The Effect of National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Corrective Movements on Gait Kinetics in Middle Aged Men with Piriformis Syndrome

The present study findings aimed to investigate the effect of exercises based on the American National Academy of Sports Medicine principles (NASM) on walking kinetics in piriformis syndrome in middle-aged men.

The current research was semi-experimental and laboratory-type. The statistical sample of the present study was 30 men with piriformis syndrome. Subjects were equally and randomly placed in two intervention and control groups. The intervention group performed NASM exercises for eight weeks. Before and after the exercises, the ground reaction force variables were measured using a Bartek force plate device with a sampling rate of 1000 Hz. Kinetic data were smoothed using a fourth-order Butterworth filter with a frequency cutoff of 20 Hz. For statistical analysis, analysis of variance and paired T-test were utilized at the significance level of P < 0.05.

The findings of the present study showed that the effect of time on the FxHC and FyHC components at the peak of the forces and the FyHC component at the time of reaching the peak of the ground reaction force increased in the post-test compared to the pre-test. P > 0.025;
d = 0.64 - 0.96. The effect of the time factor in the FyPO component at the peak of the ground reaction force in the post-test was less than the pre-test (P < 0.025; d = 1.64-0.96). The interaction effect of the time × group in the FxPO component at the peak of the force and the FzHC component at the time of reaching the peak of the ground reaction force had a significant difference (P < 0.048; d = 0.87-0.83).

The NASM exercises used in this research can have a clinical and therapeutic effect that can reduce damage to the lower limbs and improve the quality of walking in people with piriformis syndrome.