Virtual reality and functional training effect on contractile properties of lower leg muscles and postural stability

Abstract

Purpose. Tensiomyography is a noninvasive and reliable method to identify the differences in skeletal muscle responses. Poor lower leg muscles cause poor postural stability, leading to the risk of injury in athletes. The study aims to investigate the aftereffect of a six-week virtual reality environment and functional training program on the contractile properties of lower-leg muscles and postural stability index. Material and methods. A comparative pre-test and post-test study design was selected for this study. Twenty-four male athletes were taken part in the study. The participants were randomly divided into a virtual reality intervention-training group (n=12) or a functional training group (n=12). The virtual reality environment training was provided using the CAREN integrated virtual reality system with a D-flow application from Motek. Functional training for static and dynamic postural stability was performed with various open and closed-eye exercises in the physical therapy lab. The contractile properties of lower-leg muscles were measured using tensiomyography. The postural stability index was assessed using a stadiometer. The assessments were performed before and after six weeks of training. A paired sample t-test was used to determine differences between pretest and posttest intervention outcome measures, and sample t-test was also applied to determine differences between groups after six weeks of training. Results. Results indicated significant differences between pretest and posttest measurement in virtual reality training group for displacement (t=2.81, p=.043), (t=-6.92, p=<.001) in gastrocnemius lateral and medial muscle respectively, and sustain time (t=2.29, p=.042) in souls muscle. The postural stability with close eye was significant (t=2.61, p=.024). The functional training group showed significant differences for sustain time (t=-18.86, p=<.001) in gastrocnemius lateral, and relaxation time (=3.24, p=.008), delay time (t=3.07, p=.011), and sustain time (t=-19.74, p=<.001) in gastrocnemius medial, and sustain time (t=3.17, p=.009) in souls muscle. The postural stability was having insignificant differences. Conclusion. The virtual reality environment and functional training, help to improve performance, and tensiomyography could be used to assess and evaluate the parameters that could be helpful for optimizing training load in the performance enhancement process of athletes.