REHABILITATION

Figure 2. Stair descent: lower limb force absorption in a closed kinetic chain.

TABLE 1: COMPONENTS OF AN ACTIVITY-SPECIFIC NEEDS ANALYSIS

BOX 1: CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

■ Each person’s function is potentially unique ■ Clinicians should be familiar with a person’s activity- specific needs

■ The lower limb primarily functions in a closed kinetic chain (CKC)

■ Normal human movement requires adequate joint mobility, muscle extensibility, and muscle strength

■ Functional rehabilitation is composed of functional training, functional progression, and functional testing

■ Bone and ligament adapt according to the lines of mechanical stress imposed upon them

■ Sensorimotor control and muscle performance are altered according to the type of training performed.

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■ Role/position What is the person’s role/position within the activity/ sport? (eg. is it a team sport?) ■ Performance duration What is the total duration of the person’s whole performance? ■ Activity duration What is the total duration of actual physical activity within the whole performance? (ie. does the whole performance require intermittent physical activity?) ■ Predominant energy system What is the predominant energy system used within the whole performance? ■ Energy system interaction Is there any interaction between the energy systems during the person’s whole performance? What proportion do the energy systems contribute to the person’s whole performance? ■ Distances What distances are covered during the person’s performance? (eg. total distance, shortest distance, longest distance) ■ Directions Does the physical activity involve changes of direction? (eg. linear sprint, lateral sprint, oblique sprint, backward sprint, cutting) ■ Activities What activities are involved in the person’s performance? (eg. running, jumping, throwing, kicking, passing). What are the recovery times between running and other activities? ■ Predominant muscle groups Which muscle groups are required for optimal physical performance and equally importantly injury prevention? ■ Predominant muscle actions What is the predominant type of muscle action (eg. isometric versus anisometric)? What is the predominant velocity of muscle action (eg. slow versus fast)? ■ Flexibility demands Which muscle groups need sufficient extensibility for optimal physical performance and injury prevention? ■ Motor skills Which motor skills (eg. balance, co-ordination, agility) are predominantly utilised within the person’s performance? ■ Impact/contact/collision sites Which body parts impact with an object or opponent during the person’s performance? Does the lower limb have to absorb high ground reaction forces during the physical activity? ■ Potential injury sites What are the injuries common to the person’s physical activity?

*adapted from: Fleck & Kraemer (7), Wilkinson & Moore (8) www.sportex.net