I am a packrat. I’ll admit it.
And for all of you who are packrats, this post and probably several others in the future will serve as a rationalization as to why it is okay to be a packrat.
I have an old collection of Journals of Athletic Training and you know, it is good to go back and review some of the work that has been done in the past. They also make for great blogging material.
So today I will talk about a study that was published in the July-September 2006 issue of the Journal of Athletic Training. The study was entitled Flexible Foil Exercise and Shoulder Internal and External Rotation Strength and was conducted by Daisuke Sugimoto and Peter Blanpeid.
The goal of the study was to compare the effects of rotator cuff strengthening between Theraband and The Bodyblade. The real premise was to determine the capabilities of the Bodyblade to be utilized in strengthening of the rotator cuff.
Many of us utilize a Bodyblade for core stabalization, proprioception, muscular endurance and host of other purposes. So determining if utilizing this device in traditional rotator cuff strengthening seems like a reasonable endeavor.
Forty asymptomatic subjects completed the study and traditional standing internal and external rotation strengthening was conducted using traditional resistance bands and the Bodyblade. The program lasted for 8 weeks. Those training with the resistance bands progressed each week from Yellow to Red to Green to Blue starting with 3 sets of 10 and then moving to 3 sets of 20 for each resistance level before moving to the next level of repetitions and resistance.
As for the Bodyblade training, subjects trained with the Classic model for 4 weeks starting at 2 x 30 seconds in week 1, 2 x 40 seconds in week 2, 2 x 50 seconds in week 3, and 2 x 60 seconds in week 4. From weeks 5-8, the subjects upgraded to the Bodyblade Pro model and then repeated the same resistance progression for both internal and external rotation.
The conclusion of the study revealed that strength training for 8 weeks using the Bodyblade did not improve shoulder internal and external rotation strength.
I commend the researchers for performing this study. They do note that there were some limitations associated with this study. That being said, this is a popular item in rehabilitation clinics abroad and study was a worthwhile effort. As you read through the study, you may formulate your own questions about the study.
Overall, I am not sure if we as clinicians use the Bodyblade for strength training in the traditional sense. I think we use this device for proprioception, functional strengthening, endurance training and the like so I am not overly surprised by the results of the study. And yet, it is certainly a topic of interest.
What are your thoughts about the study? How do you use the Bodyblade with the shoulder complex? Did the results of the study surprise you? Do you know of any more recent studies that may contradict these results?
I am interested in your thoughts and comments. Please share.
The Continuing Education of an Athletic Trainer 