Neuromuscular adaptations of the ankle with stability training

[Truncated] Stability training on a wobble board has a long history of use in physiotherapy clinics as a method of rehabilitation from lower limb injuries. Injury prevention of the lower limbs in sport represents a relatively new application of this form of exercise. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects of wobble board training on the activation pattern and reflex response in the muscles crossing the left ankle joint during a novel stable and unstable task. Fourteen moderately trained, healthy university students were recruited and assigned to a control group or a training group. The experimental tasks involved applying various levels of plantar torque to a stable (1 DOF) and unstable (3 DOF) footplate on a specially constructed ankle perturbation rig. Nine potentiometers measured the three-dimensional position of the footplate and a force transducer under the ball of the foot measured the applied torque. When the force and position parameters of the desired task were met, a dorsiflexing perturbation was given to induce a stretch reflex. Electromyographic (EMG) data were recorded from five superficial muscles crossing the ankle joint to determine muscle activation patterns and stretch reflex profiles before and after a stability training intervention. Pre and post testing sessions for each subject were separated by a period of three weeks.