Effects of Different Warm-Up Periods on Knee Proprioception and Balance in Healthy Young Individuals

Abstract

Context:There is limited information on the effects of different warm-up periods on proprioception and balance in the context of injury prevention.Objective:To determine the effects of warm-up exercises on knee proprioception and balance and to compare the effectiveness of warming up periods.Design:Pretest/posttest.Setting:Research laboratory.Participants:30 healthy subjects (19 women, 11 men; mean age 20.70 ± 0.99 years).Interventions:Exercise groups performed warm-up exercises (group 1, 5 minutes; group 2, 10 minutes). Joint Position Sense (JPS) was tested at 15°, 30°, and 60° knee flexion (KF) on a JPS device. Balance was measured using the Neurocom Balance Master System.Main Outcome Measures:JPS absolute error (AE) was measured at 15°, 30°, and 60° KF and postural control was measured.Results:After exercise, we found significant improvements for AE of JPSs of 30° right (R) KF, 15° left (L) KF, and 60° L KF in group 1. In group 2, AE of JPS values increased for all angles of both knees except 60° R KF. AE of JPS values of 15° R KF, 30° R KF, 15° L KF, 60° L KF were significantly different in group 2 compared with group 1. In balance measurements, there were significant improvements for standing on foam with eyes closed (EC) position, velocity and R-L unilateral stance EC in group 1. There were significant improvements for velocity, end point, maximum excursion, and L unilateral stance EC in group 2.Conclusions:Both warm-up periods have positive effects on knee proprioception and balance. The 10-minute warm-up exercise improved proprioception by a greater amount than the 5 minutes warm-up exercise.