (30.1 mm vs 27 mm, P=0.001) plank groups after exercise. IRD did not significantly differ between static and dynamic groups at post-test (P=0.420). However, the percentage of the change was greater in dynamic (10.33%) compared with the static (5.51%) group. A significant difference was observed between the dynamic and control groups (P=0.001). The findings revealed that both types of plank exercise could cause narrowing of IRD in postpartum women. However, based on the percentage of change, incorporating additional movements such as abduction and rotation in dynamic plank, which could produce more muscle activity, yielded greater reduction in IRD compared with static plank.

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching is considered a clinically effective way to enhance muscle properties; however, rare information exists about its effect on muscle flexibility and strength of the patients with stroke. To investigate the efficacy of PNF exercise on lower extremity muscle flexibility and strength after stroke.

Twenty-four men with stroke were chosen for the current study and assigned to two groups, PNF (n=12, mean age=59.3) and control group (n=12, mean age=58.7). Both groups received conventional rehabilitation three times a week for two months, while the PNF group received an additional 20-minute contract-relax (CR) method of PNF exercises during each session. Gastrocnemius and hamstring flexibility have been measured pre- and post-intervention by wall lunge and active straight leg raising (aSLR) tests, respectively. Additionally, hamstring and quadriceps strength has been measured pre- and post-intervention by a hand-held dynamometer. A 2×2 mixed repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to analyze data.

Significant interaction of time x group was found for hamstring flexibility (F=33.24, P<0.01) and strength (F=23.86, P<0.01). Post hoc analysis indicated that aSLR (effect size=0.75) and hamstring strength (effect size=0.67) significantly increased in the PNF group. No significant interactions or main effects were observed for gastrocnemius flexibility and quadriceps strength. 

The results indicate that eight weeks of PNF stretching improves hamstring muscle flexibility and strength in patients with stroke. However, future studies have to confirm the prolonged effects of PNF exercise.

 Coaches play a key role in facilitating injury prevention strategies to reduce the risk of injury in sport; however, this is likely influenced by their knowledge of, and attitude towards, injuries and injury prevention programs. There is limited research in soccer investigating coach knowledge and attitudes towards injury. Therefore, purpose of this research was to investigate Mazandaran province soccer's coach knowledge and attitudes towards sport injury prevention.

 A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 200 soccer coaches completed a survey including a series of closed and open-ended questions regarding their knowledge and attitudes towards sport injury prevention.

 Coaches were less knowledgeable about common upper body injuries and associated risk factors than lower body injuries and common injury types. In particular, there was a lack of awareness that injuries to the head/face (head concussion) were common. Coaches had a positive attitude towards sport injury prevention; However, constraints of time and space are major barriers to coaches implementing sport injury prevention programs. Greater levels of knowledge and more positive attitudes were reported by coaches with more experience. Half of coaches reported witnessing coaches putting pressure on players to play when injured and most coaches reported seeing injured players play on when they thought they should not have.

 Soccer coaches had poor knowledge about upper extremity injuries. Soccer organizations should improve coach education about common soccer-related injuries and injury risk factors, such as head injuries and effective injury prevention-based resources.

The gastrocnemius muscle is one of the main muscles of the knee joint but its neuromuscular adaptations after ACL injury are poorly. The purpose of this study was to compare medial and lateral gastrocnemius preparatory and reactive activity patterns in the athletes with and without a history of ACL rupture. 15 ACL deficient, 15 ACL reconstructed and 15 control subjects participated in this cross-sectional study. ACL injured groups (ACLD and ACLR) had significantly lower lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity in the reactive phase compared to the control group. The gastrocnemius muscle is an antagonist of ACL and thus it seems that lower lateral gastrocnemius activity in ACL injured groups is a compensatory mechanism to decrease strain on ACL. .

The hallux valgus is one of the most common abnormality in the school girls. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some anthropometric indices and foot type with hallux valgus in 10-12-year-old female students.

This descriptive correlational study was conducted on 60 female students aged from 10 to 12 years with hallux valgus abnormality in Ghaemshahr city who were selected using available sampling method. After data collection, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the data and the relationship between variables was examined by Spearman correlation coefficient using SPSS software. All hypotheses were tested at 95% level of significance.

The results of this study showed a significant relationship between hallux valgus and weight (P=0.03), body mass index (P=0.008), width of the front of the foot (P=0.04), and navy drop rate (P=0.001), while no significant relationship was found between hallux valgus and height (P≥0.05) and foot length (P≥0.05).

The results of the present study showed a positive and significant relationship between weight, body mass index, width of the front of the foot, and flat foot with hallux valgus. Therefore, weight control, the use of shoes appropriate to the width of the front of the foot, and treatment of flat foot is recommended to reduce the rate of hallux valgus.

The effect of kinesiophobia (fear of movement) following an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) has recently received great attention. However, the relationship between kinesiophobia and peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) in ACL reconstructed (ACLR) and deficient (ACLD) individuals has not been investigated.
Forty male patients (20 ACLR and 20 ACLD), 24 months post-ACL injury, who had completed post-injury/operative rehabilitation, participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed a drop vertical landing task on force plate while the VGRF was recorded. Participants also completed the TSK-11 (kinesiophobia) questionnaire.
Associations between peak VGRF and the TSK scale were made with Pearson correlation coefficients; significant relationships were defined as p≤0.05. The average peak VGRF was 2.67 ± 0.28 and 2.68 ± 0.17 (mean±SD) %bodyweight and the TSK value was 33.45 ± 4.6 and 31.60 ± 3.40 (mean±SD) for ACLD and ACLR groups, respectively. There was a significant negative association between poorer responses on the TSK scale and peak VGRF in the ACLD group (r=-0.58, p=0.007) but not in the ACLR group (r=-0.31, p=0.17).
This study found greater kinesiophobia to be associated with a lower peak VGRF in the ACLD group during the landing task. It seems that ACLD individuals unload their injured limb because of fear of movement. These results suggest that in ACLD individuals with high kinesiophobia, cognitive training should be incorporated into their rehabilitation program to improve landing mechanics. Future studies are needed to assess whether these relationships play a role in developing osteoarthritis over time

As athletes returning to activity after anterior cruciate ligament injury likely experience fatigue, understanding how fatigue affects neuromuscular control and functional performance has the clinical importance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of fatigue on knee muscles co-contraction and functional performance of the athletes with the history of anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

Thirty six athletes including 12 individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), 12 individuals with the anterior cruciate ligament rupture without reconstruction (ACLD) and 12 controls were recruited to participate in the study. Quadriceps to hamstrings, quadriceps to gastrocnemius co-contraction and functional performance were measured before and after fatigue.

Lateral quadriceps to gastrocnemius co-contraction was significantly lower in ACL injured groups compared to controls. Also, functional performance in single leg hop test significantly decreased in ACL injured groups post fatigue.

It seems that quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscle co-contraction have important role in establishing knee joint stability, so these two muscles should be more considered in rehabilitation exercises. Also, for a more comprehensive evaluation of lower extremity function after ACL injury, it is therefore suggested that functional testing should be performed both under non-fatigued and fatigued test conditions.

Activity of knee joint muscles can influence the magnitude of ground reaction forces during jump-landing tasks. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between electromyography activity of the knee joint muscles and ground reaction forces during single-leg drop landing task.      
A total of 20 healthy male athletes (mean ± standard deviation, age 25.4±4.45 years) participated in the present correlational study. Activity of knee joint muscles, including quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius, at pre and post landing phases were analyzed and their relationships with ground reaction forces (vertical, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral) were assessed during single leg vertical drop landing task. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for data analysis.   
The results demonstrated significant negative correlation between lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity and all components of ground reaction forces (P= 0.001). Also, there was a significant positive correlation between medial gastrocnemius activity and all components of ground reaction forces at pre landing phase and also a significant negative correlation with vertical and anterior-posterior component at post landing phase (P=0.001). Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation between lateral hamstring activity and anterior-posterior ground reaction force at post-contact phase (P=0.001).
It seems that gastrocnemius (medial and lateral) and lateral hamstring muscles play important roles in adjusting ground reaction force components during single leg vertical drop landing task. According to the results of the current study, it is suggested that rehabilitation specialists focus especially on activation exercises for gastrocnemius (medial and lateral) and lateral hamstring muscles in order to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Since people experience fatigue after anterior cruciate ligament injury during exercises, it is important to understand how fatigue affects the biomechanical movement patterns. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of fatigue on ground reaction force variables during single-leg landing in athletes with a history of an anterior cruciate ligament sprain.

it was a case-control study conducted in the University Laboratory. The sample consisted of 36 male athletes who were divided into three groups: 12 people with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR), 12 people with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency (ACLD), and 12 people as the control group. Fatigue was induced via the repetitive sets of double-leg squats (n=8), which were interspersed with the sets of countermovement jumps (n=2) and single-leg landings (n=3) until squats were no longer possible. A 2×2 repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to detect the main effects of group (ACLD, ACLR, control) and fatigue state (prefatigue, postfatigue) on the ground reaction forces variables.

The results showed a significant decrease in the peak vertical force and internal-external ground reaction force in the ACLD group after fatigue. Regardless of the fatigue state, the peak vertical ground reaction force in ACLD and ACLR groups was significantly lower than that in the control group.

The athletes with the ACL injury, regardless of the selective treatment type, use compensatory strategies to reduce the contact forces on the lower extremity, compared with healthy athletes.